s. 100.011 1996 SUPPLEMENT TO FLORIDA STATUTES 1995 s. 101.5609

the district's proportionate share of regular election costs, as the case may be, shall be paid out of the dis­trict's treasury and in the same manner as in general elections. This subsection applies to any district, whether created by or pursuant to special or general law, which is a special district as defined in s. 200.001(8)(c) or a community development district as defined in s. 190.003(6).

(b) The provisions of any special law to the contrary notwithstanding, the supervisor of elections may impose an interest penalty on any amount due and owing to him or her from a special district or community development district if payment is not made within 30 days from receipt of the bill or within 10 working days of the required time authorized by interlocal agreement. The rate of such interest shall be the rate established pursu­ant to s. 55.03.

(c) The provisions of any special law to the contrary notwithstanding, all independent and dependent spe­cial district elections, with the exception of community development district elections, shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements of ss. 189.405 and 189.4051.

Hlstory.-s 23, ch. 3879, 1889; RS 177; s. 27, ch. 4328, 1895; GS 209; s. 8, ch. 6469, 1913; RGS253, 306; CGL309, 362; SS. 1,2, ch. 20409, 1941; SS. 1, 2, ch. 22739, 1945; s. 4, ch. 25384, 1949; s. 4, ch. 26870, 1951; s. 12, ch. 77-175; s. 6, ch. 87-363; s. 53, ch. 89-169; s. 543, ch. 95-147; s. 4, ch. 96-327.

Note.-Former ss. 99 07, 102.08.

CHAPTER 101

VOTING METHODS AND PROCEDURE

101.5609 101.62 101.64

101.65 101.655

101.68 101.69 101.694

Ballot requirements. Request for absentee ballots. Delivery of absentee ballots; envelopes;

form. Instructions to absent electors. Supervised voting by absent electors in cer-

tain facilities. Canvassing of absentee ballot. Voting in person; return of absentee ballot. Mailing of ballots upon receipt of federal

postcard application.

101.5609 Ballot requirements.-(1) When an electronic or electromechanical voting

system utilizes a ballot card or paper ballot which is dis­tributed to electors, the ballot shall meet the following requirements:

(a) The ballot shall have at least two stubs. Stub number one shall have the ballot serial number on it. Stub number two, the stub adjacent to the ballot card, shall have the official title of the election with the name of the county and state on it and may be long enough to cover the ballot to provide secrecy after the ballot has been marked. The ballot serial number may also be on stub number two.

(b) Ballots to be used in the precincts shall be assembled in pads so that stub number one will remain on the ballot pad and stub number two will go with the ballot. On absentee ballots, stub number one shall be retained by the supervisor and stub number two may be retained by the supervisor or sent with the ballot.

(2) The ballot information shall, as far as practicable, be in the order of arrangement provided for paper bal­lots. Ballots for all questions or propositions to be voted on shall be provided in the same manner and shall be arranged on or in the voting device, if necessary, in the places provided for such purposes.

(3) When an electronic voting system utilizes a ballot information booklet for candidates and propositions to be voted upon, such ballot information may be provided with a series of pages distinguished by different colors. More than one public measure or proposition may be placed on the same page or series of pages.

(4) In a primary election, a separate ballot shall be used for each political party holding a primary. One bal­lot may be used for recording the voter's vote on all races, proposals, public measures, or propositions to be voted upon on the day of the primary election.

(5) If the ballot information booklet includes pages containing candidates for office and pages containing public measures or propositions to be voted on, the election official in charge of the election shall divide the pages by protruding tabs identifying the division of the pages which relate to candidates, constitutional amend­ments, bond referenda, or other propositions.

(6) Voting squares may be placed in front of or in back of the names of candidates and statements of questions and shall be of such size as is compatible with the type of system used. Ballots and ballot information shall be printed in a size and style of type as plain and clear as the ballot spaces reasonably permit. Tear-off stubs shall be of a size suitable for the ballots used and for the requirements of the voting device. The ballots may contain special printed marks and holes as required for proper positioning and reading of the ballots by the automatic tabulating equipment. When ballots are bound into pads. they may be bound at the top or bot­tom or at either side. In the case of the paper ballots, all offices and questions may be printed on the same sheet of paper.

