Elections bill, minus recount, heads to governor

The Florida House on Friday morning stripped off an amendment initially proposed by Rep. Julio Robaina and then sent the elections bill, SB 866, to the governor.

If signed by the governor, it means that candidates for Agriculture Commissioner can now accept up to $500 from those involved in some of the industries regulated by the department. It also tweaks Florida's "no match" law and removes the use of buyer's club cards and employee worker IDs from one of the lists of approved photo ID for the polls.

Robaina's amendment - which was put on the bill near midnight earlier this week - would have lowered the penalties for someone who fails to put a disclamer on campaign ads that are paid by individuals. Robaina said he put the amendment on at the urging of citizens groups, including those pushing 1.35 percent property tax proposal.

Also missing from the bill: Secretary of State Kurt Browning's proposal to require a hand count of all ballots in a manual recount as opposed to just overvotes and undervotes. The recount proposal was opposed by elections supervisors from many large counties.