Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

       Florida Senate - 2021                                     SB 706



       By Senator Taddeo





       40-00544-21                                            2021706__
                      A bill to be entitled                      
       An act relating to voter registration; amending s.
       97.057, F.S.; revising procedures governing voter
       registration by the Department of Highway Safety and
       Motor Vehicles; providing that driver license or
       identification card applications, driver license or
       identification card renewal applications, and
       applications for changes of address for existing
       driver licenses or identification cards submitted to
       the department serve as voter registration
       applications; specifying that an applicant is deemed
       to have consented to the use of his or her signature
       for voter registration purposes, unless a declination
       is made; requiring specified applications to include a
       voter registration component, subject to approval by
       the Department of State; specifying requirements for
       the voter registration component; providing for the
       transmittal of voter registration information to the
       Department of State and supervisors of elections;
       amending s. 98.045, F.S.; conforming a cross
       reference; providing an effective date.
        
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

       Section 1.âSection 97.057, Florida Statutes, is amended to
read:
       97.057âVoter registration by the Department of Highway
Safety and Motor Vehicles.â
       (1)âEach of the following serves as an application The
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall provide
the opportunity to register to vote or to update a voter
registration record when submitted to the Department of Highway
Safety and Motor Vehicles to each individual who comes to an
office of that department to:
       (a)âAn application Apply for a driver license or a renewal
of renew a driver license;
       (b)âAn application Apply for an identification card
pursuant to chapter 322 or a renewal of renew an identification
card pursuant to chapter 322; or
       (c)âAn application for a change of an address on an
existing driver license or identification card.

