Florida Secretary of State
From Ballotpedia
The Secretary of State of Florida is a constitutional officer of the state government of Florida, established by the original 1838 state constitution. Originally, the Secretary of State of Florida was elected by the people of the state in the general election. However, in 1998, constitutional reforms removed the Secretary of State from the elected Cabinet of the executive branch.
Today, the Secretary of State of Florida is appointed by the Governor. The current Secretary of State is Kurt S. Browning.
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Duties
Like the corresponding officials in other states, the original charge of the Secretary of State — to be the "Keeper of the Great Seal" — has expanded greatly since the office was first created. According to the state website, "Today, the Secretary of State is Florida’s Chief of Elections, Chief Cultural Officer, the State Protocol Officer, and the head of the Department of State."
Role in the initiative process
Filing the Petition
Before proponents can begin to circulate a petition, they must first register with the Division of Elections as a Political Committee. The sponsoring political committee is then required to submit the proposed initiative amendment to the Division of Elections for format approval. This will only focus on the correct format of the initiative, not the legality of it.
Verification of Signatures
The sponsoring political committee shall then submit the signed petition forms to the Supervisor of Elections in the county in which the forms were circulated for verification of signatures. It is the responsibility of the sponsoring political committee to ensure the signed forms are properly filed with, or if misfiled, forwarded to the Supervisor of Elections in the county in which the signee is a registered voter.
Cost of verifying signatures
The sponsoring political committee will be charged 10 cents for every signature checked by the Supervisor of Elections. If the committee is unable to pay the charges without imposing an undue burden on the organization, a written certification of such inability given under oath may be submitted to the Division of Elections to have signatures verified at no charge. Then each division of elections will circulation the signature results to each Supervisor of Elections in the state. In order for signatures to be verified prior to the deadline, sponsoring political committee can submit petitions to the Supervisors of Elections as far in advance of the deadline as possible.
Certification of Petitions
The Supervisors of Elections shall submit to the Division of Elections a certificate indicating the total number of signatures checked, verified, and the distribution by congressional district. Each Supervisor of Elections shall submit a copy of one petition showing the text of the constitutional amendment with each certificate of verification. All certifications must be received by the Division of Elections no later than 5:00 p.m. on February 1 of the year in which the election is held.
Certification of Ballot Position
If signatures meet the verification process, the Secretary of State shall issue a certificate of ballot position to the sponsoring political committee.
Contact Information
Secretary of State
Florida Department of State
R. A. Gray Building
500 South Bronough Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250
Telephone: 850.245.6500
Fax: 850.245.6125
secretaryofstate@dos.state.fl.us
See also
References
- Florida Secretary of State website
- History of the Office of Secretary of State of Florida
- Wikipedia, Secretary of State of Florida
