Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

voting in person on Election Day. See Fla. Stat. § 101.62 (2016). This option can be especially useful to

...The Legislature of Florida recognized this when it amended the statute to provide absentee voting for persons who may be absent from the county on election day or who are physically unable to make it to the polls, or who may be prevented by their religious beliefs from voting on a particular day. See Fla. Stat. § 101.62(3), F.S.A....

...It is clear, therefore, that the Legislature intended that any application not so properly executed and separated from the ballot must not be counted. This does not mean, however, that insignificant omissions or irregularities appearing on the application form suggested in Fla. Stat. § 101.62, F.S.A., must void the ballot where the information that does appear on the application is sufficient to determine the qualifications of the applicant to vote absentee, and the omissions or irregularities are not essential to the sanctity of the ballot. The Legislature did not define what it meant by the term "properly executed," nor did it say that the application form suggested in Fla. Stat. § 101.62, F.S.A., had to be strictly complied with. [4] To the contrary, Fla. Stat. § 101.62, F.S.A., states that the application shall be in substantially the same form as that found in the statute....

...As the court pointed out in its order, "time is of the essence in this dispute" in that county election supervisors are required by law to mail certain absentee ballots no later than Saturday, September 18, 2004, forty-five days prior to election day. See § 101.62(4)(a), Fla....

...State ex rel. Hutchins v. Tucker, 106 Fla. 905, 143 So. 754; Cooley's Constitutional Limitations, 8th ed., Vol. 2, p. 1376. With reference to the 32 votes allegedly applied for and received beyond the statutory deadline, the Chancellor again ruled correctly. Section 101.62, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., provides in substance that any elector who will be absent from the *128 county on election day or "who is physically incapable of appearing at the polling place" may make application to the supervisor or his...

...he ballots. Thereupon, Dobbs resumed complete charge of the situation, put the ballots in his pocket and went out in search of a Notary Public who would "take the acknowledgments" on the applications outside of the presence of the voters themselves. Section 101.62, supra, clearly requires that the application for an absentee ballot must be applied for by the voter himself "either in person or by mail"....

...Ch.2001-40, § 53, Laws of Fla., and, in 2004, Florida abolished the requirement that an absentee voter's signature be witnessed, see Ch.2004-232, Laws of Fla. Today, any person may request an absentee ballot without a reason, even by telephone. See § 101.62( l )(b), Fla....

...It is conceded here that in many instances either applications for the ballots were not made or, if made, such applications were either undated, lacked witnesses or notarial seal, failed to specify a reason for the issuance of the ballot or were not returned within the time provided by law. See Section 101.62 F.S....

...nts to the state constitution proposed by initiative. The result will, at least arguably, be a less informed electorate. Because of this, we conclude that the issues raised by this appeal "are of great public importance" to the people of this state. Section 101.62(4)(a), Florida Statutes (2001), requires supervisors of elections to mail advance absentee ballots to those requesting them at least 45 days before the general election....

II Before addressing the merits, this Court must address some preliminary issues. The first is whether the Plaintiffs have standing. Next, this Court will address affirmative defenses raised by Defendants. A Standing is a threshold matter this Court must determine before proceeding to consider the merits of Plaintiffs' claims. E.g. , Via Mat Int'l S. Am. Ltd. v. United States , 446 F.3d 1258, 1262 (11th Cir. 2006). In certain scenarios, associations or organizations have standing to assert claims

...In addition, there were numerous other absentee ballots for the runoff issued to those specifically requesting to vote absentee for the runoff. McLean contends that the unrequested issuance of absentee ballots for the runoff to electors who had voted absentee in the primary was in contravention of the provisions of Section 101.62, Florida Statutes (1981), [4] which basically contemplate the *743 submission of a request by the elector for an absentee ballot before the election officials are authorized to issue such ballot....

...The canvassing board rejected eight ballots and one ballot did not reflect a vote for either candidate, thus leaving a total of 357 absentee ballots accepted and counted. The breakdown of the absentee votes in the runoff was 281 for Chapman and 76 for McLean. Section 101.62 does indeed contemplate issuance of an absentee ballot only upon the request of the elector....

...imary. We need not reach the issue as to whether the trial court correctly ruled that the primary and runoff should be regarded as one election because even viewed as two elections as appellant contends, the failure to conform to the requirements of Section 101.62 are not the kind of irregularities as should result in the court's invalidation of the subject absentee ballots. [7] Central to the resolution of this issue is the determination of whether the Section 101.62 statutory criteria for issuance of absentee ballots are directory or mandatory. Our examination of Section 101.62 leads us to conclude that its provisions are directory....

...er of its provisions should result in the invalidation of absentee ballots cast by qualified electors who are also qualified to vote absentee. In 1977, the Legislature, Chapter 77-175, s. 21, Laws of Florida, relaxed some of the former rigidities of Section 101.62 regarding requests for absentee ballots....

...The statute no longer requires a written application. In fact, an elector is entitled to receive by mail an absentee ballot which he may request by telephone. In applying the heretofore quoted principles enunciated by the Florida Supreme Court in Boardman v. Esteva, supra , we find no declaration in Section 101.62, implied or explicit, that strict compliance with its provisions is essential to the validity of the ballot or that the failure to strictly follow any of its provisions will cause the ballot not to be counted....

