Bill making candidate party affiliation rules enforceable cleared for Senate floor vote

Kristen Arrington is

Florida’s rules for partisan elections could gain some much-needed “teeth” through legislation now headed to the Senate floor.

Members of the Senate Rules Committee voted 25-0 for SB 280, which would empower the Division of Elections to boot candidates from ballots if they misrepresent their party affiliation when registering to run.

Florida law today requires each candidate running for public office to affirm several facts about their candidacy. They must state, in writing, that they have either had no party affiliation or been a member of the political party whose nomination they’re seeking for 365 days before the beginning of qualifying for the General Election.

“Current law requires candidates to state such information,” the bill’s sponsor, Kissimmee Democratic Sen. Kristen Arrington said Wednesday. “(But) courts have found no mechanism by which the provision can be enforced if the person seeking to qualify did not actually comply with the requirement.”

SB 280 would fix that by creating a legal route by which candidates and political parties can sue for injunctive relief.

“We’re just making this a little bit stronger so there’s teeth in it,” Arrington explained at the bill’s first Senate stop earlier this month.

So far, SB 280 hasn’t registered a single “no” vote.

Florida has had numerous instances of people filing to run for office under a certain party affiliation despite not meeting the state’s requirement of being a member of that party for at least a year.

In 2022, Florida Politics revealed that congressional candidate Curtis Calabrese was running illegally as a Democrat, having only been a member of the party for two weeks before he filed to run for Florida’s 22nd Congressional District. He dropped out of the race two months before the Primary.

In December, a candidate running for Florida’s 6th Congressional District did similarly.

But other candidates insisted on staying in the race even after it was pointed out that they ran afoul of Florida’s rules.

There was Wancito Francius, who remained on the Democratic Primary ballot for House District 107 last year despite falling six weeks short of the 365-day requirement.

Florida’s weak enforcement ability was known by then, due to a case involving former COVID dashboard operator Rebekah Jones. A three-Judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that Jones could stay on the 2022 Democratic Primary ballot even though she technically didn’t qualify.

Judge Scott Makar cited a “gap in the statute” governing party affiliation, adding that lawmakers “may wish to consider implementing a mechanism to decide, early on, the bona fides of a political Primary candidate’s party oath (because) currently one is lacking and requires that political party candidates be taken at their word, which is not likely to be sustainable.”

Palm Harbor Republican Sen. Ed Hooper, a cosponsor of SB 280, said Wednesday that he had a similar issue with his Primary opponent in August, John Siamas.

“Speaking with the Division of Elections, they opined, ‘We do not have the authority to remove a candidate based on a sworn, notarized affidavit that was false.’ Also, the courts have no statutory authority until this bill becomes law,” he said. “So, good bill. Let’s make sure that if you signed your name to a sworn affidavit (that) you’re telling the truth.”

SB 280, which Tampa Republican Sen. Jay Collins is also cosponsoring, awaits scheduling for Senate floor consideration.

Its House twin (HB 208) by Tallahassee Democratic Rep. Allison Tant was referred to two committees in January, but hasn’t yet been taken up.