Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 97.0575
CopyCited 16 times | Published | District Court, S.D. Florida | 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61070, 2006 WL 2544683
...THIS MATTER is before the Court on Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction [DE 10] and Defendants' Motion to Dismiss [DE 26]. Plaintiffs contend that a new Florida state law (hereinafter the "Third-Party Voter Registration Law" or the "Law"), Fla. Stat. §§
97.021(36),
97.0575 (2005), which imposes fines on all organizations, except political parties, that collect voter registration applications but fail to timely submit them, violates their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution....
...Plaintiffs are not, however, challenging these exemptions. Pursuant to the Law, third party voter registration organizations must ensure that all voter-registration applications are "promptly delivered to the division or the supervisor of elections." Fla. Stat. § 97.0575(3)....
...[8] *1323 (c) A fine in the amount of $5,000 for each application collected by a third-party voter registration organization or any person, entity, or agent acting on its behalf, which is not submitted to the division or supervisor of elections. Id. § 97.0575(3)(a)-(c)....
...ears in jail, a fine of $5,000.00, or both. Fla. Stat. §§
104.0615(5),
775.082(3)(d),
775.083(1)(d). The Third-Party Voter Registration Law holds third-party voter registration organizations strictly liable for meeting the above deadlines. See id. §
97.0575(3)....
...arises beyond the control of the organization." (Pls.' Mot. for Prelim. Inj., Ex. G.) If a third party voter registration organization complies with the Law's reporting requirements, however, the above fines will be reduced by three-fourths. See id. § 97.0575(1), (3)....
...dividuals responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization; and (2) submitting a quarterly report providing the precise date and location of any organized voter-registration drives conducted by the organization in the prior quarter. Id. § 97.0575(1). Failure to comply with the reporting requirements does not subject the third party voter registration organization to any civil or criminal penalties, but rather makes such organization ineligible to receive the fine reduction. Id. § 97.0575(2)....
...CONCLUSION For the reasons stated above, it is hereby ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. 1. Plaintiffs' Motion is GRANTED as to Counts I, II, and III. 2. The Defendants are ENJOINED from enforcing the provisions of Fla. Stat. § 97.0575(3)(a)-(c) that subject third-party voter registration organizations to financial penalties for failing to submit voter registration applications in the manner prescribed by the law....
CopyCited 8 times | Published | District Court, S.D. Florida | 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62726, 2008 WL 3200654
...n Florida. Plaintiffs filed this suit challenging the constitutionality of Florida's recently amended statute regulating the handling of voter registration applications by third-party voter registration organizations. See Fla. Stat. §§
97.021(36),
97.0575 (2007) (the "Amended Law")....
...at ¶ 28). Under the Amended Law, Palmer has the authority to investigate violations of the law, assess civil fines, enforce the fines through legal Division of Elections proceedings, and adopt rules to administer the law. (See id.) (citing Fla. Stat. § 97.0575(4))....
...n. (c) A fine in the amount of $5,000 for each application collected by a third-party voter registration organization or any person, entity, or agent acting on its behalf, which is not submitted to the division or supervisor of elections. Fla. Stat. § 97.0575(3)....
...parties under the Original Law; and (4) adding a provision waiving the applicable fine upon "a showing that the failure to deliver the voter registration application promptly is based upon force majeure or impossibility of performance." Fla. Stat. §§ 97.0575(3)(a)-(c)....
...cation promptly is based upon a force majeure or impossibility of performance. Id. Under the Amended Law the amount of fines will be reduced by three quarters if a third-party organization complies with certain reporting requirements. See Fla. Stat. § 97.0575(3). Compliance with these requirements, however, is not mandatory and the failure to report does not subject a third-party voter registration organization to any fines or criminal penalties. See Fla. Stat. § 97.0575(2)....
...Plaintiffs argue it is vague because it is unclear whether organizations, individuals, or both individuals and organizations will be subject to fines in the event a voter application is submitted outside the statutorily-mandated time constraints. See Fla. Stat. § 97.0575(3)....