(7)(a) Absentee ballots may consist of ballot cards, envelopes, or paper ballots voted in person in the office of the election official in charge of the election, voted by mail, or delivered as provided ins. 101.62(4).

(b) When a ballot card is used for voting by mail, it shall be accompanied by a marking device, if necessary; voter instructions; a secrecy envelope which will main­tain the secrecy of a marked ballot; a mailing envelope; a specimen ballot, if necessary, showing the proper positions to vote on the ballot card for each party, candi­date, proposal, public measure, or proposition; and any other item needed by the elector to cast his or her vote.

(c) The voted absentee ballot shall be placed in a secrecy envelope before being placed in the mailing envelope on which the voter's certificate is printed.

(d) In any election in which a write-in candidate has qualified, the supervisor of elections shall provide for write-in voting by absent electors pursuant to rules adopted by the Division of Elections.

(8) The Department of State shall adopt rules pre­scribing standards for ballots used in electronic or electromechanical voting systems. Such standards shall ensure that ballots are counted in a uniform and consist­ent manner and shall include, without limitation, stand­ards for the:

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s. 101.5609 1996 SUPPLEMENT TO FLORIDA STATUTES 1995 s. 101.62

(a) Physical characteristics of ballots; (b) Physical characteristics of ink for ballots; (c) Printing of ballots; and (d) Scoring of ballots.

Hiatory.-s. 9, ch. 73-156; s. 21, ch. 77-175; s. 38, ch. 79-400; s. 13, ch. 84-302; s. 3, ch. 86-200; s. 25, ch. 89-338; s. 12, ch. 89-348; s. 580, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 96-57.

101.62 Request for absentee ballots.-( 1) The supervisor may accept a request for an

absentee ballot from an elector or for an elector from any person designated by such elector. Such request may be made in person, by mail, or by telephone. One request shall be deemed sufficient to receive an absen­tee ballot for all elections which are held within a calen­dar year, unless the elector or the elector's designee indicates at the time the request is made the elections for which the elector desires to receive an absentee bal­lot. Such request may be considered canceled when any first-class mail sent by the supervisor to the elector is returned as undeliverable.

(2) If a request for an absentee ballot is received after the Friday before the election by the supervisor of elections from an absent elector overseas, the supervi­sor shall send a notice to the elector acknowledging receipt of his or her request and notifying the elector that the ballot will not be forwarded due to insufficient time for return of the ballot by the required deadline.

(3) For each request for an absentee ballot received, the supervisor shall record the date the request was made, the date the absentee ballot was delivered or mailed, the date the ballot was received by the supervi­sor, and such other information he or she may deem nec­essary. This information shall be confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and shall be made available to or reproduced only for a canvassing board, an election official, a political party or official thereof, a candidate who has filed qualification papers and is opposed in an upcoming election, and registered political committees or registered committees of contin­uous existence, for political purposes only.

(4)(a) To each absent qualified elector overseas who has requested an absentee ballot, the supervisor of elections shall, not fewer than 35 days before the first primary election, mail an absentee ballot. Not fewer than 45 days before the second primary and general election, the supervisor of elections shall mail an advance absen­tee ballot to those persons requesting ballots for such elections. The advance absentee ballot for the second primary shall be the same as the first primary absentee ballot as to the names of candidates, except that for any offices where there are only two candidates, those offices and all political party executive committee offices shall be omitted. The advance absentee ballot for the general election shall be as specified in s. 101.151, except that in the case of candidates of political parties where nominations were not made in the first primary, the names of the candidates placing first and second in the first primary election shall be printed on the advance absentee ballot. The advance absentee ballot or advance absentee ballot information booklet shall be of a different color for each election and also a different color from the absentee ballots for the first primary, sec­ond primary, and general election. The supervisor shall

mail an advance absentee ballot for the second primary and general election to each qualified absent elector for whom a request is received until the absentee ballots are printed. The supervisor shall enclose with the advance second primary absentee ballot and advance general election absentee ballot an explanation stating that the absentee ballot for the election will be mailed as soon as it is printed; and, if both the advance absen­tee ballot and the absentee ballot for the election are returned in time to be counted, only the absentee ballot will be counted.

