The Federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s ruling and entered a preliminary injunction barring the State of Florida from releasing funds to one of the candidates for Governor under the excess spending subsidy of section 106.355. This section of the campaign finance portion of the Florida Election Code provided for...
State Law and Opinions
Florida election law bill vetoed
The Florida Governor vetoed HB1207, a recently passed election law bill. According to the bill analysis posted online, the bill would have reenacted and amended provisions related to electioneering communications and electioneering communication organizations (ECOs), revised provisions relating to use of local government funds for political advertising, and authorized the leader of each political...
New Division opinion on electioneering communications
The Division of Elections has issued a new opinion dealing with the result of a recent Northern District federal case (Broward Coalition v. Browning) prohibiting enforcement of the electioneering communications provisions of Chapter 106, Florida Statutes, which the State apparently decided not to appeal further.
Election bill dead for this session?
Numerous reports, including this one in the Miami Herald, indicate that leader of the Florida House of Representatives does not think there is enough time left in this session for the proposed elections bills. With the legislative session looking at either an extension or a special session this year, we’ll see what happens.
More on SB956
The latest summary of the changes proposed in Senate Bill 956 is: Expressly providing that the Florida Election Code preempts any local provision regarding elections unless otherwise specifically provided by law. A substantial revision to third party voter registration organization requirements. The removal of retirement center identification and neighborhood association identification from the list...
Senate Bill 956: Relating to Elections
As reported in the NY Times and St. Pete Times, the former “shell” bill SB956 has become the placeholder for a series of proposed elections changes. So far, the potential changes are listed in the committee amendments section – it’s schedule for a committee hearing Thursday afternoon.
America Votes! Supplement
I contributed a chapter to the American Bar Association to the America Votes! Supplement – just published today.
Early voting hours extended via a State of Emergency
Per Executive Order 08-217, the Florida Governor extended early voting hours throughout Florida by declaring a State of Emergency. The new hours are 7AM-7PM through Friday and then 12 hours on the weekend. As before, the weekend hours will vary from county to county with some open on Sunday and other not. Check your...
No match, no vote controversy continues
The lawyer for the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections has issued an opinion supporting the position of the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections on the “no match, no vote” law. This is a law passed back in 2006, but only recently made effective due to preclearance delays and litigation, that requires “If...
Election myths
I thought this article featuring a Q&A from Tampa Bay Newspapers Online with a local supervisor of elections was helpful – it lists many of the questions and myths that I’ve been hearing about and will explore more on this blog over the next couple of weeks.