Florida Senate - 2021 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 90
Ì955778fÎ955778
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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The Committee on Rules (Farmer) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 175 - 321
4 and insert:
5 Section 3. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (2) of
6 section 101.68, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
7 101.68 Canvassing of vote-by-mail ballot.—
8 (2)(a) The county canvassing board may begin the canvassing
9 of vote-by-mail ballots upon the completion of the public
10 testing of automatic tabulating equipment pursuant to s.
11 101.5612(2) at 7 a.m. on the 22nd day before the election, but
12 must begin such canvassing by no not later than noon on the day
13 following the election. In addition, for any county using
14 electronic tabulating equipment, the processing of vote-by-mail
15 ballots through such tabulating equipment may begin at 7 a.m. on
16 the 22nd day before the election. However, notwithstanding any
17 such authorization to begin canvassing or otherwise processing
18 vote-by-mail ballots early, no result shall be released until
19 after the closing of the polls in that county on election day.
20 Any supervisor, deputy supervisor, canvassing board member,
21 election board member, or election employee who releases the
22 results of a canvassing or processing of vote-by-mail ballots
23 prior to the closing of the polls in that county on election day
24 commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in
25 s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
26 (c)1. The canvassing board must, if the supervisor has not
27 already done so, compare the signature of the elector on the
28 voter’s certificate or on the vote-by-mail ballot cure affidavit
29 as provided in subsection (4) with the most recent signature of
30 the elector in the registration books or the precinct register
31 to see that the elector is duly registered in the county and to
32 determine the legality of that vote-by-mail ballot. A vote-by
33 mail ballot may only be counted if:
34 a. The signature on the voter’s certificate or the cure
35 affidavit matches the elector’s signature in the registration
36 books or precinct register; however, in the case of a cure
37 affidavit, the supporting identification listed in subsection
38 (4) must also confirm the identity of the elector; or
39 b. The cure affidavit contains a signature that does not
40 match the elector’s signature in the registration books or
41 precinct register, but the elector has submitted a current and
42 valid Tier 1 identification pursuant to subsection (4) which
43 confirms the identity of the elector.
44
45 For purposes of this subparagraph, any canvassing board finding
46 that an elector’s signatures do not match must be by majority
47 vote and beyond a reasonable doubt.
48 2. The ballot of an elector who casts a vote-by-mail ballot
49 shall be counted even if the elector dies on or before election
50 day, as long as, before the death of the voter, the ballot was
51 postmarked by the United States Postal Service, date-stamped
52 with a verifiable tracking number by a common carrier, or
53 already in the possession of the supervisor.
54 3. A vote-by-mail ballot is not considered illegal if the
55 signature of the elector does not cross the seal of the mailing
56 envelope.
57 4. If any elector or candidate present believes that a
58 vote-by-mail ballot is illegal due to a defect apparent on the
59 voter’s certificate or the cure affidavit, he or she may, at any
60 time before the ballot is removed from the envelope, file with
61 the canvassing board a protest against the canvass of that
62 ballot, specifying the precinct, the ballot, and the reason he
63 or she believes the ballot to be illegal. A challenge based upon
64 a defect in the voter’s certificate or cure affidavit may not be
65 accepted after the ballot has been removed from the mailing
66 envelope.
67 5. If the canvassing board determines that a ballot is
68 illegal, a member of the board must, without opening the
69 envelope, mark across the face of the envelope: “rejected as
70 illegal.” The cure affidavit, if applicable, the envelope, and
71 the ballot therein shall be preserved in the manner that
72 official ballots are preserved.
73
74 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
75 And the title is amended as follows:
76 Delete lines 20 - 30
77 and insert:
78 return and secrecy envelopes; amending s. 101.68,
79 F.S.; authorizing the canvassing of vote-by-mail
80 ballots upon the completion of the public preelection
81 testing of automatic tabulating equipment; requiring
82 the canvassing board to use the most recent signature
83 of an elector when verifying a signature on a vote-by
84 mail ballot or a cure affidavit; amending s.