(b) As soon as the remainder of the absentee ballots are printed, the supervisor shall deliver or mail an absen­tee ballot to each elector by whom a request for that bal­lot has been made. Any elector may designate in writing a person to pick up the ballot for the elector; however, the person designated may not pick up more than two absentee ballots per election, other than the designee's own ballot, except that additional ballots may be picked up for members of the designee's immediate family. For purposes of this section, "immediate family" means the designee's spouse or the parent, child, grandparent, or sibling of the designee or of the designee's spouse. The designee shall provide to the supervisor the written authorization by the elector and a picture identification of the designee and must complete an affidavit. The designee shall state in the affidavit that the designee is authorized by the elector to pick up that ballot and shall indicate if the elector is a member of the designee's immediate family and, if so, the relationship. The depart­ment shall prescribe the form of the affidavit. If the supervisor is satisfied that the designee is authorized to pick up the ballot and that the signature of the elector on the written authorization matches the signature of the elector on file, the supervisor shall give the ballot to that designee for delivery to the elector.

(5) In the event that the Elections Canvassing Com­mission is unable to certify the results of an election for a state office in time to comply with subsection (4), the Department of State is authorized to prescribe rules for a ballot to be sent to absent electors overseas.

(6) Nothing other than the materials necessary to vote absentee shall be mailed or delivered with any absentee ballot.

(?)(a) For the purposes of this section, "absent quali­fied elector overseas" means:

1. Members of the Armed Forces while in the active service who are permanent residents of the state and are temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia;

2. Members of the Merchant Marine of the United States who are permanent residents of the state and are temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia; and

3. Other citizens of the United States who are per-manent residents of the state and are temporarily resid­ing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia,

who are qualified and registered as provided by law. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the

contrary, there shall appear on the ballots sent to absent qualified electors overseas, in addition to the names of

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s. 101.62 1996 SUPPLEMENT TO FLORIDA STATUTES 1995 s. 101.655

the candidates for each office, the political party affilia­tion of each candidate for each office, other than a non­partisan office.

(c) With respect to marked ballots mailed by absent qualified electors overseas, only those ballots mailed with an APO, FPO, or foreign postmark shall be consid­ered valid.

History.-s. 2, ch. 7380, 1917; RGS 369; CGL430; s. 1, ch. 25385, 1949; s. 5, ch. 26870, 1951; s. 32, ch. 28156, 1953; s. 21, ch 29934, 1955; s. 2, ch. 59-213; s. 32, ch. 65-380; s. 1, ch. 67-33; s. 2. ch. 69-136; s. 4, ch 69-280; s. 2, ch. 70-93; ss. 1, 2, ch 71-149; s. 5, ch. 73-157; s. 39, ch 73·333; s. 2, ch. 75-174; s. 21, ch. 77-175; s. 4-0, ch. 79-400; s. 2, ch. 83-16; s. 6, ch. 83-251; s. 1, ch. 85-226; s. 4, ch. 86-199; s. 4, ch. 87-363; s. 2, ch. 87-538; s. 28, ch. 89-338; s 20, ch. 90-360; s. 587, ch. 95-147; s. 3, ch. 96-57; s. 25, ch. 96-406.

Note.-Former s. 101.02.

