CopyCited 36 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2000 WL 1804707
...oted to conduct countywide manual recounts. See §
102.166(5), Fla. Stat. (2000). Because the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board was concerned that the recounts would not be completed prior to the seven-day deadline set forth in sections
102.111 and
102.112, Florida Statutes (2000), the Board sought an advisory opinion from the Division....
...al recount pursuant to section
102.166(5); and under what circumstances should the Secretary and Commission accept such recounts when the returns are certified and submitted by the Board after the seven-day deadline set forth in sections
102.111 and
102.112? [7] III....
...Having concluded that the county canvassing boards have the authority to order countywide manual recounts, we must now determine whether the Commission [12] must accept amended returns filed after the seven-day deadline set forth in sections
102.111 and
102.112 under the circumstances presented. VI. AMENDED RETURNS A. Statutory Ambiguity In regard to this case, the provisions of the Code are ambiguous in the following areas. First, the deadline for submitting county returns to the Department under sections
102.111 and
102.112 is in conflict with the time frame for conducting manual recounts under section
102.166(4). [13] Second, the language in sections
102.111 and
102.112, authorizing the Secretary to ignore amended or late returns submitted by the Boards, is contradictory....
...[17] Otherwise, the recount provision would be, in effect, meaningless. Courts should construe statutes to give effect to all provisions, and not to render any part meaningless. See Unruh v. State,
669 So.2d 242, 245 (Fla.1996). The recount provision thus conflicts with sections
102.111 and
102.112, which state that the Boards "must" submit their returns to the Elections Canvassing Commission by 5 p.m....
...For instance, if a party files a precertification protest on the sixth day following the election and requests a manual recount and the initial manual recount indicates that a full countywide recount is necessary, the recount procedure in most cases could not be completed by the deadline in sections
102.111 and
102.112, i.e., by 5 p.m....
...of the seventh day following an election, all missing counties shall be ignored, and the results shown by the returns on file shall be certified. §
102.111, Fla. Stat. (2000) (emphasis added). The Legislature in 1989 revised chapter 102 to include section
102.112, which provides that late returns "may" be ignored and that members of the County Board "shall" be fined:
102.112 Deadline for submission of county returns to the Department of State; penalties. (1) The county canvassing board or a majority thereof shall file the county returns for the election of a federal or state officer with the Department of State immediately after the certification of the election results....
...Such fines shall be deposited into the Election Campaign Financing Trust fund, created by s.
106.32. *1287 (3) Members of the county canvassing board may appeal such fines to the Florida Elections Commission, which shall adopt rules for such appeals. §
102.112, Fla. Stat. (2000) (emphasis added). The above statutes conflict. Whereas section
102.111 is mandatory (i.e., the Department "shall" ignore late returns), section
102.112 is permissive (i.e., the Department "may" ignore late returns, or the Department "may" certify late returns and fine tardy Board members)....
...at harmonizes the laws, for the Legislature is presumed to have intended that both laws are to operate coextensively and have the fullest possible effect. See T.R. v. State,
677 So.2d 270 (Fla.1996). In the present case, whereas sections
102.111 and
102.112 state that County Boards must submit vote returns to the Department by 5 p.m....
...In the present case, whereas section
102.111 in its title and text addresses the general makeup and duties of the Elections Canvassing Commission, the statute only tangentially addresses the penalty for late returns, noting that such returns "shall" be ignored by the Department. Section
102.112, on the other hand, directly addresses in its title and text both the "deadline" for submitting returns and the "penalties" for submitting late returns; the statute expressly states that late returns "may" be ignored and that dilatory Board members "shall" be fined. Based on the precision of the title and text, section
102.112 constitutes a specific penalty statute that defines both the deadline for filing returns and the penalties for filing late returns, and section
102.111 constitutes a nonspecific statute in this regard....
...atute. See McKendry v. State,
641 So.2d 45 (Fla.1994). In the present case, the provision in section
102.111 stating that the Department "shall" ignore late returns was enacted in 1951 as part of the Code. On the other hand, the penalty provision in section
102.112 stating that the Department "may" ignore late returns was enacted in 1989 as a revision to chapter 102....
...of the day of the election, as provided by state law). In light of the fact that overseas ballots cannot be counted until after the seven-day deadline has expired, the mandatory language in section
102.111 has been supplanted by the permissive language of section
102.112....
...The Secretary indicated that after receiving and totaling these amended returns, the Elections Canvassing Commission would certify the election on Saturday, November 18, 2000. VII. THE DEPARTMENT'S DISCRETION Consistent with the analysis above, we conclude that section 102.112 grants the Department discretion to ignore returns not received by the time specified in the statute. However, a plain reading of section 102.112 does not set forth boundaries of the exercise of this discretion....
...Robert Crawford, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, has been appointed to replace Florida Governor Jeb Bush. See §
102.111, Fla. Stat. (2000). [13] We emphasize that because the certification of the Elections Canvassing Commission and the deadlines in sections
102.111 and
102.112 apply only in the case of statewide and federal elections, the conflict between the two statutes exists only for those elections and not for local or county elections....
CopyCited 11 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2000 WL 1725434
...on the seventh day after an election, the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, pursuant to section
106.23, Florida Statutes (2000), sought an advisory opinion from the Division of Elections, requesting an interpretation of the deadline set forth in sections
102.111 and
102.112....
...ard authorize a countywide manual recount pursuant to section
102.166(5); must the Secretary and Commission accept such recounts when the returns are certified and submitted by the Board after the seven day deadline set forth in sections
102.111 and
102.112? [10] IV....
...statute. Having concluded that the county canvassing boards have the authority to order countywide manual recounts, we must now determine whether the Commission [17] must accept a return after the seven-day deadline set forth in sections
102.111 and
102.112 under the circumstances presented....
