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The House Ethics & Elections Committee unanimously passed HB 903 Relating to Registration of Paid Petition Gatherers by Representative Chris Dorworth (R-Heathrow). The bill attempts to increase the level of accountability of paid petition gatherers by establishing a registration system for these individuals. Currently, there is no way of keeping track or even finding paid petition gatherers should any allegation or wrong-doing or fraud be made. Several states including California currently require that paid petition gatherers register with the Secretary of State (SOS). The provisions in the bill would not apply to volunteer petition gatherers.
The bill:
- Prohibits a paid petition circulator from collecting petitions in Florida without first registering with the Department of State.
- Prohibits anyone from paying a petition circulator who is not registered with the Department of State.
- Prohibits registrants from circulating petition forms until the forms have been registered with the Department of State.
In order to be a registered paid petition gatherer, the individual must be:
- A citizen of the United States;
- A legal resident of the state of Florida; and
- Not a convicted felon ineligible to register to vote.
Representatives from the SOS expressed some concern with the cost and implementation of the registration process, but they do not oppose the bill’s intent. The bill allows the SOS to impose a fee for registration that could potentially cover the costs.
John French, on behalf of AIF, provided some great background testimony on the mercenary nature of paid petition gatherers and the breakdown in accountability that occurs when big national signature gathering firms contract out their petition gathering to smaller sub-contractors.
AIF supports legislation that would bring about increased accountability for paid petition signature gatherers through a registration process.
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