Florida: Limits on Voter Eligibility Challenges

Written and published in partnership with All Voting is Local

Florida, like most states, allows private individuals to challenge another person’s eligibility to vote. This resource details state and federal laws that govern this process and protect challenged voters. Florida’s voter protections include a requirement that all challenges be in writing and signed under penalty of perjury, and a requirement that challenged voters be allowed to vote a provisional ballot.

Florida law only permits challenges during a 30-day window before and on Election Day.

• Only a registered voter or poll watcher from the same county can challenge a person’s right to vote in that county. footnote1_hQrbp9rfdqMt7FTrSrjPL6crcVmLddltLNEeMu9I_uG4tYRtGriYs1 Fla. Stat. § 101.111(1)(a).
• Challenges are prohibited unless they are brought within 30 days of an election or on Election Day. footnote2_4HYiBrTHNMawgrG4IDk7F-NdjOa3eSgni1enVVYYWQ_xCuiUxV79R7k2 Fla. Stat. § 101.111(1)(c).
• Challenges must be delivered to the supervisor of elections, or to the clerk or inspector at a polling place. footnote3_JR4MBU1jXcC1F93mIQxfphuoHXhyi-2Mm—83DdT7c_zPDTyXVN5U233 Fla. Stat. §§ 101.111(1)(a), (c).

• A challenge to a vote-by-mail ballot is different from a challenge to a voter’s eligibility to vote. A challenge to a vote-by-mail ballot can be filed by an elector or a candidate at the county board canvassing meeting, but only on the grounds that there is a defect on the vote-by-mail ballot certificate. These challenges can only be accepted after the ballot is received and before it is opened. footnote4_jbDqFjzaHxIK2Qt5Re9L-Fy5Vtz-Mg2Twh0aQ2aHo0s_vRXfmCYSLF1L4 Fla. Stat. § 101.68 (4).

  Florida law includes multiple accountability measures to deter challenge abuses.

• A voter or poll watcher who challenges another voter must swear and sign a written challenge oath. footnote5_JR4MBU1jXcC1F93mIQxfphuoHXhyi-2Mm—83DdT7c_yvT7ntOAutB05 Fla. Stat. §§ 101.111(1)(a), (c). They must file a separate challenge form for each voter challenged. footnote6_GGtCmP5ymvk8irkkfDMuDRZjhF32e64NtdxO3jNMMsg_zWkyZVmalmYl6 Florida Division of Elections, Voter Challenges DE Reference Guide 0009, March 20, 2020, 1, https://soe.dos.state.fl.us/pdf/DE%20Guide%200009-Guidelines%20for%20Voter%20Challenges%20202003.pdf (update pending as of June 3, 2024, https://soe.dos.state.fl.us).
• It is a third-degree felony for a voter or poll watcher to use false information to challenge another voter. footnote7_ENi8aPLlKgK9gad-Jc6tAdQE6kV1PoIB4PJEjs5TGY_mR9MWlrrI80m7 Fla. Stat. § 104.0615(3)(a).
• A voter or poll watcher who files a frivolous challenge against another voter is guilty of a separate misdemeanor for each frivolous challenge they file. footnote8_u0k34-XQrFAgiHghTnc7zq76WTXdbi61uNAN-PLTA6w_sWULXTOLu2HT8 Fla. Stat. § 101.111(2).

• In addition, any person “who willfully swears or affirms falsely to any oath or affirmation, or willfully procures another person to swear or affirm falsely to an oath or affirmation, in connection with or arising out of voting or elections commits a felony of the third degree . . . “footnote9_a18dk0lft1Ea5ZyVEizFnc9894QLSpnCpJUxqVD5kQ_rG8VXNBIykBH9 Fla. Stat. § 104.011 (1)(emphasis added).

  A challenged voter has the right to immediate notice of a challenge and the right to cast a provisional ballot.

