# Handoff: Florida poll watcher sources list

Last worked on: October 7, 2026 (Sample County Supervisor of Elections)

## What we're trying to do
Make a list of the official Florida publications, forms, rules, and guides about poll watchers. Use three sites: the Division of Elections website (dos.fl.gov), Online Sunshine for statutes, and flrules.org for rules. For each item, give its exact title, a direct link, and the date or edition shown on it. Report any link that won't open and any text that takes effect after today.

## What we've decided
- The list is an Excel workbook with two tabs: **Sources** (the list) and **Notes** (findings).
- "Date or edition" means what is printed on the item itself. If nothing is printed, the list says so and gives the date the Division's web page shows.
- Links point to the final file address (files.floridados.gov). The dos.fl.gov/media links forward there.
- 11 Division advisory opinions on poll watchers are included, even old or rescinded ones, with their status marked. Opinions that only mention poll watchers in passing are left out but named on the Notes tab.
- 3 related items (the recount rule, the recount manual, and the Election Code book) sit at the bottom, shaded gray.
- No people's names appear in the list. Opinions are listed by number and title only.
- To change the list, edit `build_list.py` and run it again. Don't hand-edit the workbook.

## Done
- Searched all three sites. The list has 30 items: 7 statutes, 2 rules, 4 versions of Form DS-DE 125, 3 guides, 11 advisory opinions, and 3 related items.
- All 30 links, plus 10 extra links in the notes, opened on October 7, 2026. None failed.
- Found one piece of text that takes effect after today. Online Sunshine's s. 102.141 already shows new wording in subsections (3) through (7) from ch. 2026-26. That wording takes effect **January 1, 2027**. It does not change the poll watcher sentence in (2)(a).
- Pulled the 2026 General Election poll watcher deadlines from the Division's calendar: Oct. 10, 17, 20, and 27, 2026.
- Noted small differences between sources ("before noon" vs. "no later than noon," blank month on the flrules.org copy of the form, no instruction page in the Spanish PDF, and a "104.615" typo in the Polling Place Procedures Manual).

## What's left
- Owner review of the list. Treat it as a draft until approved.
- Answer the open questions below.
- Re-check links and dates before sharing if more than a few weeks pass. The deadlines on the Notes tab start October 10, 2026.
- After January 1, 2027, re-check Online Sunshine and the Division's Forms page for a new statutes edition, form, or manual.

## Files we're working from (all in this folder)
- `Poll Watcher Sources List.xlsx`: the list (Sources tab and Notes tab).
- `build_list.py`: builds the workbook. Run it from this folder with `python build_list.py`
- `HANDOFF.md`: this note.
- The original request is in `..\REQUEST.txt`.

## Open questions
1. Keep all 11 advisory opinions, or only the two newest (DE 21-05 and DE 12-13)? Most older ones are marked as changed, and DE 01-04 is rescinded.
2. Keep the 3 related items at the bottom, or drop them?
3. Should the list also cover our own county's poll watcher materials? So far it covers state sources only.
4. Do you want a printable PDF or Word copy as well as the Excel file?