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Run For Office

For information about filing to run for office, see below:

City of Gainesville

Multi-County, State, and Federal

 

File To Run for Office
You must file your Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of Depositor (form DS-DE 9) with our office before you are allowed to open a campaign account and accept any money or spend any money on behalf of your campaign. This form states which office you are running for, which bank you designate for your campaign account, and who is serving as your campaign treasurer. This form may be filed at any time of the year. Once you have filed this form, you are a candidate and should follow Chapter 106 of the Election Code and may open a campaign bank account and start to accept campaign contributions and have expenditures.  

 

 Click here for the forms page.

 

You must file your Statement of Candidate form with our office within 10 days of filing your Appointment of Treasurer and Designation of Depository Form. This form acknowledges that you have been provided access to Chapter 106 and will be able to run your campaign in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida.

 

Electronically File Your Campaign Treasurer's Reports
Once you have filed your Appointment of Treasurer, you will be required to file Campaign Treasurer's Reports. The Supervisor of Elections will provide you with a list of the report dates and the period covered by the report. You will receive a copy of the electronic filing manual. This electronic filing system is provided, cost free, to Candidates, Committees, and Parties required to file reports in Alachua County. Please contact our office to set an appointment to go over all the filing information. This appointment usually will last two hours.

 

 

Decide if You Will Pay the Qualifying Fee or Collect Petition Signatures
Florida Law allows that you may qualify for office by paying a qualifying fee or by collecting signed petitions. If collecting signatures, pay the signature verification fee or file your Oath of Undue Burden. Pursuant to S.99.097(4), Florida Statutes, a candidate who has chosen the petition method to qualify, must pay in advance the sum of 10 cents for each signature checked to the Supervisor of Elections, unless you have filed an oath of undue burden.

 

The petition format is prescribed by the Florida Division of Elections. A petition sample can be obtained from the Supervisor of Elections or may be printed from this PDF (DS-DE 104). If the candidate is running for an office that requires a group or district designation, the petition must indicate that designation and, if it does not, the signatures are not valid. (For example, Alachua County Commission, Seat 2 or Alachua County Commission, Seat 4.)

 

Oath of Undue Burden
If any person is paid to solicit signatures on a petition, an undue burden oath may not subsequently be filed in lieu of paying the fee to have signatures verified for that petition. If an undue burden oath has been filed and payment is subsequently made to any person to solicit signatures on a petition, the undue burden oath is no longer valid and a fee for all signatures previously submitted to the Supervisor of Elections and any that are submitted thereafter shall be paid by the candidate, person, or organization that submitted the undue burden oath. If contributions as defined in s. 106.011 are received, any monetary contributions must first be used to reimburse the Supervisor of Elections for any signature verification fees that were not paid because of the filing of an undue burden oath.

 

 

Collect Signatures
Any registered voter in Alachua County may sign your petition. You will need to collect signatures equal to 1% of the registered voters in the last General Election. For 2024, county-wide candidates will need to submit 1,809 valid signatures to qualify by the Petition Method. Petition requirements for other candidates can be found on the Florida Division of Elections' website at www.elections.myflorida.com. Judicial, state attorney and public defender candidates must submit petitions to the Supervisor of Elections before noon on March 26, 2024. Federal, statewide, multi-county, county and district candidates must submit petitions to the Supervisor of Elections before noon on May 14, 2024.

*Important Change

*For County Commission Candidates any registered voter in the district that the candidate is running to represent may sign a petition. The number of signatures to collect is equal to 1% of the registered voters in the last General Election in that district. 

The total number of voters in the last General Election for each district, signatures to collect for each district, and the amount owed to review the petitions for each district are:

  • District 1: (30,999) (310) ($31.00)
  • District 3: (34,061) (341) ($34.10)
  • District 5: (39,303) (393) ($39.30)

 

 

File Your Qualifying Papers and Pay Qualifying Fee
"Qualifying" is the official process of getting your name on the ballot. This occurs during a designated week prior to the Primary Election. Local Judicial candidates qualifying dates are noon, April 22, 2024 to noon, April 26, 2024. Local countywide candidates qualifying dates are noon, June 10, 2024 to noon, June 14, 2024. The Supervisor of Elections has prepared a packet for candidates for County offices with the forms you will need to file, and the filing dates. These papers must be filed with the Supervisor before noon of the last day of qualifying. Candidates for federal, judicial, state attorney, public defender, statewide or multi-county office must qualify with the Florida Division of Elections. Please see their website at www.elections.myflorida.com for information.

