HB 7009

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to petition procedures and standards;
3	amending s. 99.097; revising terminology relating to
4	verification of signatures on petitions; requiring name-
5	by-name, signature-by-signature verification of initiative
6	petitions and related petition revocations; providing
7	requirements for initiative sponsors filing a certificate
8	of undue burden; amending s. 100.371, F.S.; revising
9	procedures for placing an initiative on the ballot;
10	providing requirements for information to be contained in
11	petition forms; providing procedure for revocation of a
12	petition signature; providing regulation of initiative
13	petition circulators; providing private property rights
14	relating to activity on the property that supports or
15	opposes ballot initiatives; providing for verification of
16	signatures gathered before the effective date of the
17	changes made by this act to ss. 99.097 and 100.371, F.S.;
18	providing for severability; providing an effective date.
19
20	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22	Section 1.  Effective August 1, 2007, subsections (1), (3),
23	and (4) of section 99.097, Florida Statutes, are amended to
24	read:
25	99.097  Verification of signatures on petitions.--
26	(1)  As determined by each supervisor, based upon local
27	conditions, the verifying checking of signatures names on
28	petitions may be based on the most inexpensive and
29	administratively feasible of either of the following methods of
30	verification:
31	(a)  A name-by-name, signature-by-signature check of the
32	number of valid authorized signatures on the petitions; or
33	(b)  A check of a random sample, as provided by the
34	Department of State, of names and signatures on the petitions.
35	The sample must be such that a determination can be made as to
36	whether or not the required number of valid signatures has have
37	been obtained with a reliability of at least 99.5 percent. Rules
38	and guidelines for this method of petition verification shall be
39	promulgated by the Department of State, which may include a
40	requirement that petitions bear an additional number of names
41	and signatures, not to exceed 15 percent of the names and valid
42	signatures otherwise required. If the petitions do not meet such
43	criteria, then the use of the verification method described in
44	this paragraph shall not be available to supervisors.
45
46	Notwithstanding subsection (2) or any other provision of law,
47	petitions to secure ballot placement for an initiative and
48	petition revocations directed thereto pursuant to s. 100.371
49	must be verified by the method provided in paragraph (a).
50	(3)(a)  A signature name on a petition of a, which name
51	that is not in substantially the same form as a name on the
52	voter registration books, shall be counted as a valid signature
53	if, after comparing the signature on the petition with the
54	signature of the alleged signer as shown on the registration
55	books, the supervisor determines that the person signing the
56	petition and the person who registered to vote are one and the
57	same. In any situation in which this code requires the form of
58	the petition to be prescribed by the division, no signature
59	shall be counted toward the number of signatures required unless
60	it is on a petition form prescribed by the division.
61	(b)  If a voter signs a petition and lists an address other
62	than the legal residence where the voter is registered, the
63	supervisor shall treat the signature as if the voter had listed
64	the address where the voter is registered.
65	(4)(a)  The supervisor shall be paid in advance the sum of
66	10 cents for each signature verified checked or the actual cost
67	of verifying checking such signature, whichever is less, by the
68	candidate or, in the case of a petition to have an issue placed
69	on the ballot by initiative, by the initiative sponsor person or
70	organization submitting the petition. However, if a candidate or
71	initiative sponsor, person, or organization seeking to have an
72	issue placed upon the ballot cannot pay such charges without
73	imposing an undue burden on personal resources or upon the
74	resources otherwise available to such candidate or initiative
75	sponsor, person, or organization, such candidate or initiative
76	sponsor, person, or organization shall, upon written
77	certification of such inability given under oath to the
78	supervisor, be entitled to have the signatures verified at no
79	charge. In the event a candidate or initiative sponsor, person,
80	or organization submitting a petition to have an issue placed
81	upon the ballot is entitled to have the signatures verified at
82	no charge, the supervisor of elections of each county in which
83	the signatures are verified at no charge shall submit the total
84	number of such signatures checked in the county to the Chief
85	Financial Officer no later than December 1 of the general
86	election year, and the Chief Financial Officer shall cause such
87	supervisor of elections to be reimbursed from the General
88	Revenue Fund in an amount equal to 10 cents for each signature
89	verified name checked or the actual cost of verifying checking
90	such signatures, whichever is less. In no event shall such
91	reimbursement of costs be deemed or applied as extra
92	compensation for the supervisor. Petitions shall be retained by
93	the supervisors for a period of 1 year following the election
94	for which the petitions were circulated.
95	(b)  An initiative sponsor that has filed a certification
96	of undue burden under paragraph (a) may not provide compensation
97	to any paid petition circulator, as defined in s. 100.371,
98	unless the initiative sponsor first pays all supervisors for
99	each signature verified or reimburses the General Revenue Fund
100	for such costs. If an initiative sponsor subject to this
101	paragraph provides compensation to a paid petition circulator
102	before the date the initiative sponsor pays all supervisors for
103	each signature verified or reimburses the General Revenue Fund
104	for such costs, no signature on a petition circulated by the
105	paid petition circulator before that date may be counted toward
106	the number of valid signatures required for ballot placement
107	until the initiative sponsor pays all supervisors for each
108	signature verified or reimburses the General Revenue Fund for
109	such costs.
110	Section 2.  Effective August 1, 2007, subsections (1) and
111	(3) of section 100.371, Florida Statutes, are amended,
112	subsection (6) is renumbered as subsection (10) and amended, and
113	new subsections (6) through (9) are added to that section, to
114	read:
115	100.371  Initiatives; procedure for placement on ballot;
116	private property rights.--
117	(1)  Constitutional amendments proposed by initiative shall
118	be placed on the ballot for the general election, provided the
119	initiative petition has been filed with the Secretary of State
120	no later than February 1 of the year the general election is
121	held. A petition shall be deemed to be filed with the Secretary
122	of State upon the date the secretary determines that valid and
123	verified the petition forms have has been signed by the
124	constitutionally required number and distribution of electors
125	pursuant to this code, subject to the right of revocation
126	established in this section.
