Florida Senate - 2025 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SPB 7016
Ì395278TÎ395278
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
.
.
.
.
.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
The Committee on Ethics and Elections (Gaetz and Grall)
recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 717 - 767
4 and insert:
5 verification of the number of valid signatures obtained. The
6 supervisor shall record the date each submitted petition is
7 received. If a signature on a petition is from a registered
8 voter in another county, the supervisor must shall notify the
9 petition sponsor and the division of the misfiled petition. The
10 supervisor shall promptly verify the signatures within 60 days
11 after receipt of the petition forms and payment of a fee for the
12 actual cost of signature verification incurred by the
13 supervisor. However, for petition forms submitted less than 60
14 days before February 1 of an even-numbered year, the supervisor
15 shall promptly verify the signatures within 30 days after
16 receipt of the form and payment of the fee for signature
17 verification.
18 (b) The verification of such signatures by the supervisor’s
19 office may not begin or continue to occur unless a deposit has
20 been received and processed by the supervisor. Each supervisor
21 shall notify the sponsor of the deposit amount required for his
22 or her office, which must be calculated based on the sum of the
23 supervisor’s cost estimate for processing initiative petition
24 forms times 10 percent of the county’s active registered voters
25 in each congressional district, as reported in the last general
26 election. Upon a supervisor’s receipt of completed petition
27 forms in an amount that equals 10 percent of the signatures
28 needed, the supervisor shall notify the sponsor at the address
29 of record of the need to replenish the deposit amount.
30 Verification of signatures may not continue until the
31 replenishment of the deposit payment has been received and
32 processed by the supervisor. A supervisor shall request the
33 replenishment of the deposit payment required by this paragraph
34 each time his or her office has received and processed 10
35 percent of the required signatures, until such time as the
36 sponsor notifies the supervisor that the initiative has achieved
37 ballot placement, that the deadline for verifying petition
38 signatures has passed for the current election cycle, or that
39 the sponsor has provided written notice to the supervisor and
40 the division that the sponsor seeks to close or withdraw the
41 initiative petition, at which time the supervisor shall return
42 any remaining balance of the deposit amount.
43 (c) The supervisor shall promptly record, in the manner
44 prescribed by the Secretary of State, the date each form is
45 received by the supervisor, and the date the signature on the
46 form is verified as valid. The supervisor may verify that the
47 signature on a form is valid only if:
48 1. The form contains the original signature of the
49 purported voter elector.
50 2. The purported voter elector has accurately recorded on
51 the form the date on which he or she signed the form.
52 3. The form sets forth the purported voter’s: elector’s
53 a. Full name;,
54 b. Address and, city, county of residence;, and
55 c. Voter registration number or date of birth; and
56 d. Florida driver license or Florida identification card
57 number issued pursuant to s. 322.051 or the last four digits of
58 the voter’s social security number.
59 4. The purported voter elector is, at the time he or she
60 signs the form and at the time the form is verified, a duly
61 qualified and registered voter elector in the state.
62 5. The signature was obtained legally, including that if a
63 paid petition circulator was used, the circulator was validly
64 registered under subsection (4) (3) when the signature was
65 obtained.
66
67 The supervisor shall retain all signature forms, separating
68 forms verified as valid from those deemed invalid, for at least
69 1 year following the election for which the petition was
70 circulated.
71 (d)1.(b) On the last day of each month, or on the last day
72 of each week from December 1 of an odd-numbered year through
73 February 1 of the following year, each supervisor shall
74 electronically transmit all signature forms to the division. The
75 digital images of the scanned signature forms must be of high
76 enough quality that division personnel are be able to accurately
77 discern elements contained in such forms. Forms that have been
78 verified as valid must be separated from those that have been
79 deemed invalid.
80 2. Each supervisor must retain all petition forms,
81 identifying forms verified as valid from those deemed invalid,
82
83 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
84 And the title is amended as follows:
85 Delete lines 96 - 105
86 and insert:
87 initiative petitions; requiring the supervisor to
88 record the date a submitted petition is received;
89 requiring the supervisor to notify the division of any
90 misfiled petition; prohibiting the verification of
91 signatures until a deposit is received and processed
92 by the supervisor; requiring supervisors to notify
93 sponsors of the deposit amount which must be
94 calculated in a specified manner; requiring
95 supervisors to notify sponsors at the address of
96 record of the need to replenish the deposit amount;
97 prohibiting the verification of signatures until such
98 deposit is replenished; requiring the supervisor to
99 request replenishment of the deposit payment, and to
100 notify sponsors each time such deposit is required,
101 until specified circumstances occur; requiring the
102 supervisor to return any remaining balance under
103 specified conditions; revising the conditions under
104 which a supervisor may verify a signature on an
105 initiative petition form; requiring supervisors to
106 electronically transmit digital images, which must
107 meet a specified standard, of all signature forms to
108 the division; requiring supervisors to retain all
109 petition forms and identify those forms verified as
110 valid from those deemed invalid until such