Senate Bill sb0002A

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SCR 2-A

    By Senator Sullivan





    41-271F-01

  1              Senate Concurrent Resolution No. ____

  2         A concurrent resolution providing for the

  3         manner of appointing electors for President and

  4         Vice President of the United States; providing

  5         for the appointment of such electors; providing

  6         for the filling of vacancies.

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  8         WHEREAS, an election was held in this state on November

  9  7, 2000, for the purpose of selecting electors from Florida to

10  cast the state's vote for President and Vice President of the

11  United States of America on December 18, 2000, and

12         WHEREAS, Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of

13  the United States provides, in pertinent part, that "Each

14  State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof

15  may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of

16  Senators and Representatives to which the State may be

17  entitled in the Congress," and

18         WHEREAS, Section 5 of Title 3 of the United States Code

19  provides:

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21         "If any State shall have provided, by laws

22         enacted prior to the day fixed for the

23         appointment of the electors, for its final

24         determination of any controversy or contest

25         concerning the appointment of all or any of the

26         electors of such State, by judicial or other

27         methods or procedures, and such determination

28         shall have been made at least six days before

29         the time fixed for the meeting of the electors,

30         such determination made pursuant to such law so

31         existing on said day, and made at least six

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SCR 2-A
    41-271F-01




  1         days prior to said time of meeting of the

  2         electors, shall be conclusive, and shall govern

  3         in the counting of the electoral votes as

  4         provided in the Constitution, and as

  5         hereinafter regulated, so far as the

  6         ascertainment of the electors appointed by such

  7         State is concerned," and

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  9         WHEREAS, the names of the electors who were appointed

10  following the Florida Secretary of State's certification on

11  November 26, 2000, were forwarded to Congress by the Governor

12  of the State of Florida with a certificate of ascertainment

13  pursuant to a timetable and scheme dictated by the November

14  21, 2000, decision of the Florida Supreme Court, and that

15  decision has been vacated by the December 4, 2000, ruling of

16  the Supreme Court of the United States, thus increasing the

17  uncertainty and confusion regarding the validity of the

18  appointment of those electors, and

19         WHEREAS, the electors who were appointed on November

20  26, 2000, are the same electors as those who would have been

21  appointed pursuant to a certification made on November 17,

22  2000, had the Florida Secretary of State been allowed to do

23  so, and

24         WHEREAS, it appears that there exists a reasonable risk

25  that the Congress of the United States, in exercising its

26  counting powers pursuant to the Twelfth Amendment of the

27  Constitution of the United States and Title 3 of the United

28  States Code over the votes cast for President and Vice

29  President by the members of the Electoral College, may

30  determine that the election held in this state for the purpose

31  of choosing electors has failed to make a choice on the day

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SCR 2-A
    41-271F-01




  1  prescribed by law because contests and controversies have

  2  arisen concerning that election, and that the Congress may

  3  decide that those contests and controversies either were not

  4  finally determined by December 12, 2000, or that such

  5  determination was not pursuant to pre-existing election law or

  6  was not in compliance with Article II, Section 1, of the

  7  United States Constitution, and that accordingly Congress may

  8  not count the votes of the 25 electors already certified and

  9  sent to the Congress by the Governor of the State of Florida,

10  and

11         WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature wishes to fulfill its

12  constitutional obligation to ensure that Florida's six million

13  voters are not disenfranchised and that its 25 electoral votes

14  will be counted by Congress, and

15         WHEREAS, Section 2 of Title 3 of the United States Code

16  provides that "Whenever any State has held an election for the

17  purpose of choosing electors, and has failed to make a choice

18  on the day prescribed by law, the electors may be appointed on

19  a subsequent day in such a manner as the legislature of such

20  State may direct," NOW, THEREFORE,

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22  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida, the

23  House of Representatives Concurring:

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25         That the manner that the Florida Legislature directs

26  that electors for President and Vice President of the United

27  States of America be appointed in the year 2000 is by

28  appointment by the Florida Legislature.

29         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Florida Legislature

30  hereby appoints as the 25 electors for President and Vice

31  President of the United States of America, such number being

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  1  equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to

  2  which the State of Florida is entitled in the Congress the

  3  following named persons: Charles W. Kane, Maria De La Milera,

  4  Sandra M. Faulkner, H. Gary Morse, Armando Codina, Carole Jean

  5  Jordan, Tom Slade, Marsha Nippert, Robert L. Woody, John

  6  Thrasher, Mel Martinez, Feliciano M. Foyo, Al Hoffman, Alfred

  7  S. Austin, Thomas C. Feeney, III, John M. McKay, Cynthia M.

  8  Handley, Darryl K. Sharpton, Dr. Adam W. Herbert, Berta J.

  9  Moralejo, Jeanne Barber Godwin, Deborah L. Brooks, Dr. Dorsey

10  C. Miller, Glenda E. Hood, and Dawn Guzzetta.

11         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, if for any reason an

12  elector appointed by this resolution is unable to serve

13  because of death, incapacity, or otherwise, the Governor of

14  the State of Florida may appoint a person to fill such vacancy

15  who is a citizen of the State of Florida, who was registered

16  and otherwise eligible to vote in the general election held on

17  November 7, 2000, and who is not prohibited from serving as an

18  elector under Article II, Section 1, of the United States

19  Constitution.

20         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each elector for President

21  and Vice President of the United States appointed by this

22  resolution shall, before 10 a.m. on December 18, 2000, give

23  notice to the Governor of the State of Florida that such

24  elector is in Tallahassee and ready to perform the duties of

25  an elector for President and Vice President of the United

26  States, and if it shall be found that one or more electors

27  appointed pursuant to this concurrent resolution are absent,

28  the electors present, subject to the provisions of section

29  103.061, Florida Statutes, shall elect by ballot, in the

30  presence of the Governor, a person or persons to fill such

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SCR 2-A
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  1  vacancy or vacancies as may have occurred through the

  2  nonattendance of the elector.

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