Legal Opinion regarding Checks for Qualifying . 5;:
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FLORIDA DEPARTMENT Of STATE
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RICK SCOTT KEN DETZNER.
Governor Secretary of State
March 18 , 2013
Nis . Cynthia S . Bonham
City Clerk, City of Winter Park
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401 Park Avenue South
Winter Park, FL 32789
RE : D:E 13 - 04 Candidate Qualifying; Qualifying Fees ;
Elections. Assessment — check drawn upon campaign
account -t- § § 100 . 360 , 99. 093 and 99 . 061 , Florida
Statutes
Dear Clerk B onham :
This letter responds to a request for an advisory opinion submitted by the City Attorney on your
behalf. You are the City Clerk for the City of Winter. Park and serve as the filing officer for
3 rri.un. .ici_pal candidates submitting qualification paperwork for the Winter Park municipal
elections; therefore; the Division has the authority to issue you an opinion pursuant to section
106 .23 (2 ), Florida Statutes (2012 ) ,
Your attorney states that you recently instructed a candidate for City Commission that the
election assessment must be paid with a check drawn upon the candidate ' s campaign account.
Your attorney essentially posed the following question :
Must municipal candidates pay the election assessment required in section 99 . 093 ,
Florida Statutes (2012 ), with a check drawn upon that candidate ' s campaign account in
order for the City Clerk to qualify the candidate?
The short answer is "Yes" to the extent that an applicable special act, charter, or ordinance
provision affecting the municipality does not provide otherwise ,
ANALYSIS
Section 100 , 3605 (:1 ) , Florida Statutes (2012), provides, "The Florida. Election. Code , chapters 97-
106, shall govern the conduct of a municipality ' s election in the absence of an applicable special
act, charter, or ordinance provision. " Your attorney states that no applicable special act , charter,
or ordinance provision exists for Winter Park. If this is correct, the candidate qualifying
,` R. A. Gray Building • 500 South Bronough Street • Tallahassee , Florida 32399 1
Telephone : ( 8501) 245 -6500 • Facsimile: ( 850) 245-6125 www. dos . state . fl.us
Div :
Commemorating 504 years of Florida history ;v-ww ,#la500 .caxn
VIVA FLORIDA VIVA FLORIDA
Ms . Cynthia S , Bonham
March 18 , 2013
Page 2 of
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requirements in. section 99 . 061. governs your municipal candidate qualifying , ' Unless the
municipal candidate files an oath of undue burden regarding the payment of the election
assessment, the Election Code requires each candidate to pay at the time of qualifying a
municipal election assessment equal to I % of the annual salary of the office sought. ''
election assessment is part of the qualifying fee that each candidate must pay at the time of :tiling
his or her qualifying .papers. In order to qualify as a candidate, the Election Code expressly
mandates that the candidate must pay the qualifying fee with a "check drawn upon the
candidate ' s campaign account."°` Therefore , in. the absence of a special act, charter or ordinance
provision providing otherwise, a municipal candidate, in order to qualify for the office sought,
must pay the election assessment required by section 99 . 093 with a check drawn upon the
candidate ' s campaign account. If the candidate fails to .pay with a check drawn upon the
candi' date ' s campaign account, then the filing officer should not qualify the candidate , '
SUMMARY
In the absence of an applicable special act, charter, or ordinance provision providing otherwise, a
municipal candidate, in order to qualify, must pay the election assessment required by section
99 . 093 , Florida Statutes (2012), with. a check drawn upon the candidate ' s campaign account .
Respectfully,
J
Marra I. Matthews, Esq .
Director, Division of Elections
cc : Usher L , Brown, Esq . , City Attorney, City of Winter Park
T'iiis opinion is necessarily limited to the application of the Florida Election Code and does not
analyze applicable special acts or provisions of local law that may apply or opine as to the
application of any such laws to your situation, The Division has no authority to interpret those
provisions . Therefore, this opinion applies only to the extent a special act or local law does not
prov=ide otherwise.
§ 99 ,093 , Fla. Stat. (2012) .
§ 99 . 092, Fla. Stat. (2012) .
:r § 99 . 061 ( 7 )(a) 1 . , Ha. Mat. (2012) .
See Peeks v. Demmer, No . 2012 -CA- 1858, at 5 (Fla. 2nd Jud. Cir. Aug. 7, 2012) (order granting
srunmary judgrnent) (upholding the Secretary of State' s determination that a candidate did not
qualify' because he did not submit a properly executed check drawn upon the candidate ' s
campaign account) . It is worth noting that a filing officer ' s function is ministerial and as such,
the officer lacks authority to determine the truth or accuracy of the contents of qualifying papers .
See id ; § 99 . 061 (7)(c) , Fla. .Stat ; see also e, g; , State ex iel, :Slier in V. Stone, 279 So . 2d 17 ( Ha,
1973 ) ; Division of Elections Opinion 78 - 30 (Aug. 3 , 1978); see also e.g. , Division of Elections
Opinion 09-05 (Jul . 15 , 2009) (analyzing qualifying officer' s duty and collecting eases and
opinions).