Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...Decennial population census figures would, of course, be irrelevant in realigning delegate districts to reflect one registered Republican, one vote. It is true that each Florida county maintains a current voter registration list by party; see Fla.Stat.Ann. *1086 §§ 98.051; 98.081; 98.201 (1982 & 1983 Supp.); so the court could, in theory, realign the delegate districts at a given point in time....

...They change at a slow and steady rate. For reapportionment purposes, this change, no matter how dynamic, occurs once every 10 years. Party registration figures, however, are very fluid. Individual voters who have not voted within two years may be purged from the books. Fla.Stat.Ann. § 98.081 (1982)....

...Krivanek, as the Supervisor of Elections of Hillsborough County, to count and validate the petition signatures of 462 voters whose names had been temporarily purged from the permanent registration books of Hillsborough County under the provisions of section 98.081, Florida Statutes (1991)....

...removed from the voter registration books are not qualified to sign initiative petitions under the statutory legislative scheme that establishes voter qualifications, and we quash the district court's decision. This case involves the construction of section 98.081, which provides, in pertinent part: (1) During each odd-numbered year, the supervisor shall mail, to each elector who, during the past 2 years, did not vote in any election in the county or did not make a written request that his regis...

...The purpose of these provisions is to assure that voters who have not voted in the last two years are still alive and still reside at the locations indicated on the voter registration rolls. During the time that the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections was purging her voter records in accordance with section 98.081, The Take Back Tampa Political Committee (the Committee) initiated a petition drive pursuant to the Tampa City Charter seeking to repeal a city ordinance through a city-wide vote....

...vote or to sign petitions for three years after being temporarily removed from the voter registration books "because it is only after that three-year period has passed that a person must register anew to once again become a qualified elector under [section 98.081]." Krivanek, 603 So.2d at 535....

...atus as qualified voters so as to enable their signatures to be counted in validating the petition. The third issue concerns certain constitutional rights of the Committee, as articulated in the circuit court's judgment. Krivanek asserts that, under section 98.081, once an elector's name has been temporarily *843 purged from a supervisor's permanent registration system, the elector is ineligible to vote or sign a petition until "the elector, in writing, makes known to the supervisor that [the el...

...tor's] status has not changed." (Emphasis added.) Krivanek, as the Supervisor of Elections, emphasizes that, in refusing to validate the signatures at issue, she acted in accordance with Division of Elections advisory opinion 87-16, which interprets section 98.081. That opinion states that temporary removal under section 98.081 not only prohibits an elector from voting but also prohibits an elector from validly signing an initiative petition....

...writing, of their status so as to reinstate themselves to the active voter registration list. The Committee contends that Division of Elections advisory opinion 91-01 supports this position. Additionally, the Committee notes that the legislature, in section 98.081, continues to refer to an individual as an "elector" even after the individual's name has been temporarily removed from the permanent registration list; however, after permanent removal, an individual is referred to as a "person" rathe...

...anently removed must completely reregister to vote. Because election laws should be construed liberally in favor of the right to vote, the Committee argues that the legislature's continued use of the term "electors" for temporarily removed voters in section 98.081 should be construed to allow their signatures to be counted and validated....

...Citizens Proposition for Tax Relief v. Firestone, 386 So.2d 561 (Fla. 1980) (legislature and secretary of state may impose reasonable regulations on process of petition validation to ensure expeditious and proper verification of petition signatures). Section 98.081's requirements are an example of such reasonable regulations. In interpreting section 98.081, the Division of Elections expressly addressed the issue of whether an elector who had been temporarily removed from the permanent registration records is prohibited from signing a petition by stating the following: Section 98.081(1), Florida Statutes, further provides that an elector's name will be restored to the registration records without *844 reregistration when the elector makes known to the supervisor in writing that his status has not changed. An elector whose name has been temporarily removed from the registration books pursuant to Section 98.081(1), Florida Statutes, is not on the registration books....

...We are not persuaded by the argument that Division of Elections advisory opinion 91-01 is controlling and dictates a contrary result. In that opinion, the Division of Elections held that the act of signing the petition by a valid elector constitutes sufficient notice under section 98.081 that the elector has moved to a new address within the county and, consequently, that the elector is eligible to sign a petition....

