| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to elections; amending s. 101.6952, F.S.; |
| 3 | revising responsibilities of the supervisor of elections |
| 4 | when an overseas voter's request for an absentee ballot |
| 5 | includes an e-mail address; requiring the supervisor to |
| 6 | record the e-mail address in the absentee ballot record |
| 7 | and, via e-mail, confirm that the request was received, |
| 8 | inform the voter of the estimated date the ballot will be |
| 9 | sent, and notify the voter when the absentee ballot is |
| 10 | received; amending s. 101.697, F.S.; providing that an |
| 11 | overseas voter may request an absentee ballot and transmit |
| 12 | the voted ballot by facsimile or electronic mail; |
| 13 | providing that an overseas voter may request an absentee |
| 14 | ballot, vote, and return the ballot by other secured |
| 15 | transmission when certain criteria are met; requiring the |
| 16 | Department of State to adopt rules establishing the |
| 17 | process for accepting voted absentee ballots via |
| 18 | facsimile, e-mail, or other secure electronic means; |
| 19 | establishing minimum criteria; deleting existing |
| 20 | provisions relating to electronic transmission of election |
| 21 | materials to conform; providing an effective date. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 24 |
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| 25 | Section 1. Section 101.6952, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 26 | to read: |
| 27 | 101.6952 Absentee ballots for overseas voters.-- |
| 28 | (1) If an overseas voter's request for an absentee ballot |
| 29 | includes an e-mail address, the supervisor of elections shall: |
| 30 | (a) Record the voter's e-mail address in the absentee |
| 31 | ballot record; |
| 32 | (b) Confirm via e-mail that the absentee ballot request |
| 33 | was received and include in that e-mail the estimated date the |
| 34 | ballot will be sent to the voter; |
| 35 | (c) Inform the voter of the names of candidates who will |
| 36 | be on the ballots via electronic transmission. The supervisor of |
| 37 | elections shall e-mail to the voter the list of candidates for |
| 38 | the primary and general election not later than 30 days before |
| 39 | each election; and |
| 40 | (d) E-mail the voter when the voted absentee ballot is |
| 41 | received by the supervisor of elections. |
| 42 | (2) For absentee ballots received from overseas voters, |
| 43 | there is a presumption that the envelope was mailed on the date |
| 44 | stated on the outside of the return envelope, regardless of the |
| 45 | absence of a postmark on the mailed envelope or the existence of |
| 46 | a postmark date that is later than the date of the election. |
| 47 | Section 2. Section 101.697, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 48 | to read: |
| 49 | 101.697 Electronic transmission of election materials.-- |
| 50 | (1) An overseas voter may request an absentee ballot and |
| 51 | transmit a voted absentee ballot via facsimile or electronic |
| 52 | mail to a supervisor of elections. |
| 53 | (2) An overseas voter may request an absentee ballot, |
| 54 | vote, and return a voted absentee ballot by other secured |
| 55 | transmission, provided the voting system process has been |
| 56 | approved by the Department of State. The department shall adopt |
| 57 | rules for the submission and approval of the secured |
| 58 | transmission process. |
| 59 | (3) The department shall adopt rules that provide the |
| 60 | process for accepting the voted absentee ballot via facsimile, |
| 61 | e-mail, or other secure electronic means. The rules must provide |
| 62 | at a minimum, the process for verifying the voter, establishing |
| 63 | the security of the transmission of the voted absentee ballot, |
| 64 | and recording the voted absentee ballot once received. The |
| 65 | Department of State shall determine whether secure electronic |
| 66 | means can be established for receiving ballots from overseas |
| 67 | voters. If such security can be established, the department |
| 68 | shall adopt rules to authorize a supervisor of elections to |
| 69 | accept from an overseas voter a request for an absentee ballot |
| 70 | or a voted absentee ballot by secure facsimile machine |
| 71 | transmission or other secure electronic means. The rules must |
| 72 | provide that in order to accept a voted ballot, the verification |
| 73 | of the voter must be established, the security of the |
| 74 | transmission must be established, and each ballot received must |
| 75 | be recorded. |
| 76 | Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |