The purpose of the proposed rules amendments is to implement the amendments to Section 100.371, Florida Statutes, as amended in section 25 of Chapter 2007-30, Laws of Florida, which pertain to the process for citizen constitutional initiative ...

DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Division of Elections

RULE NO: RULE TITLE
1S-2.0011: Constitutional Amendment Ballot Position
1S-2.009: Initiative Constitutional Amendment Petition
1S-2.0091: Constitutional Amendment Initiative Petition Submission Deadline; Verifying Electors' Signatures
1S-2.0095: Constitutional Amendment Initiative Petition Revocation
PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose of the proposed rules amendments is to implement the amendments to Section 100.371, Florida Statutes, as amended in section 25 of Chapter 2007-30, Laws of Florida, which pertain to the process for citizen constitutional initiative petitions and for revocation of signatures on constitutional initiative petitions.
SUMMARY: The proposed rules provide the requirements for constitutional initiative petitions, revocation petitions and for obtaining ballot position for proposed constitutional amendments. The proposed rules also provide, among other items, the requirements for valid signature verification, imposition of a 30-day timeframe for signature verification, creation of the initiative petition revocation process, and the incorporation of an amended initiative petition form and a newly created petition revocation form.
SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS: No Statement of Estimated Regulatory Cost was prepared.
Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.
SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 20.10(3), 97.012(1), 100.371, 101.161 FS.
LAW IMPLEMENTED: 100.371, 101.161 FS.
IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE,TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW(IF NOT REQUESTED, THIS HEARING WILL NOT BE HELD):
DATE AND TIME: Monday, September 17, 2007, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
PLACE: Florida Heritage Hall (Plaza Level), R. A. Gray Building, 200 S. Bronough Street, Tallahassee, Florida
Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this workshop/meeting is asked to advise the agency at least 5 days before the workshop/meeting by contacting: Lisa Ginn or Nolah Shotwell, Administrative Assistant, Office of General Counsel, Florida Department of State at [phone]. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, 1(800)955-8771 (TDD) or 1(800)955-8770 (Voice).
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Gary J. Holland, Assistant General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Division of Elections, Department of State, 500 S. Bronough Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250; telephone: [phone]. Copies of the proposed rule are also available by contacting the Office of General Counsel at [phone], or online from the Division of Elections’ rules webpage at: http://election.dos.state.fl.us/index.html or from the Department of State’s E-rulemaking program at: www.flrules.org. Comments regarding the rule may also be submitted online via the E-rulemaking program.

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

1S-2.0011 Constitutional Amendment Ballot Position.

(1) The Director of the Division of Elections shall assign in the following manner a designating number to any proposed revision or amendment to the State Constitution for placement on the general election ballot:

(a) The ballot position of each proposed revision or amendment shall correspond to the designating number assigned by the director. A designating number may not be assigned to a constitutional amendment by initiative until the Secretary of State has issued a certificate of ballot position in accordance with Section 100.371, F.S.

(b) All revisions submitted by a revision commission or constitutional convention shall be considered to be one set, but each individual revision received shall be assigned a designating number in the manner and order determined by the convention or commission. Revisions shall be titled and designated as such together with the assigned designating number. For example, the set of revisions would begin with No. 1, Constitutional Revision.

(c) Amendments submitted by the Florida Legislature or proposed by initiative shall be titled and designated as an amendment with the assigned designating number. For example, the amendment designation would be No. 2, Constitutional Amendment.

(d)1. Revision proposals and proposed amendments shall be assigned designating numbers in consecutive ascending numerical sequence in the order of:

a. Receipt by the Secretary of State, or his or her designee, of the constitutional convention or commission revision proposal,

b. The filing of the legislative resolution containing the proposed amendment with the Division of State Library, Archives & Records Services, or

c. The Secretary of State’s certification of ballot position of a constitutional amendment proposed by initiative.