101.64 Delivery of absentee ballots; envelopes; form.-

(1) The supervisor shall enclose with each absentee ballot two envelopes: a secrecy envelope, into which the absent elector shall enclose his or her marked ballot; and a mailing envelope, into which the absent elector shall then place the secrecy envelope, which shall be addressed to the supervisor and also bear on the back side a certificate in substantially the following form:

Note: Please Read Instructions Carefully Before Marking Ballot and Completing Voter's Certificate.

VOTER'S CERTIFICATE I, !print name) , do solemnly swear or affirm that I am a

qualified elector in this election, that I am unable to attend the polls on election day, and that I have not and will not vote more than one ballot in this election. I under­stand that failure to sign this certificate and have my sig­nature witnessed will invalidate my ballot.

!Voter's Signature)

Note: Your Signature Must Be Witnessed By One Wit­ness 18 Years of Age or Older as provided in Item 7. of the Instruction Sheet.

I swear or affirm that the elector signed this Voter's Certificate in my presence.

(Signature of Witness)

(Address) (City/State)

(2) The certificate shall be arranged on the back of the mailing envelope so that the lines for the signatures of the absent elector and the attesting witness are across the seal of the envelope; however, no statement shall appear on the envelope which indicates that a sig­nature of the voter or witness must cross the seal of the envelope. The absent elector and the attesting witness shall execute the certificate on the envelope.

Hlstory.-s. 4, ch. 7380, 1917; RGS 371; CGL 432; s. 1, ch. 25385, 1949; s. 5, ch. 26870, 1951; s 34, ch 28156, 1953; s. 22. ch. 29934, 1955; s 1, ch. 61-369; s. 33, ch. 65-380: s. 3, ch. 69-136; s. 5, ch. 69-280; s. 21. ch. 7t-355; s. 1, ch. 73-105; s. 6, ch. 73-157; s. 39, ch. 73-333; s. 3, ch. 75-174; s. 23, ch. 77-175; s. 4, ch. 79-365; s 1, ch. 81-106: s. 9, ch. 81-304; s. 10, ch. 62-143: s. 2, ch. 85-226; s. 1, ch. 86-33; s. 19, ch. 90-315: s. 588, ch. 95-147; s. 4, ch. 96-57.

Note.-Former s. 101.04.

101.65 Instructions to absent electors.-The supervisor shall enclose with each absentee ballot sepa­rate printed instructions in substantially the following form:

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE MARKING BALLOT.

1. VERY IMPORT ANT. In order to ensure that your absentee ballot will be counted, it should be completed and returned as soon as possible so that it can reach the supervisor of elections of the county in which your pre­cinct is located no later than 7 p.m. on the day of the election.

2. Mark your ballot in secret as instructed on the bal­lot.

3. Place your marked ballot in the enclosed secrecy envelope.

4. Insert the secrecy envelope into the enclosed mailing envelope which is addressed to the supervisor.

5. Seal the mailing envelope and completely fill out the Voter's Certificate on the back of the mailing enve­lope.

6. VERY IMPORTANT. Sign your name on the line above '(Voter's Signature)."

7. VERY IMPORTANT. In order for your absentee ballot to be counted, it must include the signature and address of a witness 18 years of age or older affixed to the Voter's Certificate. No candidate may serve as an attesting witness.

8. Mail, deliver, or have delivered the completed mailing envelope. Be sure there is sufficient postage if mailed.

Hlatory.-s. 5, ch. 7380, 1917; RGS 372; CGL 433; s. 1, ch. 25385, 1949; s. 5, ch. 26870, 1951; s. 35, ch. 28156, 1953; s. 23, ch. 29934, 1955; s. 34. ch. 65-380; s. 4, ch. 71-149; s. 9, ch. 72-63; s. 2, ch. 73-105; s. 7, ch. 73-157; ss. 3, 4, ch. 75-174; s. 23, ch. 77-175; s. 2, ch. 81-106; s. 10, ch. 81-304; s. 11, ch. 82-143; s. 7, ch. 83-251; s. 3, ch. 85-226; s. 2, ch. 86-33; s. 589, ch. 95-147; s. 5, ch. 96-57.