...Appellant says that the absentee ballots are, therefore, invalid and must be disregarded. A review of the recent legislative history relating to the above provisions is useful in resolving the question. It will be seen that there has been a gradual relaxation of the formalities required of electors in voting absentee. *747 Section 101.62, Florida Statutes (1971), required an elector to complete a written application in order to be issued an absentee ballot....

...he elector's certificate the enumeration of reasons authorizing absentee voting and instead substituting the following: "[I] am entitled to vote an absentee ballot for the reason stated in the application for an absentee ballot which I have signed." Section 101.62 still provided for a written absentee ballot application requiring specification by the elector of the specific reason authorizing his absentee vote. Section 101.62 was amended in 1977, Chapter 77-175, Laws of Florida, eliminating the requirement of a written application in order for an elector to receive an absentee ballot and eliminating any requirement that the elector certify to the reason for voting absentee as a prerequisite for receiving an absentee ballot....

...BALLOT DISTRIBUTION TO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS The evidence showed that 32 absentee ballot forms for the runoff were released by election officials to third persons requesting ballots for electors without written authorization from the elector. As previously noted, Section 101.62(4) (1981) provides that the election supervisor shall deliver or mail an absentee ballot to each elector for whom a request has been made....

...e ballot to such designee for delivery to the elector." It appears that the 32 absentee ballots were released to third persons without written authorization from the elector because the city election officials were unaware of the above provisions of Section 101.62(4)....

...l not give to a statute a construction which will produce that result. See also Boardman at 267. Our opinion of the directory quality of the above provision for written authorization is further bolstered by the fact that the legislature has, through Section 101.62, authorized the supervisor of elections to mail an absentee ballot to an elector upon telephone request without any written application or authorization therefor....

...this chapter or the terms of this charter." [3] The election was held in two phases, a nonpartisan primary on February 9, 1982, in which there were six candidates and the February 23, 1982, runoff between appellant McLean and appellee Chapman. [4] "101.62 Request for Absentee ballots....

...The trial court found the phrase "manner of voting with the system" in section 101.5611(1), Florida Statutes, cannot not be interpreted to mean that the supervisors were authorized to provide guidance as to the "manner of voting" in a particular race. Further, the trial court found section 101.62(6), Florida Statutes, precludes the mailing of the proposed notices with the absentee ballots, due to that section's direction that "[n]othing other than the materials necessary to vote absentee shall be mailed or delivered with any ab...

...Affirmed in part, and Reversed in part. This court's mandate shall issue forthwith. KAHN and LEWIS, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] All statutory references are to the 2006 edition of Florida Statutes unless herein noted. [2] Although seven of the eight supervisors felt that section 101.62(6) prevented them from including the proposed notices with the absentee ballots, the Secretary disagreed with that interpretation....

...the flap; the official title of the witness was not indicated; and the names of the electors were not on record. We could certainly agree that such ballots were illegal as being in flagrant violation of the statutes governing absentee voting. F.S. §§ 101.62 through 101.691, F.S.A....

...Our point of departure from the rationale of the trial court comes with the holding therein that failure to indicate the reason for voting absentee on the application form and the return envelope and failure to preserve the return envelopes were not deemed fatal to the validity and purity of the ballots cast. F.S. § 101.62, F.S.A., sets forth the form of an application blank for an absentee ballot....

...If the signature alone were adequate to certify that the elector had a valid reason for voting absentee, there would be no reason whatsoever for the statutory forms for application and for the certificate on the return envelope as provided by F.S. §§ 101.62 and 101.64, F.S.A., nor would there be any sense to the language in § 101.63 pertaining to the application being filled out and signed or the language in § 101.65 pertaining to the filling out and signing of the elector's certificate....

...Ten electors were not entitled to vote because they had changed their permanent residency to a place other than Wakulla County, Florida. d. Four electors' Voter's Certificates were not properly executed or witnessed. e. Four electors received ballots in violation of the requirements of § 101.62, Florida Statutes....

...ballots cast thereafter should be invalidated, or did the addition of that information constitute a violation of the absentee voter election laws that did not impugn or compromise the integrity of the ballots cast or ultimately the election itself? Section 101.62, Florida Statutes, provides that the supervisor of elections my[may] accept a request for absentee ballots from an elector and that the person making the request must disclose: 1....

...Although the statute clearly sets forth what must be disclosed by the person requesting the absentee ballot, there is no statutory directive regarding the treatment of absentee ballot requests which do not contain all of the information required by Section 101.62(1)(b), Florida Statutes....

...n the ballot. Section 101.68(2), Florida Statutes specifically provides that a ballot that fails to include the statutory elements is illegal.... [In McLean v. Bellamy, 437 So.2d 737, 742-743 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983), the court stated: Our examination of Section 101.62 leads us to conclude that its provisions are directory....

...rampant absentee voter fraud occurred in the Miami mayoral election, the Miami Beach City Commission election and the Hialeah mayoral election, the Florida Legislature amended and detailed absentee voter laws to include the requirements now found in Section 101.62, Florida Statutes.......