2. Initiative amendments deemed filed on the same date as other revision proposals or proposed amendments shall be assigned the number received in a random drawing of lots containing the remaining available designating numbers.

(2) Designating numbers shall be assigned and publicly announced promptly after no later than 5:00 p.m. on February 1 of the 90th day preceding the general election date.

(3) In the event a proposed revision or amendment is removed or stricken from the ballot subsequent to its attaining ballot position and being assigned a designating number, all other proposals shall retain the number assigned. The designating number of the stricken proposal shall not be reused, unless that proposal is reinstated.

Specific Authority 20.10(3), 97.012(1), 101.161 FS. Law Implemented Art. XI, Fla. Const., 100.371, 101.161 FS. History–New 8-9-78, Amended 4-17-79, Formerly 1C-7.011, 1C-7.0011, Amended 3-16-06,________.

 

1S-2.009 Constitutional Amendment by Initiative Petition.

(1) Submission of Initiative Petition. Any proposed initiative amendment to the State Constitution to be placed on the ballot shall be submitted by the sponsoring political committee to the Division of Elections for approval as to format prior to circulation of the proposed initiative amendment. Such submission shall be in writing and shall include a copy or a facsimile of the proposed form to be circulated. No initiative petition form for signatures may be circulated unless approved by the Division of Elections.

(2) Requirements and Approval of Initiative Petition Form. The Division shall review the initiative petition form solely for sufficiency of the format and shall render a decision within seven (7) days following receipt. The Division shall not review the petition form for legal sufficiency. The format of the petition form is deemed sufficient only if the petition form:

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

(c)c. Includes adequate space for the voter’s signee’s name, legal residential street address, city, county, voter registration number, date of birth, signature, and date of signature.

(d)d. Contains the ballot title that shall not exceed 15 words and the ballot summary of the proposed amendment or other public measure that shall not exceed 75 words in length as prescribed in subsection (4).

(e)e. Conspicuously contains in the following order:

1. The ballot title;

2. The ballot summary;

3. The article and section being created or amended; and

4. Tthe full text of the amendment being proposed including the article and section being created or amended, preceded by a ballot title and ballot summary. 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)f. Contains space for only one voter’s elector’s signature to be located below the full text of the amendment being proposed. The Division will not approve petition forms providing for multiple signatures per page.

(g)g. Is marked, in accordance with Section 106.143, F.S., governing political disclaimers, with “paid political advertisement” or contains the abbreviation “pd. pol. adv.” and identifies the name of the sponsoring political committee, and the name of the entity paying for the advertisement if different from the name of the sponsoring political committee.

(h)h. Contains space, in accordance with s. 106.19(3), F.S., for the name and address of a paid petition circulator, in the event the petition form is gathered by a paid petition circulator.

(3) Sample Petition Form. The format of an initiative petition submitted for review and approval by the Division of Elections shall be substantially in accordance with Form DS-DE 19 (eff._______3-16-06), entitled “Constitutional Amendment Petition Form.” Form DS-DE 19 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’ rules webpage at: http://election.dos.state.fl.us.

(4) Word Count. The following provisions apply to determine the word count for a ballot title and summary:

(a) Hyphenated compound words count as two or more words.

(b) An ampersand or a plus or minus sign shall count as one word.

(c) Punctuation such as commas, periods, hyphens, question marks, parentheses, quotation marks or exclamation points does not affect the word count.

(d) Each word joined by a forward or back slash to another word counts separately as a word.

(e) Each part of a date counts as one word. Example: January 1, 2025 shall count as three words.

(f) Each word in a name is individually counted. Example: George Washington shall count as two words.

(g) Each whole number shall count as a word.

(h) Spaces do not affect the word count.

(5) Additional Information or Materials. Other than providing information or a method by which the petition form may be returned by mail to the sponsoring committee, no additional information or materials that support the proposed amendment shall be printed directly on the form.

