Bill Text: TX HB168 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to election practices and procedures.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-07-09 - Referred to Constitutional Rights & Remedies [HB168 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB168-Introduced.html
| 87S10119 SGM-D | ||
| By: Bucy | H.B. No. 168 | |
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| relating to election practices and procedures. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Section 32.094, Election Code, is amended by | ||
| amending Subsections (a) and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read | ||
| as follows: | ||
| (a) After each election, each presiding judge serving in the | ||
| election shall prepare and sign[ |
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| submit, a statement containing the following information: | ||
| (1) the name and address of the presiding judge and | ||
| each clerk who served under the judge; | ||
| (2) the number of hours that each election officer | ||
| worked at the polling place or at another location under Section | ||
| 62.014(c), excluding time for which payment may not be made; and | ||
| (3) the name of the election officer who delivered the | ||
| election records, keys, and unused supplies, and, if more than one | ||
| officer, the name of and the amount of compensation allocated to | ||
| each officer. | ||
| (e) The original compensation statement shall be used for | ||
| making payment for the services. The general custodian of election | ||
| records shall preserve the duplicate or electronic file for the | ||
| period for preserving the precinct election records. If the | ||
| presiding judge delivers the statement to an authority other than | ||
| the general custodian of election records, the authority receiving | ||
| the statement shall deliver the duplicate or electronic file to the | ||
| general custodian not later than the third day after the date of its | ||
| receipt. | ||
| (f) The secretary of state, or a county, may develop and | ||
| implement an electronic system for a presiding judge to submit the | ||
| information required under this section to the appropriate | ||
| authority. The secretary of state may prescribe rules regarding | ||
| the development and implementation of a system under this | ||
| subsection to ensure compatibility with any other system developed | ||
| and implemented under this section. | ||
| SECTION 2. Section 63.0011, Election Code, is amended by | ||
| adding Subsection (g) to read as follows: | ||
| (g) The statement under Subsection (c) may be executed | ||
| electronically on a device provided to the voter. | ||
| SECTION 3. Section 63.011, Election Code, is amended by | ||
| amending Subsections (a-1), (b), and (b-1) and adding Subsections | ||
| (b-2) and (f) to read as follows: | ||
| (a-1) Except as provided by Section 84.032(d-2), a [ |
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| person to whom the early voting clerk was required to provide an | ||
| early voting ballot by mail under Section 86.001 and who did not | ||
| vote early by mail may cast a provisional ballot on election day if | ||
| the person executes an affidavit stating that the person: | ||
| (1) is a registered voter in the precinct in which the | ||
| person seeks to vote; and | ||
| (2) did not vote early by mail. | ||
| (b) A form for an affidavit required by this section must be | ||
| in a form prescribed by the secretary of state that includes | ||
| [ |
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| (1) a space for entering the identification number of | ||
| the provisional ballot voted by the person; [ |
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| (2) a space for an election officer to indicate | ||
| whether the person presented a form of identification described by | ||
| Section 63.0101; and | ||
| (3) a space for the person to indicate the reason for | ||
| casting a provisional ballot by choosing from a standardized list. | ||
| (b-1) The affidavit form shall [ |
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| disclosure of any necessary information to enable the person to | ||
| register to vote under Chapter 13. Any update to a voter's | ||
| registration information provided by the voter under this section | ||
| is immediately effective [ |
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| (b-2) A form for an affidavit required by this section must | ||
| provide for the affidavit to be associated with the envelope in | ||
| which the provisional ballot voted by a person is placed while | ||
| allowing a voter to cast a secret ballot. | ||
| (f) A county may use an electronic affidavit, in a form | ||
| prescribed by the secretary of state, for a provisional ballot | ||
| under this section. Data collected via the electronic affidavit | ||
| shall be retained in a single statewide database maintained by the | ||
| secretary of state. | ||
| SECTION 4. Section 84.032, Election Code, is amended by | ||
| amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (d-1), (d-2), and | ||
| (e-1) to read as follows: | ||
| (b) A request must: | ||
| (1) be in writing and signed by the applicant; | ||
| (2) specify the election for which the application was | ||
| made; and | ||
| (3) except as provided by Subsection (c), (d), (d-1), | ||
| or (e), be received by the early voting clerk: | ||
| (A) not later than the third day before election | ||
| day; and | ||
| (B) if an early voting ballot sent to the | ||
| applicant is returned to the clerk as a marked ballot, before the | ||
| marked ballot's arrival at the address on the carrier envelope. | ||
| (d-1) An applicant may also submit a request by voting early | ||
| by personal appearance or by appearing in person to vote on election | ||
| day if: | ||
| (1) the polling place at which the applicant seeks to | ||
| vote by personal appearance uses a signature roster in the form of | ||
| an electronic device that: | ||
| (A) is capable of accurately indicating whether | ||
| the applicant has returned a ballot to be voted by mail; and | ||
| (B) provides information to the early voting | ||
| clerk to ensure that any ballot canceled under this subsection and | ||
| subsequently received will not be counted; and | ||
| (2) the early voting clerk, deputy early voting clerk, | ||
| or presiding election judge, as applicable, determines from the | ||
| signature roster that the applicant has not returned the | ||
| applicant's ballot to be voted by mail. | ||
| (d-2) A person who cancels an application for a ballot to be | ||
| voted early by mail under Subsection (d-1) and is accepted for | ||
| voting is not required to vote a provisional ballot under Section | ||
| 63.011(a-1). | ||
| (e-1) An applicant may submit a request for cancellation to | ||
| a deputy early voting clerk at a branch early voting polling place | ||
| or a presiding judge on election day at the applicant's precinct | ||
| polling place if: | ||
| (1) the applicant submits a written request, signed by | ||
| the applicant, that specifies the election for which the | ||
| cancellation request is made; and | ||
| (2) the deputy early voting clerk or presiding judge | ||
| has received confirmation that the voter's marked ballot has not | ||
| been received by the early voting clerk. | ||
| SECTION 5. Section 84.038, Election Code, is amended to | ||
| read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 84.038. CANCELLATION EFFECTIVE FOR SINGLE ELECTION. | ||
| The cancellation of an application for a ballot to be voted by mail | ||
| under Section 84.032(c), (d), (d-1), or (e) is effective for a | ||
| single ballot only and does not cancel the application with respect | ||
| to a subsequent election, including a subsequent election to which | ||
| the same application applies under Section 84.001(e) or 86.0015(b). | ||
| SECTION 6. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the | ||
| last day of the legislative session. | ||
