By St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes
Several election related bills were passed by the State legislature this year and have been signed into law. Senate Bill 7050 was the largest: a 96-page bill that takes effect July 1 increasing the security of vote-by-mail ballots, making changes to enhance the accuracy of Florida’s voter rolls, and improving access to reports and data to boost voter confidence.
Voters voting by mail will soon be required to make their vote-by-mail requests on a uniform statewide application form. This form is not yet available, but must be completed by the Florida Division of Elections by Oct. 1, 2023. All requests made after the 2022 General Election through Oct. 1, 2023, are valid, and voters do not need to re-request their 2024 vote-by-mail ballots if they have done so already. As a reminder, all vote-by-mail requests expired following the November 2022 election, and requests are now required to be made for each election cycle. If you intend to vote-by-mail in the upcoming 2024 elections and have not made a request for your ballot, now would be a great time.
Vote-by-mail ballots will now be printed with “Do Not Forward” on the mailing envelope, and in the circumstance that two or more ballots are returned in the same vote-by-mail envelope to the Supervisor of Elections Office, neither will be counted. Please make sure you are requesting your ballot to be mailed to the correct address and be careful when completing and mailing your ballots back if multiple household members are also voting by mail.
Senate Bill 7050 has made great improvements to our list maintenance processes. The law has increased and regulated the frequency in which other government agencies such as the Department of Health, Clerk of Courts, Department of Highway and Motor Vehicles, Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Commission on Offender Review, and Department of Corrections to report to the Department of State and Supervisor of Elections weekly with information on persons who may not be included in the voter rolls due to death, adjudication of mental incapacity, felony conviction, or lack of U.S. citizenship.
Prior to Senate Bill 7050, the Supervisor of Elections was required to conduct list maintenance to ensure accurate and current voter registration records at minimum once each year, completed no later than 90 days prior to the date of any federal election. SB 7050 now requires each annual list maintenance program to begin by April 1. Supervisors must also conduct an annual review of voter registration records to identify any in which a voter may be registered at an address that may not be a legal residence address, and initiate list maintenance for such records.
Additionally, two bills regarding School Board members were passed and have been signed into law. HB477 limits the term of School Board members to eight years. HJR31 places a question on the Nov. 5, 2024 General Election ballot to amend the Florida constitution to change School Board members from nonpartisan to partisan election. Voters, this one is for you to decide! For more information on legislation passed this year, visit www.flsenate.gov.
For voter registration or election information call (904) 823-2238 or visit www.votesjc.gov.
