PAPER TRAIL LEGISLATION AND ANTI CITIZEN INITIATIVE BILLS MERGED AS TWO BILLS PASS THE LEGISLATURE, SENT TO GOVERNOR

HB537  and   SB 900  both passed during the final two days of floor action by the Florida Legislature May 3-4.     

            On Thursday 5/3, the House unanimously accepted the “Election Reform” train which included the Paper Trail reforms and restrictions against citizens’ initiatives.    On the last day of session, the House backed down from its even more anti-citizen version of Initiative Reforms and accepted the Senate’s version, and both bills are heading for the Governor’s desk.    At first glance, the two so-called “good government” bills are opposites, with the latter bill including changes to only a single statute and the former boasting comprehensive (and expensive) reforms to a variety of elections related subjects:

• “Paper Trail” voting machines; funding and requirement of optical scan machines and marksense technology replacing touchscreens in the fifteen counties where they currently exist (and twenty-nine counties authorized for ballot-on-demand for early voting sites);  CONGRATULATIONS TO SO MANY ALLIES ON THE ONGOING VOTING MACHINES’ PAPER TRAIL!!
•  Third party Voter Registration Organizations (similar to the legislation declared unconstitutional previously);
• Citizens’ Initiative restrictions against petition drives, including an onerous and expensive, new process for gathering signatures AGAINST petitions signed by citizens who would be singled out and lobbied to subsequently “Revoke”  the original petition signature;
• The earlier Presidential Primary date for the last Tuesday in January 2008;
• various Elections Commission changes, including weakening citizen’s complaints against possible violators;
• internal changes for political parties;
• changes in campaign contribution restrictions;
• streamlining the transfer of campaign contributions for political committees and “committees of continuous existence,” but also requiring unions to list all dues-paying members in their reports;  
• changes in eligibility and timing for different levels of political candidates, including municipal, special district and federal candidates;
• changes in early registration for young voters;
• removal of two of the identification documents to allow voters to vote;
• NO Severability Clause, which appeared in earlier versions, and which usually are necessary in legislative “trains” in order to protect the other provisions if one or more sections of the bill are later found to be Unconstitutional.    This decision was deliberate to intimidate supporters of Paper Trail legislation from participating in ANY legal challenge to the remaining anti-citizen provisions of the bill.

So, is this 80-page bill a Legislative TRAIN?    You betcha.      Parts of this bill (there are 57 “sections”) came from various bills and amendments from both the Senate and House;  the final bill looks very little like the original HB 537 which passed the House floor on March 21 by a vote of 115-1;  and, for example, when the bill was substituted for SB 960, which had already become a train in the Senate, the legislation faced 20 floor amendments during the last six days of session.  The bill now changes or creates 52 sections of Florida Statutes, ranging across 13 different Chapters of Florida law.  

This bill makes all future initiative campaigns very difficult to even put new changes on the ballot anywhere in Florida (besides proposed constitutional amendments).     This restrictive new structure will apply to Florida Hometown Democracy, as well as any future reemergence of Redistricting Initiatives, or clarifications or strengthening of Constitutional Rights, citizen-sponsored proposals for changes in government financing or election opportunities, etc.  The so called good government bill changed dramatically for the worse on a 3-2 vote on April 24 when Senators Fasano, Diaz de la Portilla and Webster voted to use the paper trail bill against citizen initiatives.   

SB 900 ANTI-CITIZEN INITIATIVE BILL PASSED ON FINAL DAY OF LEGISLATIVE SESSION

This bill was stripped of several Bad provisions which had been passed by the House.   Since sponsor Joe Pickens and other supporters knew the session was winding down, they chose to accept the Senate version rather than get only the provisions in the HB 537 Elections Train which already passed the previous day.  Under statutory construction rules, the later-passed bill supersedes, so the language in SB 900 would replace the new sections in Florida Statute 100.371 as changed in HB 537.   

