Florida SB 62: Relief of Maury Hernandez by the Department of Corrections

Bill Text

62 
Candidate Qualification 
2025-11-20T09:53:42Z 
Specifying that a person seeking to qualify for office as a candidate must be a registered member of a political party, or registered without any party affiliation, for 365 consecutive days preceding the beginning of qualifying for an election; authorizing qualified candidates or certain political parties to challenge compliance with specified provisions by filing suit in a specified circuit court; prohibiting a person from being qualified as a candidate for nomination or election and appearing on the ballot under specified circumstances, etc. 
Committee Substitute 1 
2026 
S 
GB 
General Bill 
c1 

 Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 62 

 By the Committee on Ethics and Elections; and Senators 
 Arrington, Osgood, and Berman 

 582-01308-26 202662c1 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to candidate qualification; amending 
 3 s. 99.021, F.S.; specifying that a person seeking to 
 4 qualify for office as a candidate must be a registered 
 5 member of a political party, or registered without any 
 6 party affiliation, for 365 consecutive days preceding 
 7 the beginning of qualifying for an election; providing 
 8 that compliance with specified requirements is 
 9 mandatory; providing construction; authorizing 
 10 qualified candidates or certain political parties to 
 11 challenge compliance with specified provisions by 
 12 filing suit in a specified circuit court; prohibiting 
 13 a person from being qualified as a candidate for 
 14 nomination or election and appearing on the ballot 
 15 under specified circumstances; providing an effective 
 16 date. 
 17 
 18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 19 
 20 Section 1. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) of 
 21 section 99.021, Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph (f) 
 22 is added to that subsection, to read: 
 23 99.021 Form of candidate oath.— 
 24 (1) 
 25 (b) In addition, any person seeking to qualify for 
 26 nomination as a candidate of any political party shall, at the 
 27 time of subscribing to the oath or affirmation, state in 
 28 writing: 
 29 1. The party of which the person is a member. 
 30 2. That the person has been a registered member of the 
 31 political party for which he or she is seeking nomination as a 
 32 candidate for at least 365 consecutive days preceding before the 
 33 beginning of qualifying before preceding the general election 
 34 for which the person seeks to qualify. 
 35 3. That the person has paid the assessment levied against 
 36 him or her, if any, as a candidate for said office by the 
 37 executive committee of the party of which he or she is a member. 
 38 (c) In addition, any person seeking to qualify for office 
 39 as a candidate with no party affiliation shall, at the time of 
 40 subscribing to the oath or affirmation, state in writing that he 
 41 or she is registered without any party affiliation and that he 
 42 or she has not been a registered member of any political party 
 43 for at least 365 consecutive days preceding before the beginning 
 44 of qualifying before preceding the general election for which 
 45 the person seeks to qualify. 
 46 (f) The statements in subparagraph (b)2. and paragraph (c) 
 47 constitute substantive requirements for the person completing 
 48 the statement, and compliance with those requirements is 
 49 mandatory. The sole method to enforce compliance with such 
 50 requirements is contained in this paragraph. Compliance with 
 51 subparagraph (b)2. and paragraph (c) may be challenged by a 
 52 qualified candidate or a political party with qualified 
 53 candidates in the same race by filing an action in the circuit 
 54 court for the county in which the qualifying officer is 
 55 headquartered. A person may not be qualified as a candidate for 
 56 nomination or election and his or her name may not appear on the 
 57 ballot if in an order that has become final, the court 
 58 determines that: 
 59 1. The person seeking to qualify for nomination as a 
 60 candidate of any political party has not been a registered 
 61 member of that party for the 365-day period preceding the 
 62 beginning of qualifying; or 
 63 2. The person seeking to qualify for office as a candidate 
 64 with no party affiliation has not been registered without party 
 65 affiliation for, or has been a registered member of any 
 66 political party during, the 365-day period preceding the 
 67 beginning of qualifying. 
 68 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.