 

 

Enforcement of Campaign Laws
Chapter 104 of the Florida Statutes governs violations of Florida's election laws. Jurisdiction to investigate and determine violations of Florida election laws is vested in the Florida Division of Elections and the Florida Elections Commission. Violations of Florida Statutes governing campaigns are subject to penalties ranging from fines and warnings, up to removal of the candidate's name from the ballot, disqualification from taking office, and other criminal penalties.

 

 

Run For Special District Office

Decide What Special District Office You Wish To Run For

  • Check here to determine which Special District offices are up for election.
  • Make sure you meet the qualifications for the office you seek.

 

 

Decide if You Will Pay the Qualifying Fee or Collect Petition Signatures
FS 99.061 and 99.095(2) provide a uniform method of qualifying for special district offices, which includes either paying a qualifying fee of $25 or by obtaining 25 signatures of voters in the geographical area represented by the office sought. A special district candidate who does not collect contributions and whose only expense is the filing fee or signature verification fee is not required to appoint a campaign treasurer or designate a primary campaign depository. If these fees are your only expense, you are not required to pay these expenses with a campaign check. If you choose to open a campaign account, you must pay the filing fee or signature verification fee with a campaign check.

 

 

File To Run for Office
You must file your Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of Depositor (form DS-DE 9) with our office before you are allowed to open a campaign account and accept any money or spend any money on behalf of your campaign. This form states which office you are running for, which bank you designate for your campaign account, and who is serving as your campaign treasurer. This form may be filed at any time of the year. Once you have filed this form, you are a candidate and should follow Chapter 106 of the Election Code and may open a campaign bank account and start to accept campaign contributions and have expenditures.

 

You must file your Statement of Candidate form with our office within 10 days of filing your Appointment of Treasurer and Designation of Depository. This form acknowledges that you have been provided access to Chapter 106 and will be able to run your campaign in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida.

 

Electronically File Your Campaign Treasurer's Reports
Once you have filed your DS-DE 9 form, you will be required to file Campaign Treasurer's Reports. The Supervisor of Elections will provide you with a list of the report due dates and the period covered by the report. You will receive a copy of the electronic filing manual. This electronic filing system is provided, cost free, to Candidates, Committees, and Parties required to file reports in Alachua County.

 

 

If You Chose The Option Of Collecting Petition Signatures
The petition format is prescribed by the Florida Division of Elections. A petition sample can be obtained from the Supervisor of Elections or may be printed from this PDF (DS-DE 104). If the candidate is running for an office that requires a group or district designation, the petition must indicate that designation and, if it does not, the signatures are not valid. (For example, Soil & Water Conservation District, Seat 2 or Soil & Water Conservation District, Seat 4.). Candidates must obtain 25 signatures of voters in the geographical area represented by the special district office sought. A signature verification fee must be paid or an Oath of Undue Burden filed. Pursuant to S.99.097(4), Florida Statutes, a candidate who has chosen the petition method to qualify, must pay in advance the sum of 10 cents for each signature checked to the Supervisor of Elections, unless you have filed an oath of undue burden. Special District candidates must submit petitions to the Supervisor of Elections before noon on May 14, 2024.

 

 

File Your Qualifying Papers
"Qualifying" is the official process of getting your name on the ballot. This occurs during a designated week prior to the Primary Election. Local Judicial candidates qualifying dates are noon, April 22, 2024 to noon, April 26, 2024. Local countywide candidates qualifying dates are noon, June 10, 2024 to noon, June 14, 2024. The Supervisor of Elections has prepared a packet with forms you will need to file, and the filing dates. These papers must be filed with the Supervisor before noon of the last day of qualifying. If you chose the option of paying the $25 Qualifying Fee, it is due during the qualifying period.

 

 

Enforcement of Campaign Laws
Chapter 104 of the Florida Statutes governs violations of Florida's election laws. Jurisdiction to investigate and determine violations of Florida election laws is vested in the Florida Division of Elections and the Florida Elections Commission. Violations of Florida Statutes governing campaigns are subject to penalties ranging from fines and warnings, up to removal of the candidate's name from the ballot, disqualification from taking office, and other criminal penalties.