...Under the Amended Law, a third-party voter registration organization is liable for fines "[i]f a voter registration application collected by any third-party voter registration organization is not promptly delivered to the division or supervisor of elections." Fla. Stat. § 97.0575(3)....
...o is liable for fines is sufficient to alleviate concerns regarding arbitrary or discriminatory application of the law. 3. Affiliate Organizations Plaintiffs also contend the Amended Law is vague because it fails to define "affiliate organizations." Section 97.0575(3)(c) sets a $1,000 annual cap on the maximum penalty that may be assessed in any one year against third-party voter registration organizations and extends the benefit of that cap to the "affiliates" of third-party voter registration organizations....
...The Florida legislature has granted such an authorization with regard to the regulation of third-party voter registration activities under the Amended Law. It has intentionally delegated to the Division the authority to adopt rules to administer this statute. See Fla. Stat. §§ 97.0575(4)(a) and (8)....
...The second significant change in the Amended Law is a provision that relaxes the Original Law's strict liability standard and eliminates fines where the failure to deliver the registration application promptly results from force majeure or impossibility of performance. See Fla. Stat. § 97.0575(3)(c)....
...[6] Defendants have also submitted correspondence dated June 5, 2008, from Bill Cowles, Supervisor of Elections for Orange County, Florida, to ACORN, addressing problems with voter registration applications submitted by ACORN. (See [D.E. 61-2] at 13). [7] Section 97.0575(4)(b), Florida Statutes, states: "The division may investigate any violation of this section." (emphasis added)....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | District Court, N.D. Florida | 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91432
ORDER GRANTING A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION ROBERT L. HINKLE, District Judge. This case presents a challenge to Florida Statutes § 97.0575, as amended in 2011, and to an implementing rule, Florida Administrative Code Rule 1S-2.042....
...r-registration drive, collect voter-registration applications, and mail in the applications to a state voter-registration office. The Eleventh Circuit so held in Charles H. Wesley Education Foundation, Inc. v. Cox,
408 F.3d 1349 (11th Cir.2005). But §
97.0575 and Rule 1S-2.042 severely re *1158 strict an organization’s ability to do this....
...gments that must be made.” Storer v. Brown, supra,
415 U.S. at 730 ,
94 S.Ct. 1274 . Anderson,
460 U.S. at 788-90 ,
103 S.Ct. 1564 (footnotes omitted). This order applies these constitutional standards and the NVRA. Ill Before the 2011 amendments, §
97.0575 required a voter-registration organization to file with the state Division of Elections a form listing the organization’s registered agent and the officers — or other individuals — responsible for day-to-day operations. Fla. Stat. §
97.0575 (1) (2010)....
...The statute required an organization to file a quarterly report listing the date and location of voter-registration drives. Id. Florida law required an organization, upon receipt of a voter-registration application, to “promptly” deliver it to a voter-registration office. Id. § 97.0575(3)....
...amendments. For their part, the defendants have submitted no evidence that these provisions failed in any respect to protect the state’s legitimate interests in regulating the conduct of voter-registration organizations. But the 2011 amendments to § 97.0575, together with Rule 1S-2.042, impose new requirements....
...IV The 2011 statute requires a voter-registration organization to deliver a voter-registration application to the Division of Elections or the local supervisor of elections “within 48 hours after the applicant completes it or the next business day if the appropriate office is closed for that 48-hour period.” Fla. Stat. § 97.0575 (3)(a) (2011)....
...The statute requires an organization to deliver an application to an appropriate voter-registration office “within 48 hours after the applicant completes it or the next business day if the appropriate office is closed for that 48-hour period.” Fla. Stat. § 97.0575 (3)(a) (2011)....
...f not only its registered agent and any officer who manages its day-to-day operations — as required under the prior statute — but also every officer and, more importantly, every employee or volunteer who is a “registration agent.” Fla. Stat. § 97.0575 (1) (2011)....
...ill come back tomorrow or next weekend or next month or never. But Rule lS-2.042(2)(e) defines “registration agent” to include an employee or volunteer who collects or even just “solicits for collection” a voter-registration application. And § 97.0575(l)(c) requires an organization to list any “registration agent” in its filings....