...signature voids the ballot. There is no invalidating directive for failure to include the voter registration identification number on a request for an absentee ballot.... The statutory requirement that the requester "must" disclose the nine items in Section 101.62(b) is simply not a definitive statement by the Legislature that requests which are missing the voter's registration number are illegal or void....

...was compromised. The plaintiffs allege that the Supervisor of Elections "treated the interests of non-Republican voters differently from those of Republican voters" because she informed the public that she would strictly enforce the requirements of Section 101.62, Florida Statutes, including the disclosure of the voter identification number, yet she honored the request of a Republican representative to obtain access to the incomplete request forms and add the voter identification numbers and did not notify the Democratic Party or any other group of this development....

...Because Florida extends the deadline for receiving absentee ballots only to those submitted from overseas, Defendant Hillsborough County Canvassing Board rejected state absentee and federal write-in ballots received after election day with a U.S. postmark rather than an APO, FPO, or foreign postmark. See FLA.STAT.ANN. § 101.62(7)(c) (West Supp.2000)....

...citizens residing abroad, the State of Florida was attempting to make sure that its citizens were afforded that same right. Title 9, Florida Statutes, Chapter 101 contains the absentee voting methods and procedures that election officials followed in the 2000 Presidential Election. Pursuant to section 101.62, the supervisor of elections (1) "may accept a request for an absentee ballot from an elector in person or in writing" and (2) "may accept a written or telephonic request for an absentee ballot from the elector, or, if directly instructed by the elector, a member of the electors immediate family, or the elector's legal guardian." FLA.STAT.ANN. § 101.62(1)(a)-(b) (West Supp.2000). Section 101.62 further provides: (2) If a request for an absentee ballot is received after the Friday before the election by the supervisor of elections from an absent elector overseas, the supervisor shall send a notice to the elector acknowledging...

...(3) For each request for an absentee ballot received, the supervisor shall record the date the request was made, the date the absentee ballot was delivered or mailed, the date the ballot was received by the supervisor, and such other information he or she may deem necessary. Id. § 101.62(2)-(3). If an "absent qualified elector overseas" requests an absentee ballot, [17] then the supervisor of elections shall mail a ballot not fewer than thirty-five days before the first primary election. See id. § 101.62(4)(a)....

...cond primary and general election. See id. As soon as the final absentee ballots are printed, the supervisor must then send an absentee ballot to every absent qualified elector overseas who made a request for such ballot by forwardable mail. See id. § 101.62(4)(b)(2). "With respect to marked ballots mailed by absent qualified electors overseas, only those ballots mailed with an APO, FPO, or foreign postmark shall be considered valid." [18] Id. § 101.62(7)(c)....

...Other citizens of the United States who are permanent residents of the state and are temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia, who are qualified and registered as provided by law. FLA.STAT.ANN. § 101.62(7)(a). [18] As an aside, the Court notes that subsection (7) was added to section 101.62 in 1989; three years after Congress enacted the UOCAVA....

...There is no evidence that any of the Defendants categorically rejected an overseas state ballot because it did not have an APO, FPO, or foreign postmark where there were other indicia that the ballot came from overseas. However, even if that were the case, it would be a matter for the State. The Court strongly suggests that section 101.62(7)(c), Florida Statutes, be clarified so that it only pertains to ballots received after the election day consistent with section 1S-2.013(7)....

be placed in final form by July 28, 2000. See § 101.62, Fla. Stat. (1999). . See §§ 99.061, 99.095

provision governing mail-in voting, Fla. Stat. § 101.62(1), but the district court rejected plaintiffs’

Records Law? In sum: Neither section 98.095 nor section 101.62(3), Florida Statutes, provides that voter information

Florida’s vote-by-mail statute. See Fla. Stat. § 101.62 (2016) (permitting mail-in voting); Fla. Stat

voting in person on Election Day. See Fla. Stat. § 101.62 (2016). This option can be especially useful

and overseas voters is Friday, February 14. See § 101.62(3), Fla. Stat. (2024). Two, Mayfield’s conduct

...ct on the request form. Further, it was office policy not to fill in any missing information or make any corrections or alterations to the request form without the express authority of the elector. Despite this policy and despite the requirements of section 101.62, Florida Statutes (2000), [1] the Supervisor of Elections allowed representatives of the Florida Republican Party to remove several hundred request forms from her office in order to add missing voter identification numbers....

...We conclude that our decision in Jacobs controls the outcome in the instant case. Accordingly, we affirm the result below based upon the reasoning we expressed in Jacobs. It is so ordered. WELLS, C.J., and HARDING, ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, LEWIS and QUINCE, JJ., concur. SHAW, J., recused. NOTES [1] Section 101.62, Florida Statutes (2000), governs requests for absentee ballots....

...That decision is amply supported by the law and the record on appeal. Affirmed. GROSS, C.J., and CIKLIN, J., concur. NOTES [1] See § 102.141(7), Fla. Stat. (2008). [2] See § 102.166, Fla. Stat. (2008). [3] See § 102.168, Fla. Stat. (2008). [4] See § 101.62, Fla....