127	(3)(a)  Each signature shall be dated when made and shall
128	be valid for a period of 4 years after following such date,
129	provided all other requirements of law are met. The sponsor
130	shall submit signed and dated forms to the appropriate
131	supervisor of elections for verification as to the number of
132	registered electors whose valid signatures appear thereon. The
133	supervisor shall promptly verify the signatures within 30 days
134	after receipt of the petition forms and upon payment of the fee
135	required by s. 99.097. The supervisor shall promptly record each
136	valid signature in the statewide voter registration system, in
137	the manner prescribed by the Secretary of State, the date each
138	form is received by the supervisor and the date the signature on
139	the form is verified as valid. The supervisor shall verify that
140	the signature on a form is valid only if the form complies with
141	the following:
142	1.  The form shall contain the original signature of the
143	purported elector.
144	2.  The purported elector shall accurately record on the
145	form the date on which he or she signed the form.
146	3.  The date the purported elector signed the form, as
147	recorded by the purported elector, shall be no more than 30 days
148	before the date the form is received by the supervisor of
149	elections.
150	4.  The form shall accurately set forth the purported
151	elector's name, legal residence address, county, and voter
152	registration number or date of birth.
153	5.  The purported elector shall be, at the time he or she
154	signs the form, a duly qualified and registered elector
155	authorized to vote in the county in which his or her signature
156	is submitted.
157	(b)  The supervisor shall retain the signature forms for at
158	least 1 year after following the election in which the issue
159	appeared on the ballot or until the Division of Elections
160	notifies the supervisors of elections that the committee which
161	circulated the petition is no longer seeking to obtain ballot
162	position.
163	(6)(a)  An elector's signature on a petition form may be
164	revoked by submitting to the appropriate supervisor of elections
165	a signed petition-revocation form adopted by rule for this
166	purpose by the division.
167	(b)  The petition-revocation form and the manner in which
168	signatures are obtained, submitted, and verified shall be
169	subject to the same relevant requirements and timeframes as the
170	corresponding petition form and processes under this code and
171	shall be approved by the Secretary of State before any signature
172	on a petition-revocation form is obtained.
173	(c)  Supervisors of elections shall provide petition-
174	revocation forms to the public at all main and branch offices.
175	(d)  The petition-revocation form shall be filed with the
176	supervisor of elections by February 1 preceding the next general
177	election or, if the initiative amendment is not certified for
178	ballot position in that election, by February 1 preceding the
179	next successive general election. The supervisor of elections
180	shall promptly verify the signature on the petition-revocation
181	form and process such revocation upon payment, in advance, of a
182	fee of 10 cents or the actual cost of verifying such signature,
183	whichever is less. The supervisor shall promptly record each
184	valid and verified petition-revocation form in the statewide
185	voter registration system in the manner prescribed by the
186	Secretary of State.
187	(7)(a)  If a person is presented with a petition form or
188	petition-revocation form for his or her possible signature by a
189	petition circulator, the person shall record this fact on the
190	form and the name and address of the petition circulator shall
191	legibly appear on the form before the signature on the form may
192	be verified by the supervisor. For purposes of this subsection,
193	the term "petition circulator" means any person who, in the
194	context of a direct face-to-face conversation, presents to
195	another person for his or her possible signature a petition form
196	or petition-revocation form regarding ballot placement for an
197	initiative.
198	(b)  A paid petition circulator shall, when engaged in the
199	activities of a petition circulator described in paragraph (a),
200	wear a prominent badge, in a form and manner prescribed by rule
201	by the division, identifying him or her as a paid petition
202	circulator. For purposes of this subsection, the term "paid
203	petition circulator" means a petition circulator who receives
204	any compensation as a direct or indirect consequence of the
205	activities of a petition circulator described in paragraph (a).
206	(c)  No petition circulator may receive, and no person may
207	provide to a petition circulator, compensation that is based,
208	directly or indirectly, upon the number of signatures obtained
209	on petition or petition-revocation forms.
210	(8)  A signed petition form or petition-revocation form
211	regarding ballot placement for an initiative that does not fully
212	comply with the applicable provisions of this code or the rules
213	adopted under this code, or that was obtained in violation of
214	the applicable provisions of this code or the rules adopted
215	under this code, may be verified by the supervisor of elections
216	and counted toward the number of valid signatures required for
217	ballot placement only if those deficiencies or violations are
218	corrected prior to the date specified in subsection (1).
219	(9)  No provision of this code shall be deemed to prohibit
220	a private person exercising lawful control over privately owned
221	property, including property held open to the public for the
222	purposes of a commercial enterprise, from excluding from such
223	property persons seeking to engage in activity supporting or
224	opposing initiative amendments.
225	(10)(6)  The Department of State may adopt rules in
226	accordance with s. 120.54 to carry out the provisions of
227	subsections (1)-(9) (1)-(5).
228	Section 3.  Any signature gathered on a previously approved
229	initiative petition form that has been submitted for
230	verification before August 1, 2007, may be verified and counted,
231	if otherwise valid. However, any initiative petition form that
232	is submitted for verification on or after that date may be
233	verified and counted only if it complies with this act and has
234	been approved by the Secretary of State before obtaining elector
235	signatures.
236	Section 4.  If any provision of this act or its application
237	to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity
238	does not affect other provisions or applications of the act that
239	can be given effect without the invalid provision or
240	application, and to this end the provisions of this act are
241	severable.
242	Section 5.  Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
243	act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.