Unless the applicant declines to register to vote or to update
his or her voter registration record, he or she is deemed to
have consented to the use of the signature from his or her
driver license or identification card application for voter
registration purposes.
       (2)âAn application for a driver license or an
identification card must include a voter registration component.
The voter registration component must be approved by the
Department of State. The voter registration component of a
driver license or identification card application must contain:
       (a)âThe minimum amount of information necessary to prevent
duplicate voter registrations and preserve the ability of the
department and supervisors of elections to assess the
eligibility of the applicant and administer voter registration
and other provisions of this code.
       (b)âA statement setting forth voting eligibility
requirements.
       (c)âAn explanation that the applicant is consenting, for
voter registration purposes, to the use of his or her signature
from the applicantâs driver license or identification card
application. By consenting to the use of his or her signature,
the applicant is deemed to have subscribed to the oath required
by s. 3, Art. VI of the State Constitution and s. 97.051 and to
have sworn and affirmed that the voter registration information
contained in the application is true under penalty for false
swearing pursuant to s. 104.011.
       (d)âAn option that allows the applicant to choose or update
a party affiliation; otherwise, an applicant who is initially
registering to vote and does not exercise such option shall be
registered without party affiliation in accordance with s.
97.053(5)(b).
       (e)âAn option that allows the applicant to decline to
register to vote or to decline to update his or her voter
registration record. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
Vehicles shall note any such declination in its records and
forward the declination to the Department of State. Any
declination may be used only for voter registration purposes and
is confidential and exempt from public records requirements as
provided in s. 97.0585.
       (3)âThe Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
shall:
       (a)âDevelop a voter registration component for applications
which meets the requirements set forth in subsection (2). Notify
each individual, orally or in writing, that:
       1.âInformation gathered for the completion of a driver
license or identification card application, renewal, or change
of address can be automatically transferred to a voter
registration application;
       2.âIf additional information and a signature are provided,
the voter registration application will be completed and sent to
the proper election authority;
       3.âInformation provided can also be used to update a voter
registration record;
       4.âAll declinations will remain confidential and may be
used only for voter registration purposes; and
       5.âThe particular driver license office in which the person
applies to register to vote or updates a voter registration
record will remain confidential and may be used only for voter
registration purposes.
       (b)âRequire a driver license examiner to inquire orally or,
if the applicant is hearing impaired, inquire in writing whether
the applicant wishes to register to vote or update a voter
registration record during the completion of a driver license or
identification card application, renewal, or change of address.
       1.âIf the applicant chooses to register to vote or to
update a voter registration record:
       a.âAll applicable information received by the Department of
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in the course of filling out
the forms necessary under subsection (1) must be transferred to
a voter registration application.
       b.âThe additional necessary information must be obtained by
the driver license examiner and must not duplicate any
information already obtained while completing the forms required
under subsection (1).
       c.âA voter registration application with all of the
applicantâs voter registration information required to establish
the applicantâs eligibility pursuant to s. 97.041 must be
presented to the applicant to review and verify the voter
registration information received and provide an electronic
signature affirming the accuracy of the information provided.
       2.âIf the applicant declines to register to vote, update
the applicantâs voter registration record, or change the
applicantâs address by either orally declining or by failing to
sign the voter registration application, the Department of
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles must note such declination on
its records and shall forward the declination to the statewide
voter registration system.
       (3)âFor the purpose of this section, the Department of
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, with the approval of the
Department of State, shall prescribe:
       (a)âA voter registration application that is the same in
content, format, and size as the uniform statewide voter
registration application prescribed under s. 97.052; and
       (b)âA form that will inform applicants under subsection (1)
of the information contained in paragraph (2)(a).
       (4)âThe Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
must Electronically transmit the voter registration component of
an applicantâs driver license or identification card application
to the Department of State completed voter registration
applications within 24 hours after receipt to the statewide
voter registration system. Upon receipt of the voter
registration component, the Department of State shall provide
the information to the supervisor of the county in which the
applicant is registering Completed paper voter registration
applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and
Motor Vehicles shall be forwarded within 5 days after receipt to
the supervisor of the county where the office that processed or
received that application is located.
       (5)âThe Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
must send, with each driver license renewal extension
application authorized pursuant to s. 322.18(8), a uniform
statewide voter registration application, the voter registration
application prescribed under paragraph (3)(a), or a voter
registration application developed especially for the purposes
of this subsection by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
Vehicles, with the approval of the Department of State, which
must meet the requirements of s. 97.052.
       (4)(6)âA person providing voter registration services for a
driver license office may not:
       (a)âSeek to influence an applicantâs political preference
or party registration;
       (b)âDisplay any political preference or party allegiance;
       (c)âMake any statement to an applicant or take any action
the purpose or effect of which is to discourage the applicant
from registering to vote; or
       (d)âDisclose any applicantâs voter registration information
except as needed for the administration of voter registration.
       (5)(7)âThe Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
shall collect data determined necessary by the Department of
State for program evaluation and reporting to the Election
Assistance Commission pursuant to federal law.
       (6)(8)âThe Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
shall must ensure that all voter registration services provided
by driver license offices are in compliance with the Voting
Rights Act of 1965.
       (7)(9)âThe Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
shall retain complete records of voter registration information
received, processed, and submitted to the Department of State
statewide voter registration system by the Department of Highway
Safety and Motor Vehicles. The maintenance of such These records
is shall be for the explicit purpose of supporting audit and
accounting controls established to ensure accurate and complete
electronic transmission of records between the Department of
State statewide voter registration system and the Department of
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
       (8)(10)âThe Department of State shall provide the
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles with an
electronic database of street addresses valid for use as the
address of legal residence as required in s. 97.053(5). The
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall compare
the address provided by the applicant against the database of
valid street addresses. If the address provided by the applicant
does not match a valid street address in the database, the
applicant will be asked to verify the address provided. The
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles may shall not
reject any application for voter registration for which a valid
match cannot be made.
       (9)(11)âThe Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
shall enter into an agreement with the Department of State to
match information in the statewide voter registration system
with information in the database of the Department of Highway
Safety and Motor Vehicles to the extent required to verify the
accuracy of the driver license number, Florida identification
number, or last four digits of the social security number
provided on applications for voter registration as required in
s. 97.053.
       (10)(12)âThe Department of Highway Safety and Motor
Vehicles shall enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of
Social Security as required by the Help America Vote Act of 2002
to verify the last four digits of the social security number
provided in applications for voter registration as required in
s. 97.053.
       Section 2.âParagraph (b) of subsection (4) of section
98.045, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
       98.045âAdministration of voter registration.â
       (4)âSTATEWIDE ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF VALID RESIDENTIAL
STREET ADDRESSES.â
       (b)âThe department shall make the statewide database of
valid street addresses available to the Department of Highway
Safety and Motor Vehicles as provided in s. 97.057(8) s.
97.057(10). The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
shall use the database for purposes of validating the legal
residential addresses provided in voter registration
applications received by the Department of Highway Safety and
Motor Vehicles.
       Section 3.âThis act shall take effect January 1, 2022.
Statutes affected: 
S 706 Filed: 97.057, 98.045