Constitutional Amendment Initiative Petition Revocation; Petition Approval; Submission Deadline; Signature Verification

 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Division of Elections

RULE NO: RULE TITLE
1SER07-2: Constitutional Amendment Initiative Petition Revocation; Petition Approval; Submission Deadline; Signature Verification
SPECIFIC REASONS FOR FINDING AN IMMEDIATE DANGER TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY OR WELFARE: Pursuant to Section 120.54(4)(b), Florida Statutes, this emergency rule is a rule pertaining to the public health, safety, and welfare as it involves the interpretation and implementation of the requirements of Chapters 97- 102 and 105 of the Florida Election Code. This emergency rule implements statutory changes as set forth in Chapter 2007-30, Laws of Florida, which pertain to the creation of a process for revocation of signature on initiative petitions. There is insufficient time to create a new rule prior to the effective date of the law that created a petition revocation process. The amendment to Section 100.371, F.S., permits electors to revoke their signatures on an initiative petition within 150 days of the date that they signed the form; therefore, procedures must be in place on the effective date of the amendment so that electors may exercise their right of revocation. The absence of a rule with applicable procedures for the revocation of signatures on initiative petitions will have an adverse effect of the conduct of elections in the State of Florida. The statute creating the ability of electors to revoke their signatures on initiative petitions mandated that the petition-revocation form and the manner in which signatures are obtained, submitted, and verified must be subject to the same relevant requirements and timeframes that exist for the corresponding initiative petition form and processes. Therefore, this emergency rule is necessary: 1) To establish the procedures for permitting electors to revoke their signatures on initiative petitions proposing constitutional amendments that they had signed; and 2) To ensure and maintain the efficiency, integrity, and public confidence in the electoral process. The Department of State further finds that the adoption of this rule is necessary to prevent an immediate danger to the public health, safety and welfare.

REASON FOR CONCLUDING THAT THE PROCEDURE IS FAIR UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES: The Division of Elections is aware of the rulemaking procedures prescribed by Section 120.54, Florida Statutes. That process requires advance notice to the general public of intended rules and the opportunity to submit comments on the intended rule, prior to the agency’s adoption of the rule. The time period for general rulemaking takes at least 60 days and will prevent the timely amendment and adoption of a rule needed to mandate the implementation of these provisions regarding revocation of initiative petitions by the effective date (August 1, 2007) of the statutory provisions. Rulemaking could not occur earlier due to waiting upon the Governor’s action on Senate Bill 900, which also contained procedures for the petition revocation process. The Governor vetoed Senate Bill 900 on June 26, 2007. Currently, there are over 30 approved initiative petitions which are potentially affected by the amendments contained within chapter 2007-30, Laws of Florida. This rule is necessary to have a procedure in place on the effective date of the statutory provisions for those who wish to take advantage of the amended laws to remove their signature from approved initiative petitions. The Department of State has initiated rulemaking to create Rule 1S-2.0095, Florida Administrative Code, to incorporate the text of the emergency rule permanently and it held a rule development workshop on the subject matter of the rule on July 23, 2007. To the extent feasible and permissible by law, this emergency rule has incorporated the public comments received at the rule development workshop.

SUMMARY: This emergency rule provides uniform provisions that permit electors to revoke their signatures on initiative petitions.

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE EMERGENCY RULE IS: Gary J. Holland, Assistant General Counsel, Division of Elections, Department of State, R.A. Gray Building, 500 S. Bronough Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399, [phone]

 

THE FULL TEXT OF THE EMERGENCY RULE IS:

1SER07-2 Constitutional Amendment Initiative Petition Revocation; Petition Approval; Submission Deadline; Signature Verification.

(1) Submission of Petition Revocation Form. Prior to circulation of a petition revocation form, any person or group sponsoring the revocation effort must register as a political committee pursuant to Chapter 106 and must obtain approval of the petition revocation form from the Division of Elections. Submissions shall be in writing and shall include a copy or a facsimile of the proposed form to be circulated. No petition revocation form may be circulated unless approved by the Division of Elections.

(2) Requirements and Approval of Petition Revocation Form. The Division shall review the petition revocation form solely for sufficiency of the format and shall render a decision within seven (7) days following receipt. The format of the petition revocation form is deemed sufficient only if the form:

(a) Is printed on separate cards or individual sheets of paper. The minimum size of such forms shall be 3 inches by 5 inches and the maximum shall be 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches.

(b) Is clearly and conspicuously entitled at the top of the form “Petition Revocation Form.”

(c) Includes adequate space for the voter’s name, residential street address, city, county at the time of signing the initiative petition for which the signature is being revoked, voter registration number, date of birth, signature, and date of signature.

(d) Contains the ballot title and ballot summary of the proposed amendment in the initiative petition for which the signature is being revoked.

(e) Conspicuously contains the full text of the amendment for which the signature is being revoked, as indicated in the initiative petition as approved in Rule 1S-2.009, F.A.C. If the text must be printed on both sides of the form, it shall be clearly indicated that the text is continued or begins on the other side.

(f) Contains space for only one voter’s signature, to be located below the full text of the amendment for which the signature is being revoked.