...ties by failing to list the volunteer on its filings. More significantly, the statute requires each registration agent to file a sworn statement that the agent “will obey all state laws and rules regarding the registration of voters.” Fla. Stat. § 97.0575 (l)(d) (2011)....
...The plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the merits of their challenge to these provisions. VI The 2011 statute requires the Division of Elections to adopt rules requiring a voter-registration organization to “account for all state and federal registration forms used by their registered agents.” Fla. Stat. § 97.0575 (5) (2011)....
...The 2011 statute says the Division of Elections may by rule “require an organization to provide organization and form specific identification information on each form as determined by the department as needed to assist in the accounting of state and federal registration forms.” Fla. Stat. § 97.0575 (5)....
...cation they collect and submit. VIII Other challenged provisions are not unconstitutional and do not violate the NVRA. The statute requires an organization to provide information to the Division of Elections “in an electronic format.” Fla. Stat. § 97.0575 (1) (2011)....
...Indeed, electronic filing is probably easier for most organizations that filing a hard copy. The 2011 statute, unlike the prior version, allows the Secretary of State to refer a possible violation “to the Attorney General for enforcement.” Id. § 97.0575(4)....
...The Attorney General may file “a civil action for a violation” and may seek an *1167 injunction or other appropriate order. Id. This is unobjectionable. The earlier statute said the Secretary of State “shall” waive a fíne for a violation based on force majeure or impossibility of performance. Fla. Stat. § 97.0575 (3) (2010)....
...The plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, EOF No. 8, is GRANTED IN PART. 2. Until entry of a final judgment or otherwise ordered, the defendants are en *1168 joined from taking any step to demand compliance with or enforce these provisions: (a) Fla. Stat. § 97.0575 (l)(c); (b) Fla. Stat. § 97.0575 (l)(d); (c) Fla. Stat. § 97.0575 (3)(a), to the extent it requires delivery of an application within 48 hours — or any period less than 10 days; (d) Rule lS-2.042(3)(a), to the extent it requires disclosure of an employee or volunteer who does not actually collect or ha...
CopyPublished | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
...See League of Women Voters, 66
F.4th at 946-48. A third provision requires third-party organizations
that collect voter registration forms to deliver them to local elec-
tion officials within 14 days of receipt and before the registration
deadline. FLA. STAT. § 97.0575(3)(a)....
...to influ-
ence or effect of influencing a voter.” Id. §
102.031(4)(b). Third,
the registration-delivery provision imposes rules and requirements
on organizations that collect voter registration forms and submit
them on registrants’ behalf. Id. §
97.0575(3)(a).
After evaluating all the evidence, the district court con-
cluded that each of these provisions increased the burdens on vot-
ing or those assisting others with voting, and that this was done
with the intent to target Black Florida voters....
CopyPublished | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
...15
22-11143 Order of the Court 3
information that third-party voter-registration organizations must
provide to would-be registrants (the “Registration-Disclaimer Pro-
vision”), Fla. Stat. § 97.0575(3)(a); and (3) a provision prohibiting
the solicitation of voters within 150 feet of a drop box or polling
place (the “Solicitation Provision”), Fla....
CopyPublished | District Court, N.D. Florida | 83 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 232, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118931, 2012 WL 3194950
ORDER DENYING LEAVE TO INTERVENE ROBERT L. HINKLE, District Judge. This case presents a challenge to Florida Statutes § 97.0575, as amended in 2011, and to an implementing rule, Florida Administrative Code Rule 1S-2.042....
CopyPublished | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
...vision or the supervisor of elections in
the county in which the applicant resides within 14 days after the
application was completed by the applicant, but not after registra-
tion closes for the next ensuing election.” Id. § 97.0575(3)(a)....
...or she may
deliver the application in person or by mail,” and “inform the ap-
plicant how to register online with the [Division of Elections] and
how to determine whether the application has been delivered.” Id.
§ 97.0575(3)(a), repealed by Ch....
