• Department of State
• Division of Elections
• Candidates & Committees
• Qualifying Information

Qualifying Information

Webpage last updated: July 27, 2021

Qualifying Dates

ATTENTION: Recent law (s. 11 of Chapter 2021-11, Laws of Florida) requires a person seeking nomination as a candidate of a political party to be a member of that political party for the 365 days BEFORE the beginning of the applicable qualifying period. Additionally, the law requires a person seeking to qualify for office as a candidate with no party affiliation to not be a member of any political party for the 365 days BEFORE the beginning of the applicable qualifying period. Therefore, the last day for such person to make the applicable change is April 24, 2021, for the first qualifying period and June 12, 2021, for the second qualifying period in order for the person to meet the 365-day requirement.

1^st QUALIFYING PERIOD:  State Attorney (6^th and 20^th Judicial Circuits), Public Defender (20^th Judicial Circuit), Justice of Supreme Court, District Court of Appeal Judge, and Circuit Court Judge

• Noon, Monday, April 25, 2022 – Noon, Friday, April 29, 2022
• Note: The Division will begin accepting qualifying documents on April 11, 2022. See Section 99.061(8), F.S.

2^nd QUALIFYING PERIOD:  U.S. Senator, Representative in Congress, Governor, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer, Commissioner of Agriculture, State Senator, State Representative, and Multi-County Special Districts

• Noon, Monday, June 13, 2022 – Noon, Friday, June 17, 2022
• Note: The Division will begin accepting qualifying documents on May 30, 2022. See Section 99.061(8), F.S.

Qualifying Materials

*Materials relating to the 2022 Cycle will be available soon. For 2020 Election Year Handbooks, go to the Publications Archive Page.

• 2022 Qualifying Fees
• 2022 Petition Signature Requirements
• 2022 Candidate Petition Handbook*
• 2022 State Qualifying Handbook*
• 2022 Federal Qualifying Handbook*
• Candidate Oaths
• Candidate Petition Form (DS-DE 104)
  • English PDF
  • Español PDF
• Affidavit of Undue Burden - Candidate (DS-DE 19A)
  • English PDF
  • Español PDF
• Use of Nickname on Ballot

Qualifying Office

Below is the name, location and address of Florida’s qualifying office for U.S. President and Vice-President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Cabinet, State Senate, State House of Representatives, Judicial (except county judges), multi-county state offices (State Attorney and Public Defender), and multi-county special district candidates:

Department of State, Division of Elections
Bureau of Election Records
R.A. Gray Building, Room 316
500 South Bronough Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250

Special Election Qualifying

Qualifying information for special elections can be found on our Special Elections page.