Chapter 101 — Chapter 101

(1) The board of county commissioners in each county, upon recommendation and approval of the supervisor, shall alter or create precincts for voting in the county. Each precinct shall be numbered and, as nearly as practicable, composed of contiguous and compact areas. The supervi…

(1) The board of county commissioners, with the concurrence of the supervisor of elections, may arrange the boundaries of the precincts in each municipality within the county to conform to the boundaries of the municipality, subject to the concurrence of the governing body of the…

(1) The Department of State shall adopt rules which establish minimum standards for hardware and software for electronic and electromechanical voting systems. Such rules shall contain standards for:(a) Functional requirements;(b) Performance levels;(c) Physical and design charact…

There is created a Bureau of Voting Systems Certification within the Division of Elections of the Department of State which shall provide technical support to the supervisors of elections and which is responsible for voting system standards and certification. The positions necess…

(1) A ranked-choice voting method that allows voters to rank candidates for an office in order of preference and has ballots cast to be tabulated in multiple rounds following the elimination of a candidate until a single candidate attains a majority may not be used in determining…

In a primary election a qualified elector is entitled to vote the official primary election ballot of the political party designated in the elector’s registration, and no other. It is unlawful for any elector to vote in a primary for any candidate running for nomination from a pa…

(1) The Department of State, or in case of municipal elections the governing body of the municipality, shall print, in large type on cards, instructions for the electors to use in voting. It shall provide not less than two cards for each voting precinct for each election and furn…

In all elections held on any subject which may be submitted to a vote, and for all or any state, county, district, or municipal officers, the voting shall be by secret, official ballot as provided by this code, and no vote shall be received or counted in any election, except as p…

(1)(a) The precinct register, as prescribed in s. 98.461, shall be used at the polls for the purpose of identifying the elector at the polls before allowing him or her to vote. The clerk or inspector shall require each elector, upon entering the polling place, to present one of t…

(1) A person is not permitted to vote in any election precinct or district other than the one in which the person has his or her legal residence and in which the person is registered. However, a person temporarily residing outside the county shall be registered in the precinct in…

(1) At all elections, a voter claiming to be properly registered in the state and eligible to vote at the precinct in the election but whose eligibility cannot be determined, a person whom an election official asserts is not eligible, including, but not limited to, a person to wh…

(1) Any person who votes in an election after the regular poll-closing time pursuant to a court or other order extending the statutory polling hours must vote a provisional ballot. Once voted, the provisional ballot shall be placed in a secrecy envelope and thereafter sealed in a…

(1) Any elector applying to vote in any election who requires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write may request the assistance of two election officials or some other person of the elector’s own choice, other than the elector’s emplo…

(1)(a) Any registered elector or poll watcher of a county may challenge the right of a person to vote in that county. The challenge must be in writing and contain the following oath, which shall be delivered to the clerk or inspector:OATH OF PERSON ENTERING CHALLENGEState of Flor…

(1) Each political party and each candidate may have one watcher in each polling room or early voting area at any one time during the election. A political committee formed for the specific purpose of expressly advocating the passage or defeat of an issue on the ballot may have o…

(1)(a) Marksense ballots shall be printed on paper of such thickness that the printing cannot be distinguished from the back and shall meet the specifications of the voting system that will be used to tabulate the ballots.(b) Polling places and early voting sites may employ a bal…

(1) Whenever a constitutional amendment or other public measure is submitted to the vote of the people, a ballot summary of such amendment or other public measure shall be printed in clear and unambiguous language on the ballot after the list of candidates, followed by the word “…

Whenever any amendment to the State Constitution is to be voted upon at any election, the Department of State shall have printed and shall furnish to each supervisor of elections a sufficient number of copies of the amendment either in poster or booklet form, and the supervisor s…

(1) Two sample ballots shall be furnished to each polling place by the officer whose duty it is to provide official ballots. The sample ballots shall be in the form of the official ballot as it will appear at that polling place on election day. Sample ballots shall be open to ins…

Where applicable, the supervisor of elections shall determine the actual number of ballots to be printed. The printing and delivery of ballots and cards of instruction shall, in a municipal election, be paid for by the municipality, and in all other elections by the county.

When any person has been admitted to vote, the person’s name shall be checked by the clerk or one of the inspectors at the place indicated upon the registration books or voter history form provided by the supervisor. One of the inspectors shall, at the same time, keep a poll list…

The supervisor of elections shall prepare for each polling place one ballot box of sufficient size to contain all the ballots of the particular precinct, and the ballot box shall be plainly marked with the name of the precinct for which it is intended. An additional ballot box, i…

(1) The supervisor of elections shall print on the general election ballot the names of candidates nominated by primary election or special primary election or the names of candidates selected by the appropriate executive committee of any political party pursuant to the requireme…

Upon the request of a supervisor of elections made no later than 60 days prior to the date of a general election, the Department of State shall provide a written translation of a statewide ballot issue in the language of any language minority group specified in the provisions of …