...n. 5 (quoting from trial court's Final Summary Judgment). We find that similar latitude of judgment should be accorded to election officials in carrying out the process of validating signature petitions. As indicated, the entire process set forth in section 98.081 as to temporary and permanent removal is to prevent fraud and to assure integrity in the electoral process....

...y may prescribe reasonable regulations to ensure an expeditious and proper verification process." Id. at 567 (emphasis added). In Krivanek, 625 So.2d 840, this Court decided the constitutional validity of a Division of Elections opinion interpreting section 98.081, Florida Statutes (1991), which required the local supervisors of elections to update their voter registration rolls during each odd-numbered year....

...This Court explained that "[t]he purpose of these provisions is to assure that voters who have not voted in the last two years are still alive and still reside at the localities indicated on the voter registration rolls." Id. at 842. The Division of Elections issued an advisory opinion, which interpreted section 98.081 and determined that any voter who had been temporarily removed from the registration books was ineligible to participate in the initiative process....

...Citizens Proposition for Tax Relief v. Firestone, 386 So.2d 561 (Fla. 1980) (legislature and secretary of state may impose reasonable regulations on process of petition validation to ensure expeditious and proper verification of petition signatures). Section 98.081's requirements are an example of such reasonable regulations....

...he secretary of state" as the party receiving the petition. See Tax Relief, 386 So.2d at 563. Thereafter, during the 1998 general election, article XI, section 3 was amended to replace "secretary of state" with "custodian of state records." [12] See § 98.081, Fla....

...nly from among fully qualified electors who have resided in the State for one year and in Dade County for six months to the exclusion of large numbers of unregistered persons eligible to vote and those purged from the voter rolls in accord with F.S. § 98.081, F.S.A....

..."The supervisor may, at any time, process and forward to any elector a post or renewal card to verify the qualifications of an elector and, on the nonreturn of such card within the prescribed time set by law, shall proceed as otherwise provided in § 98.081 for nonreturns." [2] "101.59 Striking names from registration books....

...[5] Article V, Section 4(2) provides for direct appeal to the Supreme Court as a matter of right from final judgments directly passing upon the validity of a state statute. [6] It is to be gathered from the record here that a permanent registration system is in effect in Broward County and that Section 98.081, providing for periodic removal of names from the list and setting forth the requirements therefor, including notice, is applicable in said county....

...At the time the parties stipulated to the facts, the 1990 population statistics from the Census. Bureau were not available. Subsequently, defendants submitted the population statistics which appear in bold-type above. (Dkt. 105, Ex. B) . The biennial purge of inactive voters from the registration books required by § 98.081, Florida Statutes, was conducted in June, 1991....

...During the petition drive, the Supervisor withdrew from her permanent registration books the names of registered voters who had not voted in the last two years and who had not returned a response card to her indicating they wished to remain voters. Section 98.081(1) of the Election Code required her to accomplish this procedure at some time during each odd-numbered year. At this point, the names are "temporarily withdrawn" but not yet "removed" under the circumstances required by section 98.081(2)....

...in the process of being temporarily removed, from the active voter registration list at the time the Supervisor was attempting to verify the signatures on the petition. The relevant facts presented to the court are that on May 16, 1991, pursuant to section 98.081(1), Florida Statutes, the Supervisor of Elections for Hillsborough County mailed forms to all registered voters who had not voted in the last two years....

...On June 21, while TBT was circulating the referendum petition, the Supervisor compiled a list of over 25,000 electors to be withdrawn from the active voter registration list. Of the signatures on the petition at issue, the Supervisor rejected 462 because the electors who signed had been temporarily withdrawn pursuant to Section 98.081(1)....

...The Supervisor did accept signatures of persons being removed from the list if they signed the petition before June 21, the date the Supervisor began removing names from the list. The procedure for periodically updating the registration rolls is set out in Section 98.081, Florida Statutes....

