Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 962
By the Committee on Ethics and Elections; and Senators
Constantine and Justice
582-2513-07
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.
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28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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30 Section 1. Effective July 1, 2008, subsection (1) of
31 section 101.151, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 962
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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. Effective July 1, 2008, section 101.56075,
15 Florida Statutes, is 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. Effective July 1, 2008, subsection (5) is
26 added to section 101.5612, Florida Statutes, 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
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 962
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1 ballots, if ballot-on-demand technology will be used to
2 produce ballots in the election, or both.
3 Section 4. Effective July 1, 2008, section 101.591,
4 Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
5 (Substantial rewording of section. See
6 s. 101.591, F.S., for present text.)
7 101.591 Voting system audit.--
8 (1) Immediately following the certification of each
9 election, the county canvassing board or the local board
10 responsible for certifying the election shall conduct a manual
11 audit of the voting systems used in randomly selected
12 precincts.
13 (2) The audit shall consist of a public manual tally
14 of the votes cast in the "President and Vice President" or
15 "Governor and Lieutenant Governor" race that appears at the
16 top of the ballot or, if neither appears, the first race
17 appearing on the ballot pursuant to s. 101.151(2), or, in the
18 case of a purely municipal election, the first municipal race
19 or issue on that ballot. The tally shall include election-day,
20 absentee, early voting, provisional, and overseas ballots, in
21 at least 1 percent but no more than 2 percent of the precincts
22 chosen at random by the county canvassing board or the local
23 board responsible for certifying the election. If 1 percent of
24 the precincts is less than one entire precinct, the audit
25 shall be conducted using at least one precinct chosen at
26 random by the county canvassing board or the local board
27 responsible for certifying the election. Such precincts shall
28 be selected at a publicly-noticed canvassing board meeting.
29 (3) The canvassing board shall post a notice of the
30 audit, including the date, time, and place, in four
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 962
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1 conspicuous places in the county and on the home page of the
2 county supervisor of elections web site.
3 (4) The audit must be completed and the results made
4 public no later than 11:59 p.m. on the 9th day following
5 certification of the election by the county canvassing board
6 or the local board responsible for certifying the election.
7 (5) Within 15 days after completion of the audit, the
8 county canvassing board or the board responsible for
9 certifying the election shall provide a report with the
10 results of the audit to the Department of State in a standard
11 format as prescribed by the department. The report shall
12 contain, but is not limited to, the following items:
13 (a) The overall accuracy of audit.
14 (b) A description of any problems or discrepancies
15 encountered.
16 (c) The likely cause of such problems or
17 discrepancies.
18 (d) Recommended corrective action with respect to
19 avoiding or mitigating such circumstances in future elections.
20 Section 5. The Department of State shall adopt rules
21 to implement the provisions of s. 101.591, Florida Statutes,
22 as amended by section 4 which prescribe detailed audit
23 procedures for each voting system, which shall be uniform to
24 the extent practicable, along with the standard form for audit
25 reports.
26 Section 6. (1) Notwithstanding ss. 101.292-101.295
27 and s. 101.5604, Florida Statutes, as a condition of the state
28 purchasing optical scan voting equipment and ballot-on-demand
29 equipment to replace touchscreen equipment as provided in
30 section 7, each recipient county hereby authorizes the
31 Secretary of State to act as its agent to negotiate the
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 962
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1 purchase of new equipment and the sale, exchange, or other
2 disposition of existing touchscreen voting equipment that is
3 not necessary to conduct voting for individuals with
4 disabilities. Further, each such county hereby designates the
5 Secretary of State as the authorized recipient of all proceeds
6 realized from the sale, exchange, or other disposition of the
7 voting equipment up to and including the state's cost to fund
8 the county's new equipment. The secretary shall deposit the
9 proceeds in the Grants and Donations Trust Fund within 60 days
10 after the sale, exchange, or other disposition.
11 (2) A county commission may choose to opt out of this
12 state funding scheme by filing a notice to that effect with
13 the Department of State no later than June 30, 2007. Any
14 county choosing to opt out shall continue to be governed by
15 the provisions of ss. 101.292-101.295 and s. 101.5604, Florida
16 Statutes, with respect to the purchase of new voting systems
17 and equipment.
18 Section 7. Effective July 1, 2007:
19 (1) The Department of State is authorized to purchase:
20 (a) Election-day optical scan voting equipment, for
21 the following counties: Broward, Charlotte, Collier,
22 Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade,
23 Nassau, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, and Sumter.
24 (b) Ballot-on-demand equipment for use at early voting
25 sites, including optical scan tabulators, for the following
26 counties: Bay, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Clay, Collier,
27 Escambia, Hillsborough, Indian River, Jackson, Lake, Lee,
28 Levy, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange,
29 Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Santa Rosa, Sarasota,
30 St. Johns, Sumter, Taylor, and Washington.
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1 (2) The sum of $27,861,850 is appropriated from the
2 Grants and Donations Trust Fund to the Division of Elections
3 within the Department of State for the purpose of implementing
4 this section.
5 Section 8. Except as otherwise expressly provided in
6 this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
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8 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
9 Senate Bill 962
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11 The committee substitute substantially differs from the
original bill in that it: requires precinct-based optical
12 scan voting for all voters on election-day and at early
voting, except for disabled voters who may continue to vote on
13 existing touchscreen machines; authorizes the use of
ballot-on-demand ballot production technology for absentee and
14 early voting, and allows its use on election-day if the
Secretary of State so authorizes; replaces an unused audit
15 provision in Florida Statutes with a post-election,
post-certification requirement that local canvassing boards
16 audit the top race on the ballot in at least 1% but not more
than 2% of the precincts; appropriates approximately $27.9
17 million to the Department of State to purchase new voting
equipment for the counties, and provides for the Secretary of
18 State shall act as the buying and selling agent for the
counties; provides various effective dates, all leading to
19 implementation of the act for the fall 2008 primary election.
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