Florida Senate - 2007 PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
Bill No. SB 962
Barcode 451020 Comm: RCS 04/17/2007 06:02 PM
Proposed Committee Substitute by the Committee on Ethics and
Elections
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to voting systems; amending s.
3 101.151, F.S.; authorizing the use of
4 ballot-on-demand technology to produce certain
5 marksense ballots; creating s. 101.56075, F.S.;
6 requiring all voting to be by marksense ballot;
7 providing an exemption for voters with
8 disabilities; amending s. 101.5612, F.S.;
9 requiring the use of certain marksense ballots
10 for pre-election testing; amending s. 101.591,
11 F.S.; requiring post-election, random audits of
12 voting systems; providing general audit
13 procedures; mandating that audit results be
14 reported to the Department of State;
15 prescribing requirements for audit reports;
16 granting rulemaking authority to the department
17 to adopt detailed, uniform audit procedures and
18 a standard audit reporting form; providing
19 procedures for the purchase of new voting
20 systems and ballot equipment and the
21 disposition of existing touchscreen voting
22 systems for certain counties; authorizing the
23 Department of State to purchase optical scan
24 voting equipment and ballot-on-demand equipment
25 for certain counties; appropriating funds for
26 such purpose; providing effective dates.
27
28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
29
30 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 101.151, Florida
31 Statutes, is amended to read:
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Florida Senate - 2007 PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
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1 101.151 Specifications for ballots.--
2 (1)(a) Marksense ballots shall be printed on paper of
3 such thickness that the printing cannot be distinguished from
4 the back and shall meet the specifications of the voting
5 system that will be used to tabulate the ballots.
6 (b) Early voting sites may employ a ballot-on-demand
7 production system to print individual marksense ballots,
8 including provisional ballots, for eligible electors pursuant
9 to s. 101.657. Ballot-on-demand technology may be used to
10 produce marksense absentee ballots. Not later than 30 days
11 before an election, the Secretary of State may also authorize
12 in writing the use of ballot-on-demand technology for the
13 production of election-day ballots.
14 Section 2. Section 101.56075, Florida Statutes, is
15 created to read:
16 101.56075 Voting methods.--
17 (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), all voting
18 shall be by marksense ballot utilizing a marking device for
19 the purpose of designating ballot selections.
20 (2) Persons with disabilities may vote on a voter
21 interface device that meets the voting system accessibility
22 requirements for individuals with disabilities pursuant to
23 section 301 of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 and
24 s. 101.56062.
25 Section 3. Subsection (5) of section 101.5612, Florida
26 Statutes, is created to read:
27 101.5612 Testing of tabulating equipment.--
28 (5) Any tests involving marksense ballots pursuant to
29 this section shall employ pre-printed ballots, if pre-printed
30 ballots will be used in the election, and ballot-on-demand
31 ballots, if ballot-on-demand technology will be used to
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Florida Senate - 2007 PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
Bill No. SB 962
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1 produce ballots in the election, or both.
2 Section 4. Section 101.591, Florida Statutes, is
3 amended to read:
4 (Substantial rewording of section. See s. 101.591,
5 F.S., for present text.)
6 101.591 Voting system audit.--
7 (1) Immediately following the certification of each
8 election, the county canvassing board or the local board
9 responsible for certifying the election shall conduct a manual
10 audit of the voting systems used in randomly selected
11 precincts.
12 (2) The audit shall consist of a public manual tally
13 of the votes cast in the "President and Vice President" or
14 "Governor and Lieutenant Governor" race that appears at the
15 top of the ballot or, if neither appears, the first race
16 appearing on the ballot pursuant to s. 101.151(2), or, in the
17 case of a purely municipal election, the first municipal race
18 or issue on that ballot. The tally shall include election-day,
19 absentee, early voting, provisional, and overseas ballots, in
20 at least one percent but no more than two percent of the
21 precincts chosen at random by the county canvassing board or
22 the local board responsible for certifying the election. If
23 one percent of the precincts is less than one entire precinct,
24 the audit shall be conducted using at least one precinct
25 chosen at random by the county canvassing board or the local
26 board responsible for certifying the election. Such precincts
27 shall be selected at a publicly-noticed canvassing board
28 meeting.