...vote and petition. T maintains that registered voters do not lose their legal status as electors if their names are temporarily removed from the registration list. They contend that the legislative intent on this point is clear. TBT points out that Section 98.081(1), Florida Statutes, still refers to persons withdrawn as "electors." Only if an elector fails to notify the supervisor of his status after three years of being on the inactive list does the elector lose his legal status as an elector and become referred to as a "person" under the statute. See § 98.081(2), Fla. Stat. In addition, TBT argues that Section 98.081(1) specifically states that it is not requiring reregistration, but is merely setting up a method for bookkeeping....

...Therefore, TBT argues that the Supervisor breached her duty pursuant to Section 100.361(d) and (h), Florida Statutes, to count the number of valid signatures on the petition. A. ELECTORS TEMPORARILY WITHDRAWN FROM THE VOTER REGISTRATION ROLLS PURSUANT TO § 98.081(1), FLA....

...petition is an inherent and absolute right in contrast to the right to vote which derives from constitutional or statutory grant. Even an absolute right, however, may be subject to reasonable regulation, and neither party to this case disputes that Section 98.081, Florida Statutes, is facially constitutional....

...ent of Florida and the county where he wishes to register" and who registers to vote. § 97.041(1)(a), Fla. Stat. None of these provisions specifically addresses the legal effect of being temporarily withdrawn from the registration rolls pursuant to Section 98.081(1)....

...valent of never having registered or having been permanently removed from the rolls. Inactivated electors have already registered to vote, and, thus, it has already been determined that these people are legally qualified to be electors. In addition, Section 98.081(1), Florida Statutes, states that the withdrawal procedure is not a reregistration, but a method for recordkeeping. Thus, those on the withdrawal list are not required to reregister unlike those who are permanently removed. See § 98.081(2)....

...ffidavit at the polls verifying that their status has not changed. In addition, as petitioner argued, the legislature continued to refer to persons on the withdrawal list as "electors," thereby indicating that their legal status had not changed. See § 98.081(1)....

...At any point during the three years that a person may be temporarily withdrawn from the registration rolls, that person may vote. He may simultaneously update his status and exercise his right to vote by signing an affidavit at the polls. In contrast, the Supervisor has read Section 98.081 to preclude a person's right to petition unless that person has updated his status prior to signing the petition....

...In rejecting the signatures of those electors placed on the temporary withdrawal list, the Supervisor relied primarily on Advisory Opinion 87-16 from the Division of Elections, State of Florida, which states the following: An elector whose name has been temporarily removed from the registration books pursuant to Section 98.081(1), Florida Statutes, is not on the registration books....

...However, nothing precludes the supervisor from referring to the signature cards on record to verify the signatures. The supervisor is required by statute to maintain these records because she must reactivate an elector when the elector makes known to the supervisor that his status has not changed. § 98.081(1), Fla....

...ever, the method of determining the number of signatures required is not before the court. B. ELECTORS WHO SIGN A PETITION PURSUANT TO § 10.07 OF THE TAMPA CITY CHARTER AND § 100.361, FLA. STAT. HAVE COMPLIED WITH THE WRITTEN NOTICE REQUIREMENT OF § 98.081(1), FLA....

...However, she overlooked the fact that the signing of the petition was such an act. The petition contained, in writing, the signature, current address, and precinct number of the elector — the same information requested on the form sent out to voters pursuant to § 98.081(1), Fla. Stat. Under a liberal construction of § 98.081(1), the supervisor should reactivate an elector who provides the necessary information on the petition, especially since the statute's purpose in maintaining accurate records could be achieved by accepting the information provided....

...T argues that the operative date should be a date subsequent to her review of the signatures since the actual removal of the names was not complete until sometime in October. The timing of the purge is not an issue, however, since this court has found that the signing of the petition constitutes sufficient notice under § 98.081(1)....

...the outcome of this decision. We agree with the circuit court that the legislature has not expressly revealed what legal status was intended during the interim period after the elector has been placed on the "temporarily withdrawn" list pursuant to section 98.081(1) but before being "removed" from the registration books pursuant to section 98.081(2)....

...Additionally, because of an administrative purge of voters conducted while the petition was being circulated, the supervisor of elections did not count 410 of the signatures because they were signatures of electors whose names had been transferred to a list of inactive voters pursuant to section 98.081, Florida Statutes (1991)....

by law, shall proceed as otherwise provided in § 98.081, for nonreturns. As amended Laws 1963, c. 63 —