FL S1522

Creates the Florida Voting Rights Act, establishing a Florida Voting Rights Act Commission within the Department of State to enforce prohibitions on voter suppression, vote dilution, and voter intimidation, and requiring preclearance of election policy changes by covered local jurisdictions with histories of discrimination or significant racial disparities

Changes the Secretary of State from a governor-appointed position to a statewide elected office with a 4-year term, repeals the Office of Election Crimes and Security, repeals the ban on ranked-choice voting, and repeals the prohibition on private funds for election-related expenses

Expands voter access by allowing same-day voter registration at early voting sites and polling places, making General Election Day a paid holiday, requiring postage-prepaid vote-by-mail envelopes, allowing vote-by-mail requests to remain valid until canceled by the voter, and permitting voters to verify their identity using the last four digits of their Social Security number

Requires the Florida Commission on Offender Review to develop a public database by July 1, 2026, to help individuals with felony convictions determine whether their voting rights have been restored, and provides that individuals who register or vote in reasonable reliance on the database may not be criminally charged for fraudulent registration or voting

Establishes the Florida Voting and Elections Database and Institute in partnership with postsecondary institutions to maintain a centralized public repository of election data, and requires local governments to provide language assistance in voting when more than 2 percent (or 4,000+) of voting-age citizens are limited English proficient in a given language