(g) Contains instructions below the signature of the voter that provides:

1. The Supervisor of Elections may not accept the petition revocation form directly from the voter,

2. The voter shall return the form to the political committee sponsoring the revocation petition, and

3. The contact information for the sponsoring political committee sponsoring the revocation petition, which at a minimum, shall include its name and mailing address.

(h) Is marked, in accordance with Section 106.143, F.S., with the appropriate disclaimer which identifies the name of the political committee sponsoring the revocation effort and the name of the entity paying for the petition, if different from the name of the committee sponsoring the revocation effort.

(i) Contains space for the name and address of a paid petition circulator, in the event the petition revocation form is gathered by a paid petition circulator.

(3) Format of Petition Revocation Form. The format of the initiative petition revocation form submitted for review and approval by the Division of Elections shall be substantially in accordance with Form DS-DE 19R (eff. 8/ 1/2007), entitled “Petition Revocation Form.” Form DS-DE 19R is hereby incorporated by reference and is available from the Division of Elections, Room 316, R.A. Gray Building, 500 South Bronough Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250; [phone]; or by download from the Division of Elections’ webpage at http://election.dos.state.fl.us.

(4) Additional Information or Materials. Other than providing information or a method by which the petition revocation form may be returned by mail to the political committee, no additional information or materials that relate to the initiative petition or the petition revocation shall be printed directly on the form.

(5) Assignment of a Serial Number. The Division shall assign a serial number to each approved petition revocation form. The number shall be the serial number of the initiative petition form followed by an “R”. For example, the serial number of the petition-revocation form on petition 06-1 would be 06-1R. The serial number assigned must be printed in the lower right hand corner of the petition revocation form.

(6) Bundling. No petition revocation form circulated for signature may be bundled with or attached to any other petition form or petition-revocation form.

(7) Reproduction. Petition-revocation forms may be reproduced in newspapers, magazines, other forms of printed mass media or made available via the Internet for download or printing, provided such forms are reproduced in the same format as approved by the Division. The petition revocation form may be included within a larger advertisement, provided the forms are clearly defined by a solid or broken line border.

(8) Submission of Signed Petition Revocation Forms. All signed petition revocation forms shall be returned to the political committee sponsoring the revocation effort. Only the political committee sponsoring the revocation effort shall submit the signed petition revocation forms to the Supervisors of Elections for verification of signatures. It is the responsibility of the political committee sponsoring the revocation effort to ensure that the signed petition revocation form is properly filed with, or if misfiled forwarded to, the supervisor of elections of the county in which the signee was a registered voter at the time of signing the underlying original initiative petition. In the case of a misfiled petition revocation form, the filing date of the petition revocation form is the date such petition is filed with the proper county.

(9) Signature Verification.

(a) In accordance with the signature verification fee provisions in Section 99.097(4), F.S., the Supervisor of Elections shall verify the signatures on each petition revocation form within 30 days of receipt of the form and shall confirm that:

1. The underlying original initiative petition on which the signature is being revoked was verified,

2. The date the petition revocation form was signed by the voter is not more than 150 days from the date the underlying original initiative petition was signed, and

3. The voter is a registered voter in Florida at the time of verifying the signature on the petition revocation form.

(b) The Supervisor shall not verify a signature on a petition revocation form unless all of the following information is contained on the petition revocation form:

1. The voter’s name,

2. The voter’s residential street address (including city and county) that was recorded on the underlying original signature petition on which the voter desires to revoke his or her signature;

3. The voter’s date of birth or voter registration number;

4. The voter’s original signature, and

5. The date the voter signed the petition revocation form, as recorded by the voter.

(10) Recordation of Verification. No later than 24 hours after verification of signatures on submitted petition revocation forms, the Supervisor of Elections shall record each valid and verified signature in the statewide voter registration system. The appropriate supervisor of elections for each respective voter whose signature is verified as valid shall record the date the petition revocation form was received, the date of signature, the date the signature was verified, and the assigned serial number for the applicable revocation petition.

(11) Filing Deadline. In order for a petition revocation form to count against the number of signatures recorded as verified for the underlying original initiative petition for the next general election, the signed petition revocation must be verified and entered into the statewide voter registration system no later than 5:00 p.m. of February 1 preceding the next general election in which the initiative amendment is certified for ballot position.

(12) Availability of Forms. The sponsoring political committee for the petition revocation effort shall provide each supervisor of elections with petition revocation forms for distribution at the main and branch offices of the supervisor of elections.

(13) Irrevocable Effect of Revocation. A voter may sign only one petition revocation form for the underlying original petition. In accordance with Section 104.185, F.S., when a voter signs a petition revocation form, the voter may not again sign the initiative petition on which the voter is seeking to revoke his or her signature.

(14) Applicability. Revocation of a voter’s signature on an initiative petition may occur only on or after August 1, 2007 for a petition revocation form filed with the supervisor of elections not more than 150 days from the date the voter signed the underlying original initiative petition.

(15) The effective date of this emergency rule is August 1, 2007.

Specific Authority 20.10(3), 97.012, 100.371, 101.161 FS. Law Implemented Art. XI, Fla. Const., 100.371, 101.161 FS. History– New 8-1-07.

 

THIS RULE TAKES EFFECT UPON BEING FILED WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE UNLESS A LATER TIME AND DATE IS SPECIFIED IN THE RULE.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 1, 2007