29 (3) The canvassing board shall post a notice of the
30 audit, including the date, time, and place, in four
31 conspicuous places in the county and on the home page of the
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Florida Senate - 2007 PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
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1 county supervisor of elections web site.
2 (4) The audit must be completed and the results made
3 public no later than 11:59 p.m. on the 9th day following
4 certification of the election by the county canvassing board
5 or the local board responsible for certifying the election.
6 (5) Within 15 days after completion of the audit, the
7 county canvassing board or the board responsible for
8 certifying the election shall provide a report with the
9 results of the audit to the Department of State in a standard
10 format as prescribed by the department. The report shall
11 contain, but is not limited to, the following items:
12 (a) The overall accuracy of audit.
13 (b) A description of any problems or discrepancies
14 encountered.
15 (c) The likely cause of such problems or
16 discrepancies.
17 (d) Recommended corrective action with respect to
18 avoiding or mitigating such circumstances in future elections.
19 Section 5. Effective upon becoming a law, the
20 Department of State shall adopt rules to implement the
21 provisions of section 4 of this act that prescribe detailed
22 audit procedures for each voting system, which shall be
23 uniform to the extent practicable, along with the standard
24 form for audit reports.
25 Section 6. Effective upon becoming a law, an
26 unnumbered section of Florida Statutes is created to read:
27 (1) Notwithstanding ss. 101.292-101.295 and s.
28 101.5604 of the Florida Statutes, as a condition of the State
29 purchasing optical scan voting equipment and ballot-on-demand
30 equipment to replace touchscreen equipment as provided in
31 section 7 of this Act, each recipient county hereby authorizes
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Florida Senate - 2007 PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
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1 the Secretary of State to act as its agent to negotiate the
2 purchase of new equipment and the sale, exchange, or other
3 disposition of existing touchscreen voting equipment that is
4 not necessary to conduct voting for individuals with
5 disabilities. Further, each such county hereby designates the
6 Secretary of State as the authorized recipient of all proceeds
7 realized from the sale, exchange, or other disposition of the
8 voting equipment up to and including the state's cost to fund
9 the county's new equipment. The Secretary shall deposit the
10 proceeds in the Grants and Donations Trust Fund within 60 days
11 of the sale, exchange, or other disposition.
12 (2) A county commission may choose to opt-out of this
13 state funding scheme by filing a notice to that effect with
14 the Department of State no later than June 30, 2007. Any
15 county choosing to opt-out shall continue to be governed by
16 the provisions of ss. 101.292-101.295 and s. 101.5604 of the
17 Florida Statutes with respect to the purchase of new voting
18 systems and equipment.
19 Section 7. Effective July 1, 2007, an unnumbered
20 section of Florida Statutes created to read:
21 (1) The Department of State is authorized to purchase:
22 (a) Election-day optical scan voting equipment, for
23 the following counties: Broward, Charlotte, Collier,
24 Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade,
25 Nassau, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, and Sumter.
26 (b) Ballot-on-demand equipment for use at early voting
27 sites, including optical scan tabulators, for the following
28 counties: Bay, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Clay, Collier,
29 Escambia, Hillsborough, Indian River, Jackson, Lake, Lee,
30 Levy, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange,
31 Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Santa Rosa, Sarasota,
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Florida Senate - 2007 PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
Bill No. SB 962
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1 St. Johns, Sumter, Taylor, and Washington.
2 (2) The sum of $27,861,850 is appropriated from the
3 Grants and Donations Trust Fund to the Division of Elections
4 within the Department of State for the purpose of implementing
5 the provisions of this section.
6 Section 8. Except as otherwise expressly provided in
7 this act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2008.
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