HB 689 — Voting Methods

F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S HBCS/HB 689 2019 A bill to be entitled An act relating to voting methods;

97.021, F.S.;

revising the definition of the term "voter interface device";

amending s.

providing that all voting must be conducted using a marking device or voter interface device that meets certain requirements and produces a voter-verifiedvoter-verifiable paper output;

amending s.

102.166, F.S.;

revising requirements for Department of State rules regarding manual recounts of certain ballots;

9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

Subsection (41) of section 97.021, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

97.021 Definitions.—For the purposes of this code, except where the context clearly indicates otherwise, the term:

(41) "Voter interface device" means any device that communicates voting instructions and ballot information to a voter and allows the voter to select and vote for candidates and issues.

A voter interface device may not be used to tabulate votes.

Any vote tabulation must be based upon a subsequent scan of the marked marksense ballot or the voter-verifiable paper output after the voter interface device process has been completed.

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words underlined are additions.

hb0689-01-c1 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S CS/HB 689 2019 Section 2.

101.56075 Voting methods.—For the purpose of designating ballot selections (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), all voting must shall be by marksense ballotballot, using utilizing a marking device or a voter interface device that produces a voter-verifiable paper output and for the purpose of designating ballot selections.

(3) By 2020, persons with disabilities shall vote on a voter interface device that meets the voter accessibility Pagerequirements 1for ofindividuals 2with CODING:disabilities under s.

301 of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 and s.

101.56062 which are consistent with subsection (1) of this section.

Section 3.

Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 102.166, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

102.166 Manual recounts of overvotes and undervotes.— (4) (b) The Department of State shall adopt specific rules for the federal write-in absentee ballot and for each certified Page 2 of 3 CODING:

hb0689-00hb0689-01-c1 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S HBCS/HB 689 2019 requirementsvoting forsystem individualsprescribing withwhat disabilitiesconstitutes undera s."clear indication on the ballot that the voter has made a definite choice." The rules shall be consistent, to the extent practicable, and may not:

3011. of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 and s.

101.56062Authorize andthe use of any electronic or electromechanical reading device to review a hybrid voting system ballot that producesis produced using a voter-verifiedvoter paperinterface outputdevice whichand arethat consistentcontains withboth subsectionmachine-readable (1)fields and machine- printed text of thisthe section.contest titles and voter selections, unless the printed text is illegible;

Section 2.

Exclusively provide that the voter must properly mark or designate his or her choice on the ballot;

or 3.2.

Contain a catch-all provision that fails to identify specific standards, such as "any other mark or indication clearly indicating that the voter has made a definite choice." Section 4.

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