Note.-Former s. 101.05.

101.655 Supervised voting by absent electors in certain facilities.-

(1) The supervisor of elections of a county shall pro­vide supervised voting for absent electors residing in any assisted living facility, as defined in s. 400.402, or nursing home facility, as defined in s. 400.021, within that county at the request of any administrator of such a facility. Such request for supervised voting in the facil· ity shall be made by submitting a written request to the supervisor of elections no later than 21 days prior to the election for which that request is submitted. The request shall specify the name and address of the facility and the name of the electors who wish to vote absentee in that election. If the request contains the names of fewer than five voters, the supervisor of elections is not required to provide supervised voting.

(2) The supervisor of elections may, in the absence of a request from the administrator of a facility, provide for supervised voting in the facility for those persons who have requested absentee ballots. The supervisor of elections shall notify the administrator of the facility that supervised voting will occur.

(3) The supervisor of elections shall, in cooperation with the administrator of the facility, select a date and time when the supervised voting will occur.

(4) The supervisor of elections shall designate supervised voting teams to provide the services pre­scribed by this section. Each supervised voting team shall include at least two persons. Each supervised vot­ing team must include representatives of more than one political party; however, in any primary election to nomi­nate party nominees in which only one party has candi­dates appearing on the ballot, all supervised voting

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s. 101.655 1996 SUPPLEMENT TO FLORIDA STATUTES 1995 s. 101.694

team members may be of that party. No candidate may provide supervised voting services.

(5) The supervised voting team shall deliver the bal­lots to the respective absent electors, and each member of the team shall jointly supervise the voting of the bal­lots. If any elector requests assistance in voting, the oath prescribed ins. 101.051 shall be completed and the elector may receive the assistance of two members of the supervised voting team or some other person of the elector's choice to assist the elector in casting the elec­tor's ballot.

(6) Before providing assistance, the supervised vot­ing team shall disclose to the elector that the ballot may be retained to vote at a later time and that the elector has the right to seek assistance in voting from some other person of the elector's choice without the pres­ence of the supervised voting team.

(7) If any elector declines to vote a ballot or is unable to vote a ballot, the supervised voting team shall mark the ballot "refused to vote" or "unable to vote."

(8) After the ballots have been voted or marked in accordance with the provisions of this section, the supervised voting team shall deliver the ballots to the supervisor of elections, who shall retain them pursuant to s. 101.67.

Hiatory.-s. 6, ch. 96-57.

101.68 Canvassing of absentee ballot.-(1) The supervisor of the county where the absent

elector resides shall receive the voted ballot, at which time the supervisor may compare the signature of the elector on the voter's certificate with the signature of the elector in the registration books to determine whether the elector is duly registered in the county and may rec­ord on the elector's registration certificate that the elec­tor has voted. The supervisor shall safely keep the ballot unopened in his or her office until the county canvassing board canvasses the vote.

(2)(a) The county canvassing board may begin the canvassing of absentee ballots at 7 a.m. on the fourth day before the election, but not later than noon on the day following the election. In addition, for any county using electronic tabulating equipment, the processing of absentee ballots through such tabulating equipment may begin upon the opening of the polls on election day. However, notwithstanding any such authorization to begin canvassing or otherwise processing absentee bal­lots early, no result or tabulation of absentee ballots shall be made until after the close of the polls on election day.

(b) To ensure that all absentee ballots to be counted by the canvassing board are accounted for, the can­vassing board shall compare the number of ballots in its possession with the number of requests for ballots received to be counted according to the supervisor's file or list.

(c)1. The canvassing board shall, if the supervisor has not already done so, compare the signature of the elector on the voter's certificate with the signature of the elector in the registration books to see that the elector is duly registered in the county and to determine the legality of that absentee ballot. An absentee ballot shall be considered illegal if it does not include the signature of the elector, as shown by the registration records, and

211

the signature and address of an attesting witness. How­ever, an absentee ballot shall not be considered illegal if the signature of the elector or attesting witness does not cross the seal of the mailing envelope. If the can­vassing board determines that any ballot is illegal, a member of the board shall, without opening the enve­lope, mark across the face of the envelope: "rejected as illegal." The envelope and the ballot contained therein shall be preserved in the manner that official ballots voted are preserved.

