Bill Text: FL H1261 | 2011 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Election Ballots

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 4-2)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-07 - Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration [H1261 Detail]

Download: Florida-2011-H1261-Comm_Sub.html

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CS/CS/HB 1261

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to election ballots; amending s. 101.161,
3	F.S.; revising terminology; transferring to a new
4	subsection requirements applicable to joint resolutions;
5	providing that a joint resolution may include a ballot
6	summary and alternate ballot summaries; providing that a
7	joint resolution may include a ballot summary or alternate
8	ballot summaries, listed in order of preference,
9	describing the chief purpose of the amendment or revision
10	in clear and unambiguous language; requiring a joint
11	resolution to specify placement on the ballot of a ballot
12	title and either a ballot summary embodied in the joint
13	resolution or the full text of the proposed amendment or
14	revision; requiring placement on the ballot of the ballot
15	title and ballot summary, or the ballot title and the full
16	text of the proposed amendment or revision, as specified
17	by a joint resolution; requiring placement on the ballot
18	of the full text of an amendment or revision if the court
19	determines that each ballot summary embodied in a joint
20	resolution is defective unless the Secretary of State
21	certifies to the court that placement of the full text on
22	the ballot is incompatible with voting systems that must
23	be utilized during the election at which the proposed
24	amendment will be presented to voters and that no other
25	available accommodation will enable persons with
26	disabilities to vote on the proposed amendment or
27	revision; requiring the Attorney General to revise a
28	ballot summary under certain circumstances; requiring the
29	court to retain jurisdiction over challenges to any
30	revised ballot summary submitted by the Attorney General;
31	requiring challenges to revised ballot summaries to be
32	filed within 10 days after the revised ballot summary is
33	submitted to the court by the Attorney General; creating a
34	presumption that the full text of an amendment or revision
35	must be considered a clear and unambiguous statement of
36	the substance and effect of an amendment or revision
37	proposed by joint resolution and sufficient notice to
38	electors under certain circumstances; establishing rules
39	of construction for construing proposed ballot titles,
40	ballot summaries, or the full text of proposed amendments
41	or revisions; requiring legal challenges to ballot
42	language to be filed within certain time periods;
43	requiring complaints or petitions challenging ballot
44	language to assert all grounds for such challenges;
45	providing that any grounds not asserted are waived;
46	requiring the courts to describe with specificity each
47	deficiency in a ballot title, summary, or full text of a
48	proposed amendment or revision; requiring the courts to
49	accord actions challenging ballot language specified by a
50	joint resolution priority over other pending cases and
51	issue orders as expeditiously as possible; providing
52	retroactive applicability to joint resolutions passed
53	during the 2011 regular session; providing an effective
54	date.
55
56	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
57
58	Section 1.  Subsections (1) and (2) of section 101.161,
59	Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (4) is added to
60	that section, to read:
61	101.161  Referenda; ballots.-
62	(1)  Whenever a constitutional amendment or other public
63	measure is submitted to the vote of the people, a ballot summary
64	the substance of such amendment or other public measure shall be
65	printed in clear and unambiguous language on the ballot after
66	the list of candidates, followed by the word "yes" and also by
67	the word "no," and shall be styled in such a manner that a "yes"
68	vote will indicate approval of the proposal and a "no" vote will
69	indicate rejection. The ballot summary wording of the substance
70	of the amendment or other public measure and the ballot title to
71	appear on the ballot shall be embodied in the joint resolution,
72	constitutional revision commission proposal, constitutional
73	convention proposal, taxation and budget reform commission
74	proposal, or enabling resolution or ordinance. Except for
75	amendments and ballot language proposed by joint resolution, The
76	ballot summary substance of the amendment or other public
77	measure shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75
78	words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure. In
79	addition, for every amendment proposed by initiative, the ballot
80	shall include, following the ballot summary, a separate
81	financial impact statement concerning the measure prepared by
82	the Financial Impact Estimating Conference in accordance with s.
83	100.371(5). The ballot title shall consist of a caption, not
84	exceeding 15 words in length, by which the measure is commonly
85	referred to or spoken of. This subsection does not apply to
86	constitutional amendments or revisions proposed by joint
87	resolution.
88	(2)  The ballot summary substance and ballot title of a
89	constitutional amendment proposed by initiative shall be
90	prepared by the sponsor and approved by the Secretary of State
91	in accordance with rules adopted pursuant to s. 120.54. The
92	Department of State shall give each proposed constitutional
93	amendment a designating number for convenient reference. This
94	number designation shall appear on the ballot. Designating
95	numbers shall be assigned in the order of filing or
96	certification and in accordance with rules adopted by the
97	Department of State. The Department of State shall furnish the
98	designating number, the ballot title, and the ballot summary
99	substance of each amendment, unless otherwise specified in a
100	joint resolution, to the supervisor of elections of each county
