Florida PIRG opposes SB 956/PCB-EDCA 09-08, a bill to amend current election laws. This is a list of our primary concerns. However, there are many problems beyond those listed below.
This bill would hurt third party voter registration efforts by removing current limits on fines, creating criminal penalties and other additional burdens.
• Bill requires third party voter registration groups to register all volunteers with the Division of Supervisors of Elections who will create a database. This would be yet another burden on third party groups and could open up members of groups to harassment by those who take issue with a certain organization. It would also have a fiscal impact at a time where we should be spending tax dollars very carefully.
• Bill requires third party groups to turn in signed voter applications within 48 hours (5 days in the House PCB) of the signature which will be extremely difficult for many groups – especially those whose operations are composed primarily or solely of volunteers.
• Bill imposes criminal penalties on third party voter registration groups and volunteer groups orchestrating voter registration drives. This is excessive and unnecessary. The enforcement of this section by the Attorney General is also likely to create a fiscal impact.
• All of these changes will serve as a deterrent for many who may wish to participate in voter registration efforts and will make it more difficult for third party groups to register voters.
• In the end these changes are likely to significantly diminish the numbers of registered voters which should be the exact opposite goal of this legislative body.
Bill will make it much harder for grass roots groups to use the citizens’ initiative process while potentially disenfranchising those who innocently sign petitions.
• If a signature gatherer violates the law and their registration is invalidated the petitions signed by innocent voters should not be invalidated as well. Under this bill petitions will be invalidated if a paid petition circulator is found violating the law. This is unnecessary and will likely lead to voters being disenfranchised even with a notification requirement.
• Bill creates a registration and training requirements for petition gatherers with vague language leaving much up to DOS rulemaking in terms of the location, frequency and cost. This could be an expensive and cumbersome obstacle for grass roots groups attempting to exercise their constitutional right to propose ballot initiatives.
• Bill removes a 150 day limit on initiative revocations and encourages the use of special interest driven well-financed revocation campaigns by giving them an unlimited amount of time to revoke petitions. The 150 day limit on revocation petitions should be maintained.
• Under this bill petition circulators will have to pay to cover the cost of the state's training program. This is an economically discriminatory requirement. To require an individual to pay to cover a state mandated qualification expense merely to apply for a job will disqualify some set of signature collectors.
• Bill should not shorten the time a signed petition is valid from 4 to 2 years. It is already incredibly difficult for campaigns to gather the high number of petitions necessary to place a question on the ballot within the allotted time. This change will make it virtually impossible for citizens to have a direct impact on specific issues that they feel are not being addressed by the legislature.
Bill will restrict election protection efforts which solve many problems on Election Day.
• Bill would severely– if not completely -- restrict the ability of non-partisan election protection programs which solve many Election Day problems by providing legal assistance to Florida’s voters at the polls by including “legal advice” as a form of “solicitation’ and then changing current law to prohibit solicitation within 100 feet of the voting line. The House PCB takes us into an absurd territory by banning “any advice” in the no solicitation zone.
• Bill does not address how polling places will enforce a no-solicitation zone based on a moving voting line. The bill creates a constantly shifting zone that would be impossible to enforce.
• The Senate bill would also ban “solicitation by audio and video methods which could prevent voters from talking to Election hotlines while waiting in line to vote. This will inevitably have an adverse affect on the ability of TV and Radio news outlets as well as video bloggers to capture events during early voting and Election Day.
Bill weakens campaign finance laws, makes lawmakers less accountable to the public and lessons transparency in the funding of political ads.
• Bill will allow political parties to spend an unlimited amount on communications and office expenses for a candidate by not counting these funds towards contribution limits.
• Bill removes an explicit prohibition on “leadership funds.” This will allow members with power to use funds to curry favor with other members much easier than they can currently can and will ultimately mean that lawmakers with control of leadership funds will have more influence on Senators or Representatives than their constituents.
• Bill says that candidate polls performed by the state or county executive committee for political parties do not count as a contribution to a candidate. This will enhance the ability of political parties to select party favorites making more difficult for unknown candidates to competitively participate in races.
• Bill will decrease transparency in political ads by allowing party funded ads to list an abbreviation rather than the party name. We need more information about who is funding political ads not less.
Bill will eliminate voters’ ability to fill out a change of address and vote a regular ballot on Election Day.
• Citizens currently have the right to update their new address and vote a regular ballot on Election Day. This law will punish voters who have moved, pushing them into the already crowded early voting lines. Voters will be forced to vote provisionally, creating a backlog of provisional ballots that canvassing boards must sort through, causing more votes not to be counted.
Bill further restricts the list of acceptable ID’s for voter registration and identification at the polls.
• Retirement center identification and neighborhood association identifications are no longer valid with this bill. This is likely to disenfranchise man elderly voters who no longer have a license.
• This eliminates the only free forms of ID that are currently valid and proposes no acceptable alternatives.
• This means that eligible citizens will be prevented from registering to vote and that properly registered voters will not be able to exercise their right on Election Day or they will have to use provisional ballots which are associated with many problems.
The House PBC restricts the ability of the Governor to extend early voting unless he declares a state of emergency.
• The Florida Legislature should do everything within its power to facilitate and encourage early voting which helped reduce voting lines and the workload for Supervisors and poll staff on Election Day. This places an unnecessary restriction on the Executive Office of the Governor to quickly respond to the needs of the people.
Bill will lead to more shadowy campaign committees with even less transparency.
• Bill allows political committees formed in other states to operate in FL without complying with Florida registration and reporting requirements.
Bill extends the date by which the state must make paper ballot voting accessible to persons with disabilities from 2012 to 2016.
• Persons with disabilities should have the same options and choices in voting as any other Floridian.
PLEASE URGE MEMBERS TO VOTE AGAINST SB 956/ HOUSE PCB-EDCA 09-08
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