Florida Senate - 2017 SB 224
By Senator Artiles
40-00247A-17 2017224__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Florida Election Code; amending
3 s. 101.051, F.S.; specifying the manner in which a
4 person providing assistance to an elector in casting a
5 ballot must read the ballot’s contents; increasing
6 penalties for unlawfully providing assistance to an
7 elector, or soliciting to provide assistance to an
8 elector; providing a penalty for giving anything of
9 value in an effort to provide assistance to an
10 elector; amending s. 101.131, F.S.; specifying
11 requirements with respect to the layout of a polling
12 room or early voting area; prohibiting an election
13 official from obstructing a poll watcher under certain
14 circumstances; adding elected officials to the list of
15 persons prohibited from being designated as poll
16 watchers; amending s. 102.031, F.S.; revising the
17 circumstances under which the no-solicitation zone
18 surrounding a polling place, early voting site, or
19 supervisor of election’s office exists; providing a
20 penalty for unlawfully soliciting a voter; deleting an
21 obsolete term; providing a penalty for unlawfully
22 photographing in a polling room or early voting area;
23 providing an effective date.
24
25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27 Section 1. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 101.051,
28 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
29 101.051 Electors seeking assistance in casting ballots;
30 oath to be executed; forms to be furnished.—
31 (1) Any elector applying to vote in any election who
32 requires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability,
33 or inability to read or write may request the assistance of two
34 election officials or some other person of the elector’s own
35 choice, other than the elector’s employer, an agent of the
36 employer, or an officer or agent of his or her union, to assist
37 the elector in casting his or her vote. Any such elector, before
38 retiring to the voting booth, may have one of such persons read
39 over to him or her, without suggestion or interference, the
40 titles of the offices to be filled and the candidates therefor
41 and the issues on the ballot fully and in their entirety. After
42 the elector requests the aid of the two election officials or
43 the person of the elector’s choice, they shall retire to the
44 voting booth for the purpose of casting the elector’s vote
45 according to the elector’s choice.
46 (2) It is unlawful for any person to be in the voting booth
47 with any elector except as provided in subsection (1). A person
48 at a polling place or early voting site, or within 100 feet of
49 the entrance of a polling place or early voting site, may not
50 solicit any elector in an effort to provide assistance to vote
51 pursuant to subsection (1). A person may not give anything of
52 value that is redeemable in cash to any elector in an effort to
53 provide assistance to vote pursuant to subsection (1). Any
54 person who violates this subsection commits a felony misdemeanor
55 of the third first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082,
56 or s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
57 Section 2. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 101.131,
58 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
59 101.131 Watchers at polls.—
60 (1) Each political party and each candidate may have one
61 watcher in each polling room or early voting area at any one
62 time during the election. A political committee formed for the
63 specific purpose of expressly advocating the passage or defeat
64 of an issue on the ballot may have one watcher for each polling
65 room or early voting area at any one time during the election.
66 No watcher shall be permitted to come closer to the officials’
67 table or the voting booths than is reasonably necessary to
68 properly perform his or her functions, but each shall be allowed
69 within the polling room or early voting area to watch and
70 observe the conduct of electors and officials. The polling room
71 or early voting area shall be laid out in a manner so as to not
72 impede a poll watcher from the ability to observe the operations
73 of the polling place. An official may not obstruct a poll
74 watcher’s good faith performance of his or her functions so long
75 as the poll watcher is not disrupting the operations of the
76 polling place. The poll watchers shall furnish their own
77 materials and necessities and may shall not obstruct the orderly
78 conduct of any election. The poll watchers shall pose any
79 questions regarding polling place procedures directly to the
80 clerk for resolution. They may not interact with voters. Each
81 poll watcher shall be a qualified and registered elector of the
82 county in which he or she serves.
83 (3) An elected official, No candidate, or sheriff, deputy
84 sheriff, police officer, or other law enforcement officer may
85 not be designated as a poll watcher.
86 Section 3. Subsections (4) and (5) of section 102.031,
87 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
88 102.031 Maintenance of good order at polls; authorities;
89 persons allowed in polling rooms and early voting areas;
90 unlawful solicitation of voters.—
91 (4)(a) No person, political committee, or other group or
92 organization may solicit voters inside the polling place or
93 within 100 feet of the entrance to any polling place, a polling
94 room where the polling place is also a polling room, an early
95 voting site, or an office of the supervisor of elections where
96 vote-by-mail ballots are requested and printed on demand for the
97 convenience of electors who appear in person to request them,
98 during the hours of operation of such sites. The no-solicitation
99 zone also applies if voters are assembled in line at the time of
100 the official closing of the polls waiting to enter the polling
101 place, early voting site, or office. Before the opening of the
102 polling place or early voting site, the clerk or supervisor
103 shall designate the no-solicitation zone and mark the
104 boundaries. Any person who violates this paragraph commits a
105 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s.
106 775.082 or s. 775.083.
107 (b) For the purpose of this subsection, the terms “solicit”
108 or “solicitation” shall include, but not be limited to, seeking
109 or attempting to seek any vote, fact, opinion, or contribution;
110 distributing or attempting to distribute any political or
111 campaign material, leaflet, or handout; conducting a poll except
112 as specified in this paragraph; seeking or attempting to seek a
113 signature on any petition; and selling or attempting to sell any
114 item. The terms “solicit” or “solicitation” may not be construed
115 to prohibit exit polling.
116 (c) Each supervisor of elections shall inform the clerk of
117 the area within which soliciting is unlawful, based on the
118 particular characteristics of that polling place. The supervisor
119 or the clerk may take any reasonable action necessary to ensure
120 order at the polling places, including, but not limited to,
121 having disruptive and unruly persons removed by law enforcement
122 officers from the polling room or place or from the 100-foot
123 zone surrounding the polling place.
124 (d) Except as provided in paragraph (a), the supervisor may
125 not designate a no-solicitation zone or otherwise restrict
126 access to any person, political committee, committee of
127 continuous existence, candidate, or other group or organization
128 for the purposes of soliciting voters. This paragraph applies to
129 any public or private property used as a polling place or early
130 voting site.
131 (5) No Photography is prohibited permitted in the polling
132 room or early voting area. Any person who violates this
133 subsection commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable
134 as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
135 Section 4. This act shall take effect October 1, 2017.