          This bill clearly deserves a Gubernatorial Veto, since it restricts Citizens’ ability to place initiatives on the ballot.   The bills (SB 900 and HB 7009) did record opposition votes in both chambers:   SB900 passed the Senate 27-9 on 4/27,  82-35 on the House floor 5/2, and again 96-22 on 5/4.  HB 7009 came out of its Council of origin March 8 (Economic Expansion & Infrastructure) on a vote of 11-2.    (SEE Vote Sheets). Thanks to Senators Hill and Margolis, and Representatives Bucher and Cusack for consistent votes against the Initiative restrictions.

4/28/07:

PAPER TRAIL BILL LOADED UP WITH CONTROVERSIAL ELECTION CHANGES

The Senate floor continued to add controversial election provisions to Sen Constantine’s Paper Trail legislation SB 960, which was “laid on the table” Friday 4/27 and replaced by the companion, House Bill 537, which the Senate amended with the new language from SB 960 and passed the bill 37-2.  The 77-page  HB537 (passed by the full House 115-1 back on March 21)  is now back in the House, where another amendment was filed Friday evening, adding up to nearly 75 amendments considered so far to the three bills now merged into HB537 (including Sen Ring’s 1010 and Constantine’s 960);  While various other new amendments added to the bill,  sponsors  have resisted the usual provision for a “severability clause” which would protect the Paper Trail requirements even if the more controversial “third party registration” or other sections are challenged in court and found to be unconstitutional again.

            SB 1174, Dockery/ Villalobos’s paper trail bill, was passed by the Judiciary Committee 7-2 on Monday 4/23 and remains in the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee.  

            Tell your legislators to pass a “clean” paper trail bill without all the political provisions, or to at least include the “severability clause” to protect the requirement for a paper trail.  

REPRESENTATIVE HUKILL HB213, "THE Trust in Elections Act" passed House Policy and Budget Council on 4/25/07, 28 - 0.

4/21/07:

PAPER TRAIL LEGISLATION PASSES COMMITTEE/COUNCIL

Week 7 brought first success to advocates of a “Paper Trail” for all voting machines in Florida, as bills were passed unanimously in both chambers.  On Tues 4/17, the Senate Ethics & Elections Committee passed Dockery/ Villalobos  SB 1174 and the House Council on Economic Expansion & Infrastructure  amended and passed Representative Hukill’s HB 213.    SB 1174 is scheduled for its next stop in Judiciary Committee on Monday 4/23.    Both bills still face floor debate and attempts to amend or weaken the final legislation, as well as uncertainty over funding;    Governor Crist and legislative leaders are determined to enact some form of this legislation.    See bill information concerning this week’s amendments and watch for new amendments as the bills head for the floor in both chambers.  

3/24/07: The only good government bill to have moved out of committee is the one by Senator Charlie Justice, prohibiting local governments from using public money to support or oppose referendums or initiatives. The bill was heard on March 20th, amended and passed unanimously. The House companion is similar, HB749 by Representatives Long and Legg.

3/12/07: Dozens of other issues will be pushed during this legislative session which involve our activists:  Clean Money Campaign Reform   SB2262/ 2264  Fl Clean Elections Act sponsored by Senator Wilson; Campaign Finance Reform: Rep. Scott Randolph:  cleans up some of the “electioneering communications” restrictions; HB1149 Rep. Keith Fitzgerald:  more 527 restrictions in state election campaigns and lobbying;  SB2522 Sen. Justice: General Clean Up Florida Campaigns Act: similar to HB1149/ 393;

Status

5/4/07: Ordered enrolled: HB537 has Paper ballots mixed with anti-citizen initiative language.

Click here to read the paper trail bills HB537  and SB1174

Click here to learn more about SB734 died in committee

Click here to learn more about SB2262 died in committee.

Click here to learn more about HB1149 died in commitee.

Click here to learn more about SB2522 died in committee.

Click here to learn more about HB393/SB2808 died in committee.

Click here to learn more about SB2164 died in committee.

Click here to learn more about SB1174 died in committee.

