The initial paperwork candidates need to file to run for elected office in Florida
Planning to run for political office? You will need to file two forms with your Supervisor of Elections or the Florida Division of Elections to get your campaign off the ground.
These are the two initial forms:
— Form DS-DE 9: Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Depository
— Form DS-DE 84: Statement of Candidate
Form DS-DE 9 must be filed BEFORE any potential candidate:
1) Opens a bank account
2) Accepts contributions or makes expenditures for the campaign
3) Collects signed candidate petitions to qualify for the office
Form DS-DE 84 must be submitted within 10 calendar days of filing form DS-DE 9, which does include weekends and holidays.
Candidates running for state offices file the same paperwork, but those forms must be sent to the Florida Division of Elections office in Tallahassee.
Judicial candidates must also file form DS-DE 83: Statement of Candidate for Judicial Office.
After these two forms are filed with your local Supervisor of Elections or the Florida Division of Elections, you can open your bank account, start accepting contributions and begin collecting candidate petitions.
There are additional requirements once the qualifying period begins. Read more in our blog post.