(6) Assignment of a Serial Number. The Division shall assign a serial number to each approved petition form. The serial number shall begin with the last two digits of the calendar year in which the petition form is approved followed by a number in numerical sequence. For example, the first petition form approved in 2006 is assigned the serial number 06-1. The serial number assigned must be printed in the lower right hand corner of the petition form.

(7) Changes. Any change to a previously approved petition form shall be submitted to the Division of Elections for review. No person or entity other than the sponsoring political committee of the previously approved petition form can submit a change or changes to the previously approved petition form. The Division of Elections must approve any material change to a previously approved petition form. A material change constitutes a change in the wording of the text of the proposed amendment, the ballot title, or ballot summary, or a change in punctuation or layout, or a change in the name of the sponsoring political committee to the political disclaimer. A translation into another language does not constitute a material change to an initiative petition form. Any material change submitted for approval to a previously approved initiative petition constitutes a request for approval of a new petition form and shall be assigned a different serial number upon approval by the Division of Elections.

(8) Bundling. No initiative petition form circulated for signature may be bundled with or attached to any other petition form.

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

(10) Submission of Signed Petition Forms. All signed petition forms shall be returned to the sponsoring political committee. Only the sponsoring political committee shall submit the signed petition forms to the Supervisors of Elections for verification of signatures in accordance with Rule 1S-2.0091, F.A.C.

(11) Effect on Previously Approved Petition Form. Any petition form approved by the Division of Elections prior to the effective date of this rule may continue to be used and circulated for signature gathering unless a material change to the previously approved petition form has been approved by the Division of Elections or until the sponsoring political committee notifies the Division of Elections that the committee is no longer seeking to obtain ballot position, or the registration of the sponsoring political committee has been revoked in accordance with Rule 1S-2.021, F.A.C.

Specific Authority 20.10(3), 97.012(1), 100.371(3), 101.161(2) FS. Law Implemented 100.371, 101.161 FS. History–New 7-2-79, Formerly 1C-7.09, Amended 7-7-86, Formerly 1C-7.009, Amended 3-5-96, 7-31-02, 3-16-06,________.

 

1S-2.0091 Constitutional Amendment Initiative Petition; Submission Deadline; Signature Verification Verifying Electors’ Signatures.

(1) Submission. Signed initiative petition forms proposing amendments to the Florida Constitution shall be submitted solely by the sponsoring political committee to the Supervisor of Elections in the county in which the petition forms were circulated. It is the responsibility of the sponsoring political committee to ensure that the signed petition form is properly filed with, or if misfiled, forwarded to, the Supervisor of Elections of the county in which the signee is a registered voter elector. In the case of a misfiled petition, the filing date of the petition is the date such petition is filed with the proper county.

(2) Signature Verification.

(a) In accordance with the signature verification fee provisions in Section 99.097(4), F.S., Upon receipt of initiative petition forms, the Supervisor of Elections shall verify the signatures on each initiative petition form within 30 days of receipt of the form to ensure that each person signing the said petition form:

1. Was, at the time of signing and verification of the petition, is a registered voter elector in the that county in which the petition is submitted,

2. Had not previously revoked his or her signature on the petition,

3. Had not and that the date the elector signed the petition form is not more than four years prior to the date the Supervisor verified the petition, and

4. Had not ever previously signed a petition form containing the identical initiative.

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

1. The voter’s signee’s name,

2. The voter’s signee’s residential street address (including city and county),

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

4. The voter’s original signee’s signature, and

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

(3) Random Sampling Not Permitted. Supervisors of Elections may not use random sampling as a method for verifying signatures on constitutional amendment initiative petitions.

(4)(3) Recordation of Verification. Upon completion of the verification as set forth in subsection (2), the Supervisors of Elections shall adhere to the following procedures for submission of verified signature information to the Division of Elections:

(a) Procedures Applicable Before January 1, 2007.