(1) Any candidate for nomination who has qualified as prescribed by law is entitled to have his or her name printed on the official primary election ballot. However, when there is only one candidate of any political party qualified for an office, the name of the candidate shall n…

When an office requires the nomination of more than one candidate, as many groups or districts shall be numerically designated as there are vacancies to be filled by nomination. Each candidate shall indicate on his or her qualifying papers the group or district in which the candi…

As used in ss. 101.292-101.295, the following terms shall have the following meanings:(1) “Governing body” means the board of county commissioners of a county or any other governing body empowered by general or special act or local ordinance to purchase or sell voting equipment.(…

(1) Any purchase of voting equipment, the individual or combined retail value of which is in excess of the threshold amount for CATEGORY TWO purchases provided in s. 287.017, by a governing body shall be by means of competitive sealed bids or competitive sealed proposals from at …

(1) The Division of Elections of the Department of State shall adopt uniform rules for the purchase, use, and sale of voting equipment in the state. No governing body shall purchase or cause to be purchased any voting equipment unless such equipment has been certified for use in …

(1) Any member of a governing body which purchases or sells voting equipment in violation of the provisions of ss. 101.292-101.295, which member knowingly votes to purchase or sell voting equipment in violation of the provisions of ss. 101.292-101.295, is guilty of a misdemeanor …

The supervisor of elections shall be the custodian of the voting system in the county, and he or she shall appoint deputies necessary to prepare and supervise the voting system prior to and during elections. The compensation for such deputies shall be paid by the supervisor of el…

(1) No voting system custodian or deputy custodian or other employee of the supervisor of elections, which employee’s duties are primarily involved with the preparation, maintenance, or repair of voting equipment, may accept employment or any form of consideration from any person…

When the required official ballots for a precinct are not delivered in time to be used on election day, or after delivery, are lost, destroyed or stolen, the clerk or other officials whose duty it is to provide ballots for use at such election, in lieu of the official ballots, sh…

(1) Whenever any clerk or inspector, upon a just comparison of the signatures, doubts that the signature on the identification presented by the elector is the same as the signature the elector affixed on the precinct register or early voting certificate, the clerk or inspector sh…

(1) When the elector presents himself or herself to vote, an election official shall permit the elector to enter the booth or compartment to cast his or her vote, allowing only one elector at a time to pass through to vote. An elector, while casting his or her ballot, may not occ…

All ballots, forms, and other election materials shall be retained in the custody of the supervisor of elections for a minimum of 22 months after an election and in accordance with the schedule approved by the Division of Library and Information Services of the Department of Stat…

Sections 101.5601-101.5614 may be cited as the “Electronic Voting Systems Act.”

The purpose of this act is to authorize the use of electronic and electromechanical voting systems in which votes are registered electronically or are tabulated on automatic tabulating equipment or data processing equipment.

As used in this act, the term:(1) “Automatic tabulating equipment” includes apparatus necessary to automatically examine, count, and record votes.(2) “Ballot” means the card, tape, or other vehicle upon which the elector’s choices are recorded.(3) “Ballot information” means the m…

The board of county commissioners of any county, at any regular meeting or a special meeting called for the purpose, may, upon consultation with the supervisor of elections, adopt, purchase or otherwise procure, and provide for the use of any electronic or electromechanical votin…

Effective September 2, 2002, a voting system that uses an apparatus or device for the piercing of ballots by the voter may not be used in this state.

(1) The Department of State shall publicly examine all makes of electronic or electromechanical voting systems submitted to it and determine whether the systems comply with the requirements of s. 101.5606.(2)(a) Any person owning or interested in an electronic or electromechanica…

No electronic or electromechanical voting system shall be approved by the Department of State unless it is so constructed that:(1) It permits and requires voting in secrecy.(2) It permits each elector to vote at any election for all persons and offices for whom and for which the …

(1) Notwithstanding anything in this chapter to the contrary, each voting system certified by the Department of State for use in local, state, and federal elections must include the capability to install accessible voter interface devices in the system configuration which will al…

It is the intent of the Legislature that this state be eligible for any funds that are available from the Federal Government to assist states in providing or improving accessibility of voting systems and polling places for persons having a disability. Accordingly, all state laws,…

The state may apply for all available federal funds to be used to pay for the costs associated with this act.

(1) For purposes of this section, the term:(a) “Defect” means:1. Any failure, fault, or flaw in an electronic or electromechanical voting system approved pursuant to s. 101.5605 which results in nonconformance with the standards in a manner that affects the timeliness or accuracy…

(1)(a) Copies of the program codes and the user and operator manuals and copies of all software and any other information, specifications, or documentation required by the Department of State relating to an approved electronic or electromechanical voting system and its equipment …

For the purpose of designating ballot selections, all voting must be by marksense ballot, using a marking device or a voter interface device that produces a voter-verifiable paper output and meets the voter accessibility requirements for individuals with disabilities under s. 301…

(1) Each elector desiring to vote shall be identified to the clerk or inspector of the election as a duly qualified elector of such election and shall sign his or her name on the precinct register or other form or device provided by the supervisor. The inspector shall compare the…