2. If any elector or candidate present believes that an absentee ballot is illegal due to a defect apparent on the voter's certificate, he or she may, at any time before the ballot is removed from the envelope, file with the canvassing board a protest against the canvass of that ballot, specifying the precinct, the ballot, and the reason he or she believes the ballot to be illegal. A challenge based upon a defect in the voter's certificate may not be accepted after the ballot has been removed from the mailing envelope.

(d) The canvassing board shall record the ballot upon the proper record, unless the ballot has been previ­ously recorded by the supervisor. The mailing envelopes shall be opened and the secrecy envelopes shall be mixed so as to make it impossible to determine which secrecy envelope came out of which signed mailing envelope; however, in any county in which an electronic or electromechanical voting system is used, the ballots may be sorted by ballot styles and the mailing enve­lopes may be opened and the secrecy envelopes mixed separately for each ballot style. The votes on absentee ballots shall be included in the total vote of the county.

(3) The supervisor or the chair of the county can­vassing board shall, after the board convenes, have cus­tody of the absentee ballots until a final proclamation is made as to the total vote received by each candidate.

Hiatory.-s. 5, ch. 26870, 1951; s. 37, ch. 28156, 1953; s. 36, ch. 65-380; s. 6, ch. 69-280; s. 3, ch. 75-174; s. 23, ch. 77-175; s. 41, ch. 79-400; s. 3, ch. 86-33; s. 591, ch. 95-147; s. 7, ch. 96-57.

101.69 Voting in person; return of absentee ballot. The provisions of this code shall not be construed to pro­hibit any elector from voting in person at the elector's precinct on the day of an election notwithstanding that the elector has requested an absentee ballot for that election. An elector who has received an absentee bal­lot, but desires to vote in person, shall return the ballot, whether voted or not, to the election board in the elec­tor's precinct. The returned ballot shall be marked "canceled" by the board and placed with other canceled ballots. However, if the elector is unable to return the ballot, the elector may execute an affidavit stating that the absentee ballot has not been voted and the elector may then vote at the precinct.

Hlatory.-s. 1, ch. 22014, 1943; s. 1, ch. 25385, 1949; s. 5, ch. 26870, 1951; s. 37, ch. 65-380; s. 23, ch. 77-175; s. 592, ch. 95-147; s. 8, ch. 96-57.

Note.-Former s. 101.11.

101.694 Mailing of ballots upon receipt of federal postcard application.-

(1) Upon receipt of a federal postcard application for an absentee ballot executed by a person whose regis­tration is in order or whose application is sufficient to register or update the registration of that person, the supervisor shall mail to the applicant a ballot, if the bal­lots are available for mailing.

s. 101.694 1996 SUPPLEMENT TO FLORIDA STATUTES 1995 s. 106.25

(2) Upon receipt of a federal postcard application for an absentee ballot executed by a person whose regis­tration is not in order and whose application is insuffi­cient to register or update the registration of that per­son, the supervisor shall follow the procedure set forth in s. 97.073.

(3) There shall be printed across the face of each envelope in which a ballot is sent to a federal postcard applicant, or is returned by such applicant to the super­visor, two parallel horizontal red bars, each one-quarter inch wide, extending from one side of the envelope to the other side, with an intervening space of one-quarter inch, the top bar to be 1 1/4 inches from the top of the envelope, and with the words "Official Election Balloting Material-via Air Mail," or similar language, between the bars. There shall be printed in the upper right corner of each such envelope, in a box, the words "Free of U. S. Postage, including Air Mail." All printing on the face of each envelope shall be in red, and there shall be printed in red in the upper left corner of each ballot envelope an appropriate inscription or blanks for return address of sender. Additional specifications may be prescribed by rule of the Division of Elections upon recommendation of the presidential designee under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act Otherwise, the envelopes shall be the same as those used in sending ballots to, or receiving them from, other absentee voters.

