Florida Administrative Code › 2 - DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS › 2B - Florida Elections Commission › Chapter 2B-1 - PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE › Section 2B-1.0055 - Late-filed Reports; Unusual Circumstances

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) Unusual circumstances mean uncommon, rare
				or sudden events over which the actor has no control and which directly result
				in the failure to act according to the filing requirements. Unusual
				circumstances must occur within a time period that would clearly prevent the
				person legally responsible for filing the report from doing so in a timely
				manner. Unusual circumstances shall include, but are not limited to, the
				following circumstances:
(a) Natural disaster
				or other emergency that prevented timely filing. Evidence submitted shall
				include copies of newspaper reports or other documents from an independent and
				reliable source that document the nature, date, and location of the natural
				disaster or emergency.
(b) Death of
				the candidate or campaign treasurer or an immediate family member of the
				candidate or campaign treasurer. Evidence submitted shall include a copy of the
				death certificate, newspaper obituary, or funeral program or notice.
(c) Serious illness, disability or
				non-elective surgery of the candidate or campaign treasurer. Evidence submitted
				shall include a physician's certification on professional letterhead stationery
				that includes the dates of the illness, disability, or surgery; a statement
				regarding the period of time that the patient was incapacitated; and a
				statement that surgery, if any, was not elective. The period of incapacitation
				may also be shown by copies of hospital records reflecting the dates of
				hospitalization.
(d) Serious
				illness, disability or non-elective surgery of the candidate's or campaign
				treasurer's immediate family member. Evidence submitted shall include evidence
				of the candidate or treasurer's relationship to the family member, the location
				of the family member, and the reason the candidate or campaign treasurer's
				presence was required. Evidence submitted shall also include a physician's
				certification on professional letterhead stationery that includes the dates of
				the illness, disability or surgery; a statement regarding the period of time
				that the patient was incapacitated; a statement that surgery, if any, was not
				elective; and a statement that the patient required the care of a family
				member.
(e) Computer or equipment
				failure caused by events that could not have been anticipated and that made
				timely filing of the report impossible.
(f) The abrupt and unexpected loss of the
				campaign treasurer, over which the appealing party had no control. The loss of
				the campaign treasurer shall not constitute unusual circumstances if the
				appealing party failed to monitor the campaign treasurer's performance before
				his or her departure or if the appealing party failed to assure prompt
				preparation of the report after the treasurer's departure.
(g) Failure of the filing officer to e-mail,
				telephone, or mail a letter to the candidate, chairman of a political
				committee, or treasurer of a committee of continuous existence that a report is
				late no later than seven days after the report was due shall constitute unusual
				circumstances if the appealing party establishes that lack of notice clearly
				interfered with the timely filing of the report. The fine imposed by the filing
				officer shall be reduced to the amount that would have been imposed had the
				report been filed 13 days late.