Click here to learn more about SB462 died in committee.

Click here to learn more aboutSB2242 died in committee.

Click here to learn more about HB377 died in committee.

Click here to learn more about HB213 died in committee.

Click here to learn more about H43 died in committee.

Action Needed

More information

S2522    GENERAL BILL by Justice  compare HB1149 and SB1990

  Clean Up Florida Campaigns Act; prohibits contributions to candidates or
  for or in opposition to issues by organizations exempt from tax under s.
  527 of Internal Revenue Code; prohibits candidates for certain offices
  from soliciting money for or from such organizations; redefines term
  "expenditure," for purposes of lobbying before executive branch or
  Constitution Revision Commission, to exclude contributions or
  expenditures made by such organizations, etc. Amends FS.  EFFECTIVE
  DATE: 07/01/2007.
  03/02/07 SENATE Filed
______

HB 1149 - Campaign Contributions

GENERAL BILL   by Fitzgerald Campaign Contributions: Prohibits legislators, statewide officeholders, & certain candidates from soliciting or accepting contributions to or on behalf of political committees, committees of continuous existence, electioneering communications organizations, or organizations described in s. 527 of Internal Revenue Code from controlling or coordinating or consulting with any such committee or organization. Effective Date: July 1, 2007. __________________________ S2264    GENERAL BILL by Wilson linked to SB2262 (Trust Fund)   Florida Clean Elections Act; creates said act; provides eligibility   requirements for clean-money campaign funding for candidates for   statewide or legislative office; provides for disclosure of excess   spending by nonparticipating candidates; eliminates authorization for   unrestricted expenditures by political committees & political parties to   jointly endorse three or more candidates, etc. Amends Ch. 106, 320, 322,   328, 607.  EFFECTIVE DATE: Contingent.   02/27/07 SENATE Filed __________________________ H393/SB2808     GENERAL BILL by Scott Randolph and Senate bill by Charlie Justice     Campaign Financing; requires electioneering communications organizations   to keep certain financial records; removes exception to reporting   requirement to list occupation of certain contributors; provides   additional requirements re certain radio & television political ads;   revises disclosure statement requirements for certain telephone solicitations; repeals specified provision re signatures gathered for   initiative petitions, etc. Amends Ch. 106.  EFFECTIVE DATE: 07/01/2007.   01/22/07 HOUSE  Filed 01/31/07 HOUSE Referred to Economic Expansion & Infrastructure Council;                   Policy & Budget Council   02/07/07 HOUSE  Referred to Ethics & Elections (EEI) by Economic Expansion &                   Infrastructure Council   03/06/07 HOUSE  Introduced, referred to Economic Expansion & Infrastructure                   Council; Policy & Budget Council -HJ 00034; Referred to                   Ethics & Elections (EEI) by Economic Expansion &                   Infrastructure Council -HJ 00120

Background

 April 10, 2007
 
 Election-reform plan scraps touch screens
 
 BY JIM ASH
 FLORIDA TODAY
 
 TALLAHASSEE -- The Senate unveiled its election-reform
 plan today, a $28 million proposal that would meet
 Gov. Charlie Crist's demand to get rid of most
 touch-screen voting in Florida.
 
 But Secretary of State Kurt Browning expressed serious
 concerns about where the Senate would get the money,
 dipping into a $91 million federal Help America Vote
 Act fund that is supposed to go toward maintaining a
 statewide voter registration list for the next eight
 years.
 
 "In a word, I'm concerned," Browning said after
 leaving the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee,
 where the proposal was discussed. "If the Legislature
 wants to do it this way, then I suppose that's their
 prerogative."
 
 But he warned that Florida could end up losing the
 federal dollars.
 
 The money would be used to buy optical scan voting
 equipment to replace touch-screen machines that are
 used in 15 counties and that critics say are
 unreliable because they leave no paper trails for a
 recount.
 
 The Senate and Crist would allow some touch-screen
 voting, however, for disabled voters.
 