(4) Cognizance shall be taken of the fact that absen­tee ballots and other materials such as instructions and envelopes are to be carried via air mail, and, to the maxi­mum extent possible, such ballots and materials shall be reduced in size and weight of paper. The same ballot shall be used, however, as is used by other absentee voters.

Hlatory.-s. 5, ch. 29904, 1955: ss. 4, 5, ch. 59-217: s. 41, ch. 65-380: s. 12, ch. 69-280: s. 23, ch. 77-175: s. 20, ch. 81-304; s. 37, ch. 94-224; s. 9, ch. 96-57.

CHAPTER 106

CAMPAIGN FINANCING

106.25 Reports of alleged violations to Department of State; disposition of findings.

file a sworn complaint with the Division of Elections. Such sworn complaint shall state whether a complaint of the same violation has been made to any state attor­ney.

(3) For the purposes of Florida Elections Commis­sion jurisdiction, a violation shall mean the willful per­formance of an act prohibited by this chapter or the will­ful failure to perform an act required by this chapter.

(4) The Division of Elections shall undertake a pre­liminary investigation to determine if the facts alleged in a sworn complaint or a matter initiated by the division constitute probable cause to believe that a violation has occurred. Upon completion of the preliminary investiga­tion the division shall, by written report, find probable cause or no probable cause to believe that this chapter ors. 104.271 has been violated.

(a) If no probable cause is found, the division may dismiss the case and the case shall become a matter of public record, except as otherwise provided in this sec­tion, together with a written statement of the findings of the preliminary investigation and a summary of the facts which the division shall send to the complainant and the alleged violator.

(b) If probable cause is found, the division shall so notify the complainant and the alleged violator in writing and shall refer the case to the commission. All docu­ments made or received in the disposition of the com­plaint shall become public records upon a finding by the commission.

In a case where probable cause is found by the commis­sion, the commission shall make a preliminary determi­nation to consider the matter or to refer the matter to the state attorney for the judicial circuit in which the alleged violation occurred.

(5) It is the duty of a state attorney receiving a com-plaint referred by the commission to investigate the complaint promptly and thoroughly; to undertake such criminal or civil actions as are justified by law; and to report to the commission the results of such investiga­tion, the action taken, and the disposition thereof. The failure or refusal of a state attorney to prosecute or to initiate action upon a complaint or a referral by the com­mission shall not bar further action by the commission

106.25 Reports of alleged violations to Department under this chapter· of State; disposition of findings.- (6) Every sworn complaint filed pursuant to this

(1) Jurisdiction to investigate and determine viola- chapter with the Division of Elections or the Florida Elec­tions of this chapter is vested in the Division of Elections tions Commission, every division investigation and and the Florida Elections Commission; however, nothing investigative report or other paper of the division or com­in this section limits the jurisdiction of any other officers mission with respect to a violation of this chapter, and or agencies of government empowered by law to investi- every proceeding of the commission with respect to a gate, act upon, or dispose of alleged violations of this violation of this chapter is confidential, is exempt from code. the provisions of ss. 119.07(1) and 286.011, and is

(2) The Division of Elections shall investigate and exempt from publication in the Florida Administrative report to the Florida Elections Commission all violations Weekly of any notice or agenda with respect to any pro­of this chapter with or without having received a sworn ceeding relating to such violation except under the fol­complaint, and may conducnandom audits and investi- lowing circumstances: gations with respect to reports and statements filed (a) As provided in subsection (5); under this chapter and with respect to the alleged failure (b) Upon a determination of probable cause or no to file any reports and statements required under this probable cause by the commission; chapter. However, any person, other than the division, (c) After a finding of no probable cause is made by having information of any violation of this chapter shall the division and the case is not appealed; or

212