Florida Senate - 2011                                     SB 860
       
       
       
       By Senator Joyner
       
       
       
       
       18-00420A-11                                           2011860__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the presidential preference
    3         primary; amending s. 103.101, F.S.; revising dates
    4         relating to the presidential preference primary;
    5         providing an effective date.
    6  
    7  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    8  
    9         Section 1. Subsections (1), (2), (3), and (6) of section
   10  103.101, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   11         103.101 Presidential preference primary.—
   12         (1) Each political party other than a minor political party
   13  shall, on the first last Tuesday in March January in each year
   14  the number of which is a multiple of 4, elect one person to be
   15  the candidate for nomination of such party for President of the
   16  United States or select delegates to the national nominating
   17  convention, as provided by party rule.
   18         (2)(a) There shall be a Presidential Candidate Selection
   19  Committee composed of the Secretary of State, who shall be a
   20  nonvoting chair; the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
   21  the President of the Senate; the minority leader of each house
   22  of the Legislature; and the chair of each political party
   23  required to have a presidential preference primary under this
   24  section.
   25         (b) By December October 31 of the year preceding the
   26  Florida presidential preference primary, each political party
   27  shall submit to the Secretary of State a list of its
   28  presidential candidates to be placed on the presidential
   29  preference primary ballot or candidates entitled to have
   30  delegates appear on the presidential preference primary ballot.
   31  The Secretary of State shall prepare and publish a list of the
   32  names of the presidential candidates submitted. The Secretary of
   33  State shall submit such list of names of presidential candidates
   34  to the selection committee on the first Tuesday after the first
   35  Monday in January each November of the year that a preceding the
   36  presidential preference primary election is held. Each person
   37  designated as a presidential candidate shall have his or her
   38  name appear, or have his or her delegates’ names appear, on the
   39  presidential preference primary ballot unless all committee
   40  members of the same political party as the candidate agree to
   41  delete such candidate’s name from the ballot.
   42         (c) The selection committee shall meet in Tallahassee on
   43  the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January each
   44  November of the year that a preceding the presidential
   45  preference primary is held. The selection committee shall
   46  publicly announce and submit to the Department of State no later
   47  than 5 p.m. on the following day the names of presidential
   48  candidates who shall have their names appear, or who are
   49  entitled to have their delegates’ names appear, on the
   50  presidential preference primary ballot. The Department of State
   51  shall immediately notify each presidential candidate designated
   52  by the committee. Such notification shall be in writing, by
   53  registered mail, with return receipt requested.
   54         (3) A candidate’s name shall be printed on the presidential
   55  preference primary ballot unless the candidate submits to the
   56  Department of State, prior to the second Tuesday after the first
   57  Monday in January November of the year preceding the
   58  presidential preference primary, an affidavit stating that he or
   59  she is not now, and does not presently intend to become, a
   60  candidate for President at the upcoming nominating convention.
   61  If a candidate withdraws pursuant to this subsection, the
   62  Department of State shall notify the state executive committee
   63  that the candidate’s name will not be placed on the ballot. The
   64  Department of State shall, no later than the third Tuesday after
   65  the first Monday in January November of the year preceding the
   66  presidential preference primary, certify to each supervisor of
   67  elections the name of each candidate for political party
   68  nomination to be printed on the ballot.
   69         (6) Delegates must qualify no later than the second Friday
   70  in January November of the year preceding the presidential
   71  preference primary in the manner provided by party rule.
   72         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.