HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/HB 7061 PCB PIE 22-03 Elections
SPONSOR(S): Appropriations Committee, Public Integrity & Elections Committee, Perez and others
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/CS/SB 524
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
Orig. Comm.: Public Integrity & Elections 12 Y, 6 N Roy Rubottom
Committee
1) Appropriations Committee 18 Y, 10 N, As CS Hicks Pridgeon
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
CS/HB 7061 adds new election security provisions, reforms voter registration list maintenance activities, and,
directs the Department of State (Department) to study and report by January 1, 2023, on a plan to use
identification numbers for Vote-by-Mail voter certificates and ballot validation.
The elections security provisions:
Create a new election security office in the Department of State (Department) to investigate violations
of election laws and rules;
Limit governor-appointed special officers to 10 FDLE officers, with at least one per FDLE region;
Clarify that special officers are not permitted in polling locations without consent of election officials;
Impose criminal penalties on persons with access to certain information during election canvassing who
release votes cast or other election results early;
Reclassify three election related misdemeanors to felonies; and
Increase the aggregate fine that may be levied in a year against third-party voter registration
organizations (3PVRO) for violations relating to mishandling registration applications.
Impose a $1,000 fine on a 3PVRO, when its agent is convicted of altering a registration application
without the applicant’s consent.
The registration list maintenance reforms:
Specify additional list maintenance program requirements;
Require inactive voters to confirm residence address when appearing to vote, conforming identification
requirements at polling places; and
Increase the information officials may access in order to confirm voter eligibility.
CS/HB 7061 also:
Extends a nonprofit organization donation prohibition to include litigation costs of election offices.
Requires Supervisors of Election to keep all valid and invalid initiative petition signature forms for 1
year, and to catalog and publish regular counts.
Clarifies responsibilities of Attorney General and Financial Impact Estimating Conference when
initiative petition fails to qualify for the ballot for a general election.
Expands time allowed for mail voting and canvassing in local mail ballot referendum elections;
Expands time allowed for assisted voting at certain residential institutions;
Creates a new law to prohibit ranked-choice voting.
Requires a subset of county commissioners elected in single member districts to run for re-election
following decennial redistricting.
The bill has a significant fiscal impact on the Department, FDLE, and SOEs. HB 5001, the proposed House of
Representatives General Appropriations Act for FY 2022-23, provides contingent appropriations based on this
bill’s provisions. See Fiscal Analysis for additional details.
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Elections Security
Officers Enforcing Election Laws
Present Situation
Sheriffs must exercise strict vigilance in the detection of any violations of the election laws and in the
apprehending of violators. The Governor may appoint special officers to investigate alleged violations
of the election laws, when it is deemed necessary to see that violators of the election laws are
apprehended and punished.1 This latter provision is in keeping with the Governor’s constitutional
responsibility to see that the laws are faithfully executed. 2
The Elections Commission must consider all sworn complaints filed with it and all matters reported to it
by the Division of Elections (Division) within the Department of State (Department). 3 The Elections
Commission’s investigative jurisdiction extends to the campaign finance laws and violation of most
Florida Election Code crimes.4
Notwithstanding their law enforcement responsibilities, no sheriff, deputy sheriff, police officer, or other
officer of the law is allowed within a polling place without permission from the clerk5 or a majority of the
inspectors, except to cast his or her own ballot. Upon the failure of any of said officers to comply with
this provision, the clerk or the inspectors or any one of them may have the officer arrested.6
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is headed by the Governor and Cabinet. The
executive director of FDLE, appointed by the Governor with approval of three members of the Cabinet,
serves at the pleasure of the Governor and Cabinet, and may establish command, operational, and
administrative services to assist, manage, and support operating programs and services such as
criminal investigations, information programs, and professional programs. 7 The Governor has no direct
authority over FDLE or its special officers. FDLE operates seven regional offices:
Ft. Myers
Jacksonville
Miami
Orlando
Pensacola
Tallahassee
Tampa Bay
A number of field offices operate under the regional offices.
