Senate Bill sb0152c1
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Florida Senate - 2001 CS for SB 152
By the Committee on Ethics and Elections; and Senators Dawson,
Campbell and Miller
313-1674-01
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to elections; amending s.
3 97.041, F.S.; providing for automatic
4 restoration of former felons' right to vote
5 following completion and satisfaction of
6 sentence of incarceration and community
7 supervision; providing conditions on such
8 automatic restoration; amending ss. 97.052,
9 97.053, 98.0975, F.S., to conform; providing a
10 conditional effective date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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14 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
15 97.041, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
16 97.041 Qualifications to register or vote.--
17 (2) The following persons, who might be otherwise
18 qualified, are not entitled to register or vote:
19 (b) A person who has been convicted of any felony by
20 any court of record; however, such a person's right to
21 register or vote is automatically restored by operation of
22 law, for nonviolent felons, 1 year after completion and
23 satisfaction of all sentences imposed upon such person or, for
24 violent felons, 5 years after completion and satisfaction of
25 all sentences imposed upon such person. For the purposes of
26 this paragraph, "completion and satisfaction of all sentences"
27 occurs when a person is released from incarceration upon
28 expiration of sentence and has paid all court costs and
29 court-ordered restitution and has achieved or completed all
30 other nonmonetary terms and conditions of the sentence or
31 subsequent supervision or, if the person has not been
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Florida Senate - 2001 CS for SB 152
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1 incarcerated for the felony offense, has paid all court costs
2 and court-ordered restitution and has achieved or completed
3 all nonmonetary terms and conditions of community supervision
4 imposed by a court and who has not had his or her right to
5 vote restored pursuant to law. If a majority of the Board of
6 Executive Clemency objects before the automatic restoration of
7 the right to register or vote, such rights shall be restored
8 only upon application to, and approval by, the Board of
9 Executive Clemency.
10 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 97.052, Florida
11 Statutes, is amended to read:
12 97.052 Uniform statewide voter registration
13 application.--
14 (2) The uniform statewide voter registration
15 application must be designed to elicit the following
16 information from the applicant:
17 (a) Full name.
18 (b) Date of birth.
19 (c) Address of legal residence.
20 (d) Mailing address, if different.
21 (e) County of legal residence.
22 (f) Address of property for which the applicant has
23 been granted a homestead exemption, if any.
24 (g) Race or ethnicity that best describes the
25 applicant:
26 1. American Indian or Alaskan Native.
27 2. Asian or Pacific Islander.
28 3. Black, not Hispanic.
29 4. White, not Hispanic.
30 5. Hispanic.
31 (h) Sex.
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Florida Senate - 2001 CS for SB 152
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1 (i) Party affiliation.
2 (j) Whether the applicant needs assistance in voting.
3 (k) Name and address where last registered.
4 (l) Last four digits of the applicant's social
5 security number.
6 (m) Florida driver's license number or the
7 identification number from a Florida identification card
8 issued under s. 322.051.
9 (n) Telephone number (optional).
10 (o) Signature of applicant under penalty for false
11 swearing pursuant to s. 104.011, by which the person
12 subscribes to the oath required by s. 3, Art. VI of the State
13 Constitution and s. 97.051, and swears or affirms that the
14 information contained in the registration application is true.
15 (p) Whether the application is being used for initial
16 registration, to update a voter registration record, or to
17 request a replacement registration identification card.
18 (q) Whether the applicant is a citizen of the United
19 States.
20 (r) That the applicant has not been convicted of a
21 felony or, if convicted, has had his or her voting civil
22 rights restored.
23 (s) That the applicant has not been adjudicated
24 mentally incapacitated with respect to voting or, if so
25 adjudicated, has had his or her right to vote restored.
26
27 The registration form must be in plain language and designed
28 so that convicted felons whose voting civil rights have been
29 restored and persons who have been adjudicated mentally
30 incapacitated and have had their voting rights restored are
31 not required to reveal their prior conviction or adjudication.
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Florida Senate - 2001 CS for SB 152
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1 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
2 97.053, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
3 97.053 Acceptance of voter registration
4 applications.--
5 (5)(a) A voter registration application is complete if
6 it contains:
7 1. The applicant's name.
8 2. The applicant's legal residence address.
9 3. The applicant's date of birth.
10 4. An indication that the applicant is a citizen of
11 the United States.
12 5. The last four digits of the applicant's social
13 security number.
14 6. An indication that the applicant has not been
15 convicted of a felony or that, if convicted, has had his or
16 her voting civil rights restored.
17 7. An indication that the applicant has not been
18 adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting or
19 that, if so adjudicated, has had his or her right to vote
20 restored.
21 8. Signature of the applicant swearing or affirming
22 under the penalty for false swearing pursuant to s. 104.011
23 that the information contained in the registration application
24 is true and subscribing to the oath required by s. 3, Art. VI
25 of the State Constitution and s. 97.051.
26 Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 98.0975, Florida
27 Statutes, is amended to read:
28 98.0975 Central voter file; periodic list
29 maintenance.--
30 (1) By August 15, 1998, The division shall provide to
31 each county supervisor of elections a list containing the
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Florida Senate - 2001 CS for SB 152
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1 name, address, date of birth, race, gender, and any other
2 available information identifying the voter of each person
3 included in the central voter file as a registered voter in
4 the supervisor's county who:
5 (a) Is deceased;
6 (b) Has been convicted of a felony and has not had his
7 or her voting civil rights restored; or
8 (c) Has been adjudicated mentally incompetent and
9 whose mental capacity with respect to voting has not been
10 restored.
11 Section 5. This act shall take effect on the effective
12 date of Senate Joint Resolution No. 434 or another amendment
13 to the State Constitution which authorizes, or removes
14 impediments to, enactment of this act by the Legislature.
15
16 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
17 SB 152
18
19 The Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 152 differs from the
original bill in that it: provides that violent ex-felons
20 will have their right to vote restored by operation of law 5
years after completion and satisfaction of all sentences, not
21 1 year as the bill originally provided; makes paying court
costs and court-ordered restitution a condition of the
22 automatic restoration of voting rights.
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