Paypal OK with the State
July 15, 2008
From a campaign finance perspective, an interesting Division of Election Opinion (08-07) was issued last month pertaining the use of PayPal. While the Division is not a believer in third-party websites accepting campaign contributions without registering as a political committee (08-03), it does not see a problem with candidates using PayPal from links on their own website. As to the date the contribution should be listed on disclosure reports, the Division likens PayPal to the Postal Service and states that payment should be dated on the date PayPal transfers the money into the campaign account. In reading the opinion and having used PayPal, my only question would be is that the date the money is in the PayPal account or the date the money is transferred from the PayPal account to the designated campaign bank account? Chapter 106, Florida Statutes would appear to focus on possession of the funds, not which account, but the opinion is not precise on that issue.
Federal Judge upholds Florida 29 day voter registration requirement
March 27, 2008
The Miami Herald is reporting that the requirement in Florida that voters register 29 days before an election was held to be reasonable and not imposing a severe burden on constitutional rights by a Federal Judge in Miami . The Elections Supervisors (Broward, Duval, Miami-Dade, Orange, and Palm Beach Counties) in the case previously settled the case, agreeing to pay fees and to institute a “grace period” for voter registrations if such a change were allowed by law. To date, I am not aware of any such change.
Florida re-do of primary dead for now.
March 18, 2008
The NY Times and other sources are reporting the Florida Democratic Party has given up on the idea of a new primary before the party’s summer convention. Since the idea is still alive in Michigan, I’d be surprised if more discussion doesn’t happen, at least while the Florida Legislature is still in session. The reasons given in Florida appear to be costs, ongoing change of voting technology, and the need to preclear changes under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
New Florida Presidential Preference Vote a possibility
March 6, 2008
Since this issue is getting bipartisan attention, with the statements from the Florida and Michigan governors, I thought I’d start writing about it here. As you know, the Florida Presidential Preference Primary was moved earlier this year. As a result, the Democratic National Committee has reportedly stated the Florida vote would not count towards delegates at this summer’s convention. According to reports, the Republican National Committee will only reduce Florida’s delegate count by 50%. With the Democratic race still to be decided, the question of a new vote in Florida continues to come up in the media. This will be interesting to watch as the Presidential Preference Primary is spelled out in statute - a repeat election could cause all sorts of challenges determining what rules to apply. I’ll write more about the statutory issues as this debate goes on.
Free stamps=bribe?
February 22, 2008
The Orlando Sentinel reports that one of the political parties mailed stamps to voters and told them to use the stamps to return their absentee ballot for the Florida House District 32 contest. The question is whether that crosses the line and constitutes a bribe under Fla. Stat. 104.061 or is of such nominal value that it does not cause a problem.
Proposed bills for Election law changes
February 21, 2008
The Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections held a workshop on Wednesday to review several proposed election law changes. As covered in the Sun Sentinel, notable among these is a proposal to bar local governments from spending public money to run advertisements concerning an upcoming referendum. The bill is online at the Senate site and the workshop agenda packet is also available.
Opinion issued on canvassing boards and computer room access
February 20, 2008
On January 28th, the State’s Division of Elections issued an opinion concerning public access to the ballot tabulating room. In short, the Division opined that canvassing boards could limit public access to the computer room used to tabulate votes as long as representatives of political parties are able to be in the tabulation room. The division added that if the canvassing board was conducting its work in a room that the public could not enter, either due to size or security, the canvassing board should “transmit the audio” from its work room to a place the public could listen in. The opinion is 08-01.