...STATUTORY AMBIGUITY The provisions of the Code are ambiguous in two significant areas. First, the time frame for conducting a manual recount under section
102.166(4) is in conflict with the time frame for submitting county returns under sections
102.111 and
102.112. Second, the mandatory language in section
102.111 conflicts with the permissive language in
102.112....
...Although the Code sets no specific deadline by which a manual recount must be completed, logic dictates that the period of time required to complete a full manual recount may be substantial, particularly in a populous county, and may require several days. The protest provision thus conflicts with section
102.111 and
102.112, which state that the Boards "must" submit their returns to the Elections Canvassing Commission by 5:00 p.m....
...For instance, if a party files a pre-certification protest on the sixth day following the election and requests a manual recount and the initial manual recount indicates that a full countywide recount is necessary, the recount procedure in most cases could not be completed by the deadline in sections
102.111 and
102.112, i.e., by 5:00 p.m. of the seventh day following the election. B. The "Shall" and "May" Conflict In addition to the conflict in the above statutes, sections
102.111 and
102.112 contain a dichotomy....
...of the seventh day following an election, all missing counties shall be ignored, and the results shown by the returns on file shall be certified. §
102.111, Fla.Stat. (2000) (emphasis added). The Legislature in 1989 revised chapter 102 to include section
102.112, which provides that returns not received after a certain date "may" be ignored and that members of the County Board "shall" be fined:
102.112 Deadline for submission of county returns to the Department of State; penalties. (1) The county canvassing board or a majority thereof shall file the county returns for the election of a federal or state officer with the Department of State immediately after the certification of the election results....
...nds. Such fines shall be deposited into the Election Campaign Financing Trust fund, created by s.
106.32. (3) Members of the county canvassing board may appeal such fines to the Florida Elections Commission, which shall adopt rules for such appeals. §
102.112, Fla.Stat. (2000) (emphasis added). The above statutes conflict. Whereas section
102.111 is mandatory, section *1234
102.112 is permissive....
...[42] In the present case, whereas section
102.111 in its title and text addresses the general makeup and duties of the Elections Canvassing Commission, the statute only tangentially addresses the penalty for returns filed after the statutory date, noting that such returns "shall" be ignored by the Department. Section
102.112, on the other hand, directly addresses in its title and text both the "deadline" for submitting returns and the "penalties" for submitting returns after a certain date; the statute expressly states that such returns "may" be ignored and that dilatory Board members "shall" be fined. Based on the precision of the title and text, section
102.112 constitutes a specific penalty statute that defines both the deadline for filing returns and the penalties for filing returns thereafter and section
102.111 constitutes a nonspecific statute in this regard....
...e recently enacted statute controls the older statute. [43] In the present case, the provision in section
102.111 stating that the Department "shall" ignore returns was enacted in 1951 as part of the Code. On the other hand, the penalty provision in section
102.112 stating that the Department "may" ignore returns was enacted in 1989 as a revision to chapter 102....
...The more recently enacted provision may be viewed as the clearest and most recent expression of legislative intent. Third, a statutory provision will not be construed in such a way that it renders meaningless or absurd any other statutory provision. [44] In the present case, section 102.112 contains a detailed provision authorizing the assessment of fines against members of a dilatory County Canvassing Board....
...of the day of the election, as provided by state law). [47] In light of the fact that overseas ballots cannot be counted until after the seven day deadline has expired, the mandatory language in section
102.111 has *1236 been supplanted by the permissive language of section
102.112....
...[53] Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the authority of the Florida Secretary of State to ignore amended returns submitted by a County Canvassing Board may be lawfully exercised only under limited circumstances as we set forth in this opinion. The clear import of the penalty provision of section 102.112 is to deter Boards from engaging in dilatory conduct contrary to statutory authority that results in the late certification of a county's returns. This deterrent purpose is achieved by the fines in section 102.112, which are substantial and personal and are levied on each member of a Board....
...n literally and absolutely complied with?" Chappell,
536 So.2d at 1008-09 (quoting Boardman v. Esteva,
323 So.2d 259, 267 (Fla.1975)). X. CONCLUSION According to the legislative intent evinced in the Florida Election Code, the permissive language of section
102.112 supersedes the mandatory language of section
102.111. The statutory fines set forth in section
102.112 offer strong incentive to County Canvassing Boards to submit their returns in a timely fashion....
...case, misses the constitutional mark. The constitution eschews punishment by proxy. As explained above, the Florida Election Code must be construed as a whole. Section
102.166 governs manual recounts and appears to conflict with sections
102.111 and
102.112, which set a seven day deadline by which County Boards must submit their returns. Further, section
102.111, which provides that the Secretary "shall" ignore late returns, conflicts with section
102.112, which provides that the Secretary "may" ignore late returns....
CopyCited 8 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2007 WL 3170111
...We are also concerned by the amendment's provisions delaying certification of election results in Sarasota County until completion of the SAFE audits. This seems to be in tension with the Election Code's strict deadlines for certification of election results by the eleventh day following a general election. [13] See §§ 102.112(2), .141(6)....
...h the Election Code, which establishes who must certify election results (the county canvassing board, not an "independent and nonpartisan auditing firm") and when those results must be certified (by the eleventh day after the general election). See § 102.112(2); see also Division of Elections *653 Advisory Opinion, DE 06-11, Aug....
...on the second day following election to support his or her eligibility to vote. [12] The May 2007 amendments to the Election Code moved these provisions to section
102.141(7) of the statute. [13] The May 2007 amendments to the Election Code changed this time frame to twelve days after a general election. §
102.112(2), Fla....