 Committee Chairman Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte
 Springs, argued that neither the House nor the Senate
 has money in their competing spending plans for the
 proposal, and that diverting the federal dollars is
 the quickest way to enact reforms this year in time
 for the 2008 presidential election.
 
 He disagrees that federal rules prohibit their use for
 buying the equipment.
 
 "HAVA says the money has to be used for the
 improvement of federal elections," Constantine said.
 "I think that using that money for optical scan
 machines is the improvement of federal elections."
 
 The Senate plan won quick praise from reformers,
 including Common Cause of Florida and the Florida
 League of Women Voters.
 
 "I think it's a very good first effort, it gets us 90
 percent of the way there," said Common Cause lobbyist
 Ben Wilcox.
 
 It differs from the governor's proposal in a few key
 areas.
 
 Both would require audits to check vote-counting
 accuracy within nine days of an election, but the
 Senate would give the job to local canvassing boards.
 Crist wants election supervisors to do it. The Senate
 would require a 1 percent audit, the governor, 2
 percent.
 
 Unlike the Crist proposal, the Senate would not
 require a paper trail for touch-screen voting by the
 disabled.
 
 Neither plan pleases the Florida State Association of
 Supervisors of Elections.
 
 "I'm a touch-screen county, my voters like touch
 screens," Deborah Clark, the Pinellas County
 Supervisor of Elections, told committee members. "I
 would ask you to consider giving the voters of my
 county the option of keeping touch-screen voting."
 

Florida House panel rejects money for voting machine paper trail_

________________________

Crist: Get rid of touch screens
By BILL ADAIR
Published March 24, 2007

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/24/State/Crist__Get_rid_of_tou.shtml

WASHINGTON - Touch-screen voting machines would be virtually eliminated from Florida counties under a new plan from Gov. Charlie Crist.

WASHINGTON - Touch-screen voting machines would be virtually eliminated from Florida counties under a new plan from Gov. Charlie Crist.

 Speaking to a congressional panel that is examining nationwide election reforms, Crist said he will ask the Florida Legislature to adopt a new plan that would replace touch-screen machines used in early voting with optical-scan ballots.

 Crist's previous proposal had called for replacing the touch-screen machines used on Election Day with optical-scan ballots, but it would have allowed counties to keep using touch-screen machines for early voting, which accounted for about 20 percent of all votes in the 2006 general election.

 The touch-screen machines were necessary in early voting because they could display ballots from different precincts. Otherwise, a county would have to stock ballots for every precinct at each early voting site.

 Crist said his new proposal would rely on "ballot on demand" machines that could print a custom ballot for each early voter. The optical-scan ballot would be customized for the voter's precinct and would provide the paper trail that state officials want in the event of an election dispute.

 Touch-screen machines are used for early voting in 29 of Florida's 67 counties, including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Sarasota.

 Crist's new plan would eliminate virtually all touch-screen machines. A single machine would be left at each polling place that could be used by visually impaired voters.

 "I think people expect and deserve to be able to have a verifiable paper trail in the most important thing we do in this country - exercise our right to democracy and freedom," Crist said after his testimony.

 The ballot-on-demand plan would actually reduce the overall cost of improving Florida's voting systems because the state would not have to pay to retrofit touch-screen machines with printers. Crist's original plan would have cost $32.5-million, but the revised plan would cost $28-million. The state has already received a separate $7-million for the polling-place machines for visually impaired voters.

 Crist said that if the Legislature approves the request, the new machines should be in place for the primary elections in the fall of 2008. He said he did not know whether they could be in place for the presidential primary, which is likely to be held in late January or early February next year.

 Crist's announcement was praised by Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton.

 "The short and disastrous era of electronic voting machines in Florida has come to an end," said Wexler, adding that he hopes Crist's proposal "can serve as a model for the nation."

 Washington Bureau Chief Bill Adair can be reached at <a href="mailto:adair@sptimes.com">adair@sptimes.com</a> or 202 463-0575.

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