--- type: "Bill" title: "Candidate Qualification" description: "Candidate Qualification; Specifying that a person seeking to qualify for office as a candidate must be a registered member of a political party, or registered without any party affiliation, for 365 consecutive days preceding the beginning of qualifying for an election; specifying that such person may not have legally changed his or her name through a specified petition during such 365-day period; providing that compliance with specified requirements is mandatory; providing construction; authorizing qualified candidates or certain political parties to challenge compliance with specified provisions by filing suit in a specified circuit court; prohibiting a person from being qualified as a candidate for nomination or election and appearing on the ballot under specified circumstances." jurisdiction: "us/states/fl" legislature: "Florida Legislature" session: "2026" identifier: "HB 91" citation: "Florida HB 91 (2026)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["electors and elections"] status: "enacted" chapter_law: "2026-25" primary_sponsors: ["Tant"] version_count: 4 action_count: 40 vote_count: 2 first_action: "2025-10-06" last_action: "2026-04-02" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f954c5e3-2555-47b7-acad-5afceaddcf1a" source_url: "https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/91/ByCategory" source_hash: "1b05639b33fa82b0c5636b58a4c6fa583fec8c4308b73edf0a63ef80ceebd66d" vintage: "2026-07-01" source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump" retrieved_at: "2026-07-06" confidence: "reported" tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-fl"] --- # Florida HB 91 (2026) — Candidate Qualification Candidate Qualification; Specifying that a person seeking to qualify for office as a candidate must be a registered member of a political party, or registered without any party affiliation, for 365 consecutive days preceding the beginning of qualifying for an election; specifying that such person may not have legally changed his or her name through a specified petition during such 365-day period; providing that compliance with specified requirements is mandatory; providing construction; authorizing qualified candidates or certain political parties to challenge compliance with specified provisions by filing suit in a specified circuit court; prohibiting a person from being qualified as a candidate for nomination or election and appearing on the ballot under specified circumstances. **Enacted** — Laws of Florida, Chapter 2026-25. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **H 91 Filed** (filed) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/91/BillText/Filed/PDF) 2. **H 91 c1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/91/BillText/c1/PDF) 3. **H 91 e1** (engrossed) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/91/BillText/e1/PDF) 4. **H 91 er** (enrolled) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/91/BillText/er/PDF) ## Votes - Third Reading — **37–0** (pass) · upper - Passage, Third Reading — **113–0** (pass) · lower ## Sponsors - Government Operations Subcommittee — primary (organization) - Tant — primary (person) - Campbell — cosponsor (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2025-10-06** Filed `filing` - **2025-10-14** Referred to Government Operations Subcommittee `referral-committee` - **2025-10-14** Referred to State Affairs Committee `referral-committee` - **2025-10-14** Now in Government Operations Subcommittee - **2025-12-03** Added to Government Operations Subcommittee agenda - **2025-12-10** Favorable with CS by Government Operations Subcommittee `committee-passage-favorable` - **2025-12-10** Reported out of Government Operations Subcommittee - **2025-12-11** Laid on Table under Rule 7.18(a) `deferral` - **2025-12-11** CS Filed `filing` - **2025-12-12** Referred to State Affairs Committee `referral-committee` - **2025-12-12** Now in State Affairs Committee - **2026-01-13** 1st Reading (Original Filed Version) `filing, reading-1` - **2026-01-13** 1st Reading (Committee Substitute 1) `reading-1` - **2026-02-06** Added to State Affairs Committee agenda - **2026-02-10** Favorable by State Affairs Committee `committee-passage-favorable` - **2026-02-10** Reported out of State Affairs Committee - **2026-02-10** Bill released to House Calendar - **2026-02-10** Added to Second Reading Calendar - **2026-02-19** Bill added to Special Order Calendar (2/25/2026) - **2026-02-25** Read 2nd time `reading-2` - **2026-02-25** Amendment 383023 adopted - **2026-02-25** Amendment 384943 superseded by substitute - **2026-02-25** Added to Third Reading Calendar - **2026-02-25** Read 3rd time `reading-3` - **2026-02-25** CS passed as amended; YEAS 113, NAYS 0 `passage` - **2026-02-25** In Messages - **2026-02-25** Referred to Rules `referral-committee` - **2026-02-25** Received `enrolled` - **2026-02-26** Withdrawn from Rules `withdrawal` - **2026-02-26** Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading - **2026-02-26** Substituted for CS/SB 62 - **2026-02-26** Read 2nd time `reading-2` - **2026-02-26** Read 3rd time `reading-3` - **2026-02-26** CS passed; YEAS 37 NAYS 0 `passage` - **2026-02-26** Immediately certified - **2026-02-26** In Messages - **2026-02-26** Ordered enrolled `enrolled` - **2026-03-31** Signed by Officers and presented to Governor `executive-receipt` - **2026-04-01** Approved by Governor `executive-signature` - **2026-04-02** Chapter No. 2026-25 ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f954c5e3-2555-47b7-acad-5afceaddcf1a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Florida legislature records).