TALLAHASSEE \u2014 The Legislature passed a bill on Thursday that will allow opponents to kick candidates off the ballot who haven\u2019t been a member of their party for a full year \u2014 an issue that came up in a 2024 South Florida Democratic primary race.<\/p>\n
Florida law already requires candidates to be a member of the party they seek to represent for 365 days before the beginning of the qualifying period for the primary election, and to affirm that status in a sworn statement. But there\u2019s been no way to remove a candidate from a ballot if they are found to have lied in that statement, a Florida judge ruled in 2022.<\/p>\n
That will change as soon as the bill, HB 91<\/a>, becomes law \u2014 just in time for upcoming primary elections. During the primary election, when a candidate is found by a judge to have violated the party oath, they will be removed from the ballot.<\/p>\n The bill will become law unless the governor vetoes it. It was sponsored by the minority party, Democrats, in both chambers. The Senate passed the House bill unanimously on Thursday.<\/p>\n Sen. Don Gaetz, Republican chairman of the influential Ethics and Elections Committee, offered his support before he and his colleagues voted, saying the legal loophole had come to his panel\u2019s \u201cattention.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just wish to thank Sen. (Kristen) Arrington for taking on this issue,\u201d Gaetz said.<\/p>\n Controversy arose in a crowded 2024 Democratic primary in a north Miami-Dade district when the Times\/Herald reported<\/a> that one of the candidates \u2014 Wancito Francius \u2014 had switched his voter registration from Republican to Democrat too late to qualify for the election.<\/p>\n Francius remained on the ballot anyway, as his opponents had no way to remove him. He lost to former Miami-Dade school principal Wallace Aristide, who is now the district\u2019s representative.<\/p>\n The bill also includes a provision that prohibits anyone from running if they changed their legal name in the 365 days before the qualifying deadline. The law would not apply to people who have changed their names after marriage, divorce or adoption of children.<\/p>\n The House bill sponsor, Tallahassee Democrat Allison Tant \u2014 whose past opponent withdrew after being exposed for violating their party oath \u2014 said the name component was also needed to \u201censure transparency for voters, so they know who they\u2019re really voting for.\u201d She noted examples of candidates using different nicknames in runs for office and one who \u201cswitched parties like she switched her undergarments.\u201d<\/p>\n But a Republican candidate for agriculture commissioner said Thursday he thought he was the target. Matt The Welder said he legally changed his name from Matt Taylor in January after he wasn\u2019t allowed to use his stage name during a2024 run<\/a> for the Hillsborough County commission.<\/p>\n The welder and Internet personality said his followers \u2014 nearly 500,000 on Instagram <\/a>alone \u2014 know him as Matt The Welder, not his previous name.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I get tagged in stuff, I don\u2019t get tagged as Matt Taylor,\u201d he told the Times\/Herald Thursday.<\/p>\n To change his name, Welder said he had to undergo a background check, fingerprinting and go before a judge. Hillsborough County records show the court process took two and a half months.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not something you do two weeks before an election,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Welder said he followed the legal process currently in place, and if the legislation survives Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 veto pen, he\u2019ll challenge it in court.<\/p>\n