• A challenged voter has the right to immediately receive notice and a copy of the challenge. footnote10_R9OypTR9DnN3dj3P6SfAftQ0yXZtChSL4e99fDqlpw_l3olQYf3aOiW10 Fla. Stat. § 101.111(1)(b). Upon receiving a sworn challenge during the proper time window, the supervisor of elections must promptly deliver a copy of the challenge to the election board of the challenged voter’s precinct. footnote11_ZUSXSryqkEOD6hMjYNDk3OfUOcNGygOEHz3-E342–8_vLRrdjYbqzk711 Fla. Stat. § 101.111(c). If the voter is a vote-by-mail ballot voter, they have the same right to notice, a copy of the challenge, and an opportunity to present evidence of their eligibility to the supervisor of elections. footnote12_MJACgdcx3LxUpJzBswwTPLsabSh3EXcA0vB41QR5o_zAS9nuBcVlPb12 FL Division of Elections, Voter Challenges Guide, 1.
• A voter whose residency is challenged can update their registration address and vote a regular ballot if they moved within their county, if they moved to a county that uses an electronic poll book at the polling place, or if they are an active uniformed service member or family member. footnote13_QsVqA2fZde6KhvEAA9ysz1X61y-QembHMq4qV6E4aQ_mp0r3BSmtFaY13Id.

• All other challenged voters have the right to vote a provisional ballot. footnote14_WkUgjgEjTTLA7NmvI5ITZSJAPL8u0FcdVjMXnE3CB80_mBc5b4TlpMyR14 Fla. Stat. §§ 101.111(1)(b), (c); FL Division of Elections, Florida Voter Guide, 2024 Election Cycle, November 2023, 21, https://files.floridados.gov/media/707256/final-voterregvotingguide-eng-2024-election-cycle-20231110.pdf. The voter must be given written notice and instructions on their right to provide evidence of their eligibility to the supervisor of elections until 5 p.m. on the second day after Election Day. footnote15_1JgUOZyYCll8zwt-qU7IGgcpz4ef-Z8kOZG9cGGKE_zLCkoumGfWbc15 Fla. Stat. § 101.048(1); FL Division of Elections, Voter Challenges Guide, 1, https://soe.dos.state.fl.us/pdf/DE%20Guide%200009-Guidelines%20for%20Voter%20Challenges%20202003.pdf.

  A challenged voter is presumed eligible unless there is sufficient evidence demonstrating they are not entitled to vote.

• The county canvassing board, when deciding whether to count a provisional ballot cast by a challenged voter, must presume the voter is eligible to vote. footnote16_MJACgdcx3LxUpJzBswwTPLsabSh3EXcA0vB41QR5o_e82i1tIj3Mrw16 FL Division of Elections, Voter Challenges Guide, 1.

• In deciding whether there is evidence sufficient to overcome the presumption of eligibility, the county canvassing board must review the information in the voter’s provisional ballot certificate and affirmation, any information provided by the supervisor of elections, the challenger’s oath, and any information provided by the challenged voter. footnote17_UygDyqOZir5almknQqEMntSeAZp8BKkZyEU1lYDLTMA_rBuGKkgm7Nru17 Fla. Stat. § 101.048(2)(a); FL Division of Elections, Voter Challenges Guide, 1.

  Almost no challenge should result in the immediate removal of a voter from the rolls.

The National Voter Registration Act limits when and how voters can be removed from the rolls. Under the act, states and counties are permitted to remove a voter in just five circumstances: if the voter affirms the change; if state law requires, for a criminal conviction or mental incapacity; for the death of the voter; if the voter confirms a change of residence in writing; and based on other evidence of a change of residence, but only after the state sends a notice and the voter both fails to respond and fails to vote in the next two federal general elections. footnote18_c2pGDziFOYg31tsPV5CrtkICNKjuVU5xIMZ6UCP1WA_xylF1ImBptdL18 52 U.S.C. § 20507(a)(3), (d).  These restrictions apply regardless of whether clerks are conducting their own list maintenance or responding to challenges.  

The act also prohibits the “systematic” removal of voters within 90 days of a federal election. footnote19_a4njQ8-QpxnP718T8O0oO0NcMgLC1pNhAGAIAkR0KrY_fQMBSkb73Mss19 52 U.S.C. § 20507(c)(2)(a). According to guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice, “This 90-day deadline applies to State list maintenance verification activities such as general mailings and door-to-door canvasses. This deadline also applies to list maintenance programs based on third-party challenges derived from any large, computerized data-matching process.”footnote20_OzvVTgyWJuGYjoVaN0VEh53cCEY8vhg3WTlIVDeFS8c_bG1W1zM1a7SJ20 U.S Department of Justice, Voter Registration List Maintenance: Guidance under Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act, 52 U.S.C. § 20507, 4, September 2024, https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1366561/dl.

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Voters in Florida have the right to vote free from intimidation under federal and state law. Baseless challenges to a voter’s eligibility can harass and intimidate the voter being challenged, as well as other voters waiting to vote at the polls. More information on the federal and state laws that protect Florida voters from intimidation can be found here.