1. The Supervisor of Elections shall submit to the Division of Elections a certificate indicating the total number of signatures checked, the number of signatures verified, the number verified as registered electors and the distribution by congressional district. The Division will provide appropriate forms to the Supervisor of Elections to be used for transmission of the required information. In conjunction with each certificate submitted, each Supervisor shall submit a copy of one petition showing the text of the constitutional amendment to which the certified signatures relate. Certificates may be submitted by the Supervisor via facsimile in order to meet the deadline, followed by an original copy by mail.

2. The Division shall determine from the transmitted certificates whether the requisite number of verified signatures has been obtained with respect to each constitutional amendment for each congressional district and the State as a whole. In order to have the initiative petition timely filed for purposes of appearance on the ballot for the next general election, certificates indicating the requisite number of verified signatures must be received by the Division of Elections no later than 5:00 p.m. on February 1 of the year in which the general election is held. Upon a determination that the constitutionally requisite number of signatures and distribution of signatures by congressional districts has been obtained, the Secretary of State shall issue a certificate of ballot position to the appropriate sponsoring political committee.

(b) Procedures Applicable On or After January 1, 2007.

1. No later than 24 hours after verification of signatures on submitted initiative petition forms, the Supervisor of Elections shall directly record into the statewide voter registration system each valid and verified signature. The appropriate supervisor of elections for each respective voter elector whose signature is verified as valid shall record the date the form was received, the date of the signature, the date the signature was verified, and the assigned serial number for the applicable initiative petition.

(a) Determination of Constitutionally Requisite Number of Signatures. 2. The Division shall determine from the recorded verified petition signatures recorded in on the statewide voter registration system whether the constitutionally requisite number of verified signatures has been obtained with respect to each constitutional amendment for each congressional district and the State as a whole. In order for the initiative petition to be timely filed for appearance on the ballot for the next general election, the constitutionally requisite number of verified signatures must be recorded in the statewide voter registration system no later than 5:00 p.m. on February 1 of the year in which the general election is held.

(b) Prior to any determination that the constitutionally requisite number of signatures has been obtained for purposes of placing an amendment by initiative on the ballot, the Division shall determine in accordance with Rule 1S-2.0095, F.A.C., the number of verified petition revocations recorded no later than 5 p.m. on February 1 of the same year.  The Division shall then deduct that number from the number of verified signatures recorded for the underlying applicable constitutional initiative amendment. Upon a determination that the constitutionally requisite number of signatures and distribution of signatures by congressional districts has been obtained, the Secretary of State shall issue a certificate of ballot position in accordance with Section 100.371, F.S., to the appropriate sponsoring political committee and assign a designating ballot number.

(c) For any constitutional amendment by initiative that obtained a certification of ballot position prior to the effective date of this rule, a determination shall be made whether the number of verified signatures for petition revocations recorded as of 5 p.m. on February 1 of the year in which the next general election is held is sufficient to reduce the number of verified signatures for the underlying initiative amendment below the constitutionally required number of signatures obtained for ballot placement. If the number of recorded verified petition revocations is sufficient, then the initiative amendment is removed or stricken from the ballot in accordance with subsection 1S-2.0011(3), F.A.C.

(5)(4) Limitation on Use of Verified Signatures. Verified signatures used successfully to place a proposed amendment by initiative on the ballot that subsequently fails to be approved by the electors at the general election shall not be used again in support of any future initiative petition.

Specific Authority 20.10(3), 97.012(1), 100.371(7) FS. Law Implemented 100.371 FS. History–New 1-6-80, Amended 12-20-83, Formerly 1C-7.091, 1C-7.0091, Amended 2-13-90, 3-5-96, 1-5-04, 3-16-06,________.

 

1S-2.0095 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, and 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 provide:

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 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.

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 _________.

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Gary Holland, Assistant General Counsel, General Counsel’s Office, Florida Department of State, [phone]
NAME OF SUPERVISOR OR PERSON WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Amy K. Tuck, Director, Division of Elections, Florida Department of State
DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: August 2, 2007
DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAW: June 29, 2007