101	in which such amendment is to be voted on.
102	(4)(a)  Whenever a constitutional amendment or revision is
103	proposed by joint resolution, the joint resolution shall include
104	a ballot title consisting of a caption, not exceeding 15 words
105	in length, by which the measure is commonly referred to or
106	spoken of. The joint resolution may include a ballot summary or
107	alternate ballot summaries, listed in order of preference,
108	describing the chief purpose of the amendment or revision in
109	clear and unambiguous language. The joint resolution shall
110	specify placement on the ballot of a ballot title and either a
111	ballot summary embodied in the joint resolution or the full text
112	of the proposed amendment or revision. As specified by the joint
113	resolution, the ballot title and ballot summary, or the ballot
114	title and the full text of the proposed amendment or revision,
115	shall be printed on the ballot, with a designating number
116	assigned by the Secretary of State pursuant to subsection (2),
117	after the list of candidates, followed by the word "yes" and
118	also by the word "no," and shall be styled in such a manner that
119	a "yes" vote will indicate approval of the proposal and a "no"
120	vote will indicate rejection. The Department of State shall
121	furnish the designating number and, as specified by the joint
122	resolution proposing an amendment or revision, the ballot title
123	and a ballot summary or the full text of the amendment or
124	revision to the supervisor of elections of each county.
125	(b)  If the court determines that each ballot summary
126	embodied in a joint resolution is defective, the full text of
127	the proposed amendment or revision shall appear on the ballot in
128	lieu of a ballot summary unless the Secretary of State certifies
129	to the court that placement of the full text on the ballot is
130	incompatible with voting systems that must be utilized during
131	the election at which the proposed amendment will be presented
132	to voters and that no other available accommodation will enable
133	persons with disabilities to vote on the proposed amendment or
134	revision. If the Secretary of State submits such certification
135	or the court determines that all ballot summaries in the joint
136	resolution are deficient and that the full text of a proposed
137	amendment or revision may not be placed on the ballot, and
138	further appeals are declined, abandoned, or exhausted, unless
139	otherwise provided in the joint resolution, the Attorney General
140	shall prepare and submit within 10 days to the Secretary of
141	State and the court a revised ballot summary that corrects
142	ballot summary deficiencies identified by the court. That court
143	shall retain jurisdiction over challenges to any revised ballot
144	summary submitted by the Attorney General, and any challenge to
145	a revised ballot summary shall be filed within 10 days after the
146	revised ballot summary is submitted to the court by the Attorney
147	General.
148	(c)1.  If the full text of a proposed amendment or revision
149	delineates existing text in the State Constitution that will be
150	removed or replaced if approved by the electors, the full text
151	shall be presumed to be a clear and unambiguous statement of the
152	substance and effect of the amendment or revision, providing
153	fair notice to the electors of the content of the proposal and
154	sufficiently advising electors of the issue upon which they are
155	voting.
156	2.  In determining whether a ballot summary, the ballot
157	title, or the full text of a proposed amendment or revision is
158	legally sufficient, the court shall use the same rules of
159	construction to interpret language in a proposed constitutional
160	amendment as it does when interpreting existing constitutional
161	provisions.
162	(d)1.  Any legal action challenging placement on the ballot
163	of a ballot title, any ballot summary, or the full text of a
164	proposed amendment or revision embodied in a joint resolution on
165	constitutional, statutory, or other grounds must be commenced by
166	filing a complaint or petition with the appropriate court within
167	30 days after the joint resolution is filed with the Secretary
168	of State. Furthermore, in any legal action challenging placement
169	on the ballot of any ballot summary embodied in a joint
170	resolution, the complaint or petition shall assert all grounds
171	for challenging the ballot title, each ballot summary embodied
172	in the joint resolution, and the full text of the proposed
173	amendment or revision. Any such grounds not asserted within 30
174	days after the joint resolution is filed with the Secretary of
175	State shall be deemed waived.
176	2.  If a court finds the ballot title, a ballot summary, or
177	the full text of a proposed amendment defective for purposes of
178	placement on the ballot, the court shall, in its written order
179	or judgment, describe each deficiency with specificity in order
180	to facilitate the Attorney General's preparation of a revised
181	ballot summary.
182	(e)  Legal actions challenging ballot language specified by
183	a joint resolution proposing an amendment or revision to the
184	State Constitution shall be accorded priority over other pending
185	cases by the courts, including any appellate court, and the
186	courts shall render decisions in such actions as expeditiously
187	as possible.
188	Section 2.  This act applies retroactively to all joint
189	resolutions adopted by the Legislature during the 2011 Regular
190	Session, except that any legal action challenging a ballot title
191	or ballot summary embodied in such joint resolution or
192	challenging placement on the ballot of the full text of the
193	proposed amendment or revision to the State Constitution as
194	specified in such joint resolution must be commenced within 30
195	days after the effective date of this act or within 30 days
196	after the joint resolution to which a challenge relates is filed
197	with the Secretary of State, whichever occurs later.
198	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.