The Department administers and oversees the elections laws. It has authority to ensure enforcement of
the laws and implementing rules. The Secretary of State (Secretary) is the chief elections officer of the
state with responsibility to conduct preliminary investigations into allegations of irregularities or fraud
involving voter registration or voting, or candidate or issue petition activities other than campaign
finance violations.8 In 2021, the Secretary testified before the Public Integrity & Elections Committee
and stated that tips on election fraud or irregularities are ordinarily referred to the local supervisors of
1 Ss. 102.091(1) and 102.091(2), F.S.
2 S. 1, Art. IV, Fla. Const.
3 S. 106.26(1), F.S.
4 S. 106.25(1), F.S. (Jurisdiction includes violations of chapters 104 and 106, F.S.)
5 The clerk is in charge of, and responsible for, seeing that the election board carries out its duties and responsibilities.
S. 102.012, F.S.
6 S. 102.101, F.S.
7 S. 20.201, F.S.
8 S. 97.012(15), F.S.
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elections (SOEs).9 The Department maintains a voter fraud hotline with an associated website advising
that it is a felony to knowingly and willfully make false statements in any matter within the jurisdiction of
the Department.10
Effect of Proposed Changes
CS/HB 7061 creates the Office of Election Crimes and Security in the Department. The Secretary must
appoint a director and the office must employ non-sworn officers to review notices and reports
generated by government officials or other persons, and to review complaints, initiate independent
inquiries and conduct preliminary investigations into alleged violations of the Florida Election Code or
any rule adopted pursuant thereto and any election irregularities.11 The jurisdiction of the investigators
extends to all violations of the Florida Election Code, which includes campaign finance crimes.
The office must oversee the Department’s voter fraud hotline. The office is also required to report, by
January 15 of each year, on complaints it has received, detailing its investigations and providing the
number of complaints forwarded to special officers employed by FDLE. The report must include the
current status of all matters investigated.
The bill requires the Governor, in consultation with the executive director of FDLE, to designate at least
one special officer, who must be a sworn special agent employed by FDLE, for each FDLE operational
region of the state. The bill provides that the special officers serve as dedicated investigators of alleged
violations of the election laws and clarifies that such officers are not permitted in polling locations
without consent of election officials. Appointment as a special officer does not preclude a sworn
investigator from conducting other investigations of alleged violations of law, provided that such other
investigations do not hinder or interfere with the special officer’s ability to investigate alleged violations
of the Florida Election Code.
Ballot Duplication Observers; Private Inspection and Review of Ballot Materials
Present Situation
A ballot duplication must be made if a vote-by-mail (VBM) ballot is damaged so that it cannot properly
be counted by the voting system’s automatic tabulating equipment, or of a VBM ballot containing an
overvoted or undervoted race if there is a clear indication on the ballot that the voter has made a
definite choice on the ballot. A duplicate must be made in an open and accessible room in the presence
of witnesses and substituted for the damaged ballot. A duplicate may not include a vote if the voter’s
intent in such race or on such measure is not clear. Certain interested parties must be allowed to
observe the duplication of ballots.12
In addition, certain interested parties are authorized to inspect and review ballot materials including
duplicate ballots during the voting period.13
Any election official who releases the results of any election prior to the closing of the polls in that
county on election day commits a felony of the third degree.14 No similar penalty applies to unofficial
observers of the duplication process or those inspecting or reviewing ballot materials.
9 House video archive of Feb. 9, 2021, committee meeting, found at
https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/VideoPlay er.aspx?event ID=6711 (last visited Feb. 3, 2022).
10 https://dos.myflorida.com/elections/contacts/elections -fraud-complaint/ (last visited Feb. 3, 2022).
11 Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019). Irregularity in the context of the bill consists of omitting to do something that is
necessary for the due and orderly conduct of a matter, or doing it in an improper manner. It would include violations of
Department rules and other non-criminal official misfeasance and neglect of duty.
12 S. 101.5614(4)(a), F.S.
13 S. 101.572(2), F.S.
14 S. 101,5614(8), F.S.
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Effect of Proposed Changes
The bill requires persons authorized to observe the duplication of ballots to sign an affidavit affirming
his or her acknowledgement that disclosure of election results discerned from the observation process
while the election is ongoing is a felony. The bill adds those observers, as well as non-officials
authorized to review and inspect ballot materials, to the list of persons subject to criminal sanction for
early release of voting results.
