Studer Community Institute

House alters, approves online registration bill

April 29, 2015
/ Jim Turner
/ government

Before heading home Tuesday, the House approved a bill that would allow Floridians to register to vote online, a proposal opposed by Gov. Rick Scott's elections chief. The measure (SB 228) will go back to the Senate because of a late change tacked onto the bill by Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa. Rep. Dwight Dudley, D-St. Petersburg, called the amendment --- which would require a risk assessment to be conducted before the online voter-registration system could go public --- a "thinly veiled attempt to kill this bill." However, Sen. Jeff Clemens, a Lake Worth Democrat who is sponsoring the bill, said he is fine with the change and expects the measure to get Senate approval. Though the House adjourned and went home Tuesday, the Senate will meet Wednesday. "I wouldn't call it mischief," Clemens said of the amendment. "Is it something that could have been addressed by the secretary of state? Probably. But I think there are some members in the House who have reservations about how we've run technology in the state." The Senate approved the measure 34-3 on Monday before sending it to the House. The House voted 100-9 on Tuesday to approve the bill. The measure includes $1.8 million, which must still be approved as part of the budget, and requires the state Division of Elections to develop the online voter-registration application by Oct. 1, 2017. Grant pointed to well-publicized technology troubles in other state programs as a need for his amendment. The state had expensive problems with the 2013 rollout of an unemployment website as well as problems this year with the educational-testing platform used with the Florida Standards Assessments. Secretary of State Ken Detzner opposed the bill as it moved through legislative committees. In part, he said his agency will be busy next year overseeing what is expected to be the largest election in state history and is already undertaking a two-year rewrite of the statewide voter-registration system. Detzner has also said his office would be under deadline pressure to coordinate the required online registration changes with 67 county supervisors of election and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Detzner has also warned the system would have to be built to ward off cyber-attacks from "forces of evil." Proponents say the bill will make it easier for service members from Florida to register and update voting records. Rep. Matt Caldwell, a North Fort Myers Republican who sponsored the issue in the House, said supervisors of election will still have to verify each application as they do with all other voter-registration forms.

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House alters, approves online registration bill

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