Florida Senate - 2016                                    SB 1698
       
       
        
       By Senator Soto
       
       14-01159A-16                                          20161698__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to elections; amending s. 100.032,
    3         F.S.; requiring a supervisor of elections to submit an
    4         election preparation report to the Department of State
    5         within a specified time; requiring the department to
    6         post the report on its website; amending s. 101.001,
    7         F.S.; requiring a notice of intended changes to
    8         precinct boundaries and polling places to be posted on
    9         the websites of the department and supervisor of
   10         elections within a specified time; requiring a
   11         description of changes to precinct boundaries or
   12         location of polling places to be posted on a
   13         supervisor’s website within a specified time; creating
   14         s. 101.0215, F.S.; requiring that primary elections be
   15         open to all qualified electors, notwithstanding the
   16         presence of a write-in candidate; amending s. 102.031,
   17         F.S.; prohibiting certain private property owners from
   18         restricting access to polling places or early voting
   19         sites located on their property during certain
   20         periods; providing an effective date.
   21  
   22         WHEREAS, if all candidates for an office have the same
   23  party affiliation and the winner will have no opposition in the
   24  general election, Section 5(b) of Article VI of the State
   25  Constitution specifies that, “all qualified electors, regardless
   26  of party affiliation, may vote in the primary elections for that
   27  office,” and
   28         WHEREAS, although an open primary is required for races in
   29  which all candidates have the same party affiliation and the
   30  winner will have no opposition in the general election, the
   31  State Constitution does not prohibit the Legislature from
   32  establishing an open primary for races in which all candidates
   33  whose names appear on the ballot have the same party affiliation
   34  but the winner will have only one or more write-in candidates as
   35  opposition in the general election, NOW, THEREFORE,
   36  
   37  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   38  
   39         Section 1. Section 100.032, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   40  read:
   41         100.032 Election preparation report; general election.—At
   42  least 3 months before a general election, each supervisor of
   43  elections shall must post a report on his or her official
   44  website and submit to the department, a report that at least 3
   45  months before a general election which outlines preparations for
   46  the upcoming general election. The report must include, at a
   47  minimum, the following elements: the anticipated staffing levels
   48  during the early voting period, on election day and after
   49  election day; and the anticipated amount of automatic tabulating
   50  equipment at each early voting site and polling place. The
   51  department shall post the report on its official website upon
   52  receipt from the supervisor.
   53         Section 2. Subsection (1) and paragraph (a) of subsection
   54  (4) of section 101.001, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   55         101.001 Precincts and polling places; boundaries.—
   56         (1)(a) The board of county commissioners in each county,
   57  upon recommendation and approval of the supervisor, shall alter
   58  or create precincts for voting in the county. Each precinct
   59  shall be numbered and, as nearly as practicable, composed of
   60  contiguous and compact areas. The supervisor shall designate a
   61  polling place at a suitable location within each precinct. The
   62  precinct shall not be changed thereafter except with the consent
   63  of the supervisor and a majority of the members of the board of
   64  county commissioners. The board of county commissioners and the
   65  supervisor may have precinct boundaries conform to municipal
   66  boundaries in accordance with the provisions of s. 101.002, but,
   67  in any event, the registration books shall be maintained in such
   68  a manner that there may be determined therefrom the total number
   69  of electors in each municipality.
   70         (b) At least 60 days before a board of county commissioners
   71  approves or rejects the alteration or creation of a precinct,
   72  and at least 60 days before the supervisor changes the location
   73  of a polling place within a precinct, the supervisor shall
   74  notify the department of the intended change. The supervisor and
   75  the department shall make information regarding the intended
   76  change available on their respective websites.
   77         (4)(a) Within 10 days after there is any change in the
   78  division, number, or boundaries of the precincts, or the
   79  location of the polling places, the supervisor of elections
   80  shall make in writing an accurate description of any new or
   81  altered precincts, setting forth the boundary lines and shall
   82  identify the location of each new or altered polling place. A
   83  copy of the document describing such changes shall be posted at
   84  the supervisor’s office and on the supervisor’s official
   85  website.
   86         Section 3. Section 101.0215, Florida Statutes, is created
   87  to read:
   88         101.0215 Write-in candidates; effect on primary elections.
   89  If a primary election would, if not for the presence of one or
   90  more write-in candidates, be open to all qualified electors
   91  pursuant to s. 5(b), Art. VI of the State Constitution, the
   92  primary election must be open to all qualified electors.
   93         Section 4. Paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of section
   94  102.031, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (a) of that
   95  subsection is republished, to read:
   96         102.031 Maintenance of good order at polls; authorities;
   97  persons allowed in polling rooms and early voting areas;
   98  unlawful solicitation of voters.—
   99         (4)(a) No person, political committee, or other group or
  100  organization may solicit voters inside the polling place or
  101  within 100 feet of the entrance to any polling place, a polling
  102  room where the polling place is also a polling room, an early
  103  voting site, or an office of the supervisor of elections where
  104  absentee ballots are requested and printed on demand for the
  105  convenience of electors who appear in person to request them.
  106  Before the opening of the polling place or early voting site,
  107  the clerk or supervisor shall designate the no-solicitation zone
  108  and mark the boundaries.
  109         (d) Except as provided in paragraph (a), the supervisor or
  110  the owner of any private property being used by the supervisor,
  111  during the period that the private property is being used as a
  112  polling place or an early voting site, may not designate a no
  113  solicitation zone or otherwise restrict access to any person,
  114  political committee, committee of continuous existence,
  115  candidate, or other group or organization for the purposes of
  116  soliciting voters. This paragraph applies to any public or
  117  private property used as a polling place or early voting site,
  118  including public or private property located outside of the no
  119  solicitation zone.
  120         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.