Ballot Harvesting; Initiative Petition Violations
Present Situation
Presently, it is a misdemeanor of the first degree for any person to distribute, order, request, collect,
deliver, or otherwise physically possess more than two VBM ballots per election in addition to his or her
own ballot or a ballot belonging to an immediate family member. Exceptions include supervised voting
at assisted living facilities and nursing home facilities. 15 “Immediate family” means a person’s spouse or
the parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling of the person or the person’s spouse.16
Two forms of petition fraud are presently misdemeanors of the first degree: knowingly signing a petition
or petitions for a candidate, a minor political party, or an issue more than one time; and signing another
person’s name or a fictitious name to any petition to secure ballot position for a candidate, a minor
political party, or an issue.17
It is also a misdemeanor of the first degree to compensate a petition circulator based on the number of
petition forms gathered. Employment relationships that do not base payment on the number of
signatures collected are not prohibited.18
Effect of Proposed Changes
CS/HB 7061 makes the act of distributing, ordering, requesting, collecting, delivering, or otherwise
physically possessing more than two VBM ballots per election a felony of the third degree. The bill
provides that such a violation is punishable as a level one violation on the offense severity ranking
chart.19
The bill also makes the following acts felonies of the third degree:
Knowingly signing more than one ballot or signing another person’s name on a ballot,
Signing another person’s name or a fictitious name to a petition, and
Compensating a petition circulator, other than employment relationships that do not base
payment on the number of signatures collected.
Registration Violations of Third-Party Voter Registration Organizations
Present situation
Third-party voter registration organizations (3PVROs) that collect voter registration applications are
regulated by law and such organizations serve as a fiduciary to the applicant. They must ensure that
any voter registration application entrusted to the organization, irrespective of party affiliation, race,
ethnicity, or gender, is promptly delivered to the Division or the SOE in the county in which the
applicant resides within 14 days after the application was completed by the applicant, but not after
registration closes for the next ensuing election.20
15 S. 104.0616, F.S.
16 S. 104.0616(2), F.S.
17 S. 104.185, F.S.
18 S. 104.186, F.S.
19 S. 921.0022(3), F.S.
20 S. 97.0575(3)(a), F.S.
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3PVROs must notify applicants at the time the application is collected that the organization might not
deliver the application to the Division or the SOE in the county in which the applicant resides in less
than the specified time and must advise the applicant that he or she may deliver the application in
person or by mail. The 3PVRO must also inform the applicant of how to register online with the Division
and how to determine whether the application has been delivered. If a voter registration application
collected by any 3PVRO is not promptly delivered to the Division or SOE in the county in which the
applicant resides, the 3PVRO is subject to monetary fine.21
Current fines that may be levied against the 3PVRO include the following:
A fine in the amount of $50 for each application received by the Division or the SOE in the
county in which the applicant resides more than 14 days after the applicant delivered the
completed voter registration application to 3PVRO or any person, entity, or agent acting on its
behalf. A fine in the amount of $250 for each application received if the 3PVRO or person,
entity, or agency acting on its behalf acted willfully.
A fine in the amount of $100 for each application collected by a 3PVRO or any person, entity, or
agent acting on its behalf, before book closing for any given election for federal or state office
and received by the Division or the SOE in the county in which the applicant resides after the
book-closing deadline for such election. A fine in the amount of $500 for each application
received if the 3PVRO or person, entity, or agency acting on its behalf acted willfully.
A fine in the amount of $500 for each application collected by a 3PVRO or any person, entity, or
agent acting on its behalf, which is not submitted to the Division or SOE in the county in which
the applicant resides. A fine in the amount of $1,000 for any application not submitted if the
3PVRO or person, entity, or agency acting on its behalf acted willfully.
The aggregate of all fines which may be assessed against a 3PVRO, including affiliated organizations,
for all violations committed in a calendar year is limited to $1,000. 22
Effect of Proposed Changes
CS/HB 7061 raises the aggregate fine for all violations that may be assessed against a 3PVRO and
affiliated organization in a calendar year from $1,000 to $50,000. The bill leaves the penalty for each
offense unchanged. To reach the cap, an organization would have to be responsible, for example, for
filing 200 applications too late for the applicants to vote in an election.
The bill also creates a new fine of $1,000 for a 3PVRO per altered application when a person collecting
applications