Bill Text: TX HB1735 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Engrossed
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to election officers and practices; increasing a criminal penalty; creating a criminal offense.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - Effective on 9/1/17 [HB1735 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB1735-Engrossed.html
Bill Title: Relating to election officers and practices; increasing a criminal penalty; creating a criminal offense.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - Effective on 9/1/17 [HB1735 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB1735-Engrossed.html
By: Faircloth | H.B. No. 1735 |
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relating to certain election officers. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 1, Election Code, is amended by adding | ||
Section 1.016 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 1.016. OATHS BY ELECTION OFFICERS. (a) An oath or | ||
statement required by the Texas Constitution or this code prior to | ||
an election officer entering service may be administered and a | ||
certificate of the fact given by: | ||
(1) the secretary of state, a member of the secretary | ||
of state's staff, or a state inspector appointed by the secretary; | ||
(2) a county or municipal clerk or the clerk's | ||
deputies; | ||
(3) a county tax assessor-collector or the county tax | ||
assessor-collector's deputies; | ||
(4) a city secretary; | ||
(5) a member of a county election commission or county | ||
election board; | ||
(6) a county elections administrator or employee of a | ||
county elections administrator; | ||
(7) the secretary of the governing body of a political | ||
subdivision other than a county or city or the authority performing | ||
the duties of a secretary under this code; | ||
(8) a presiding election judge or alternate presiding | ||
judge who has already entered service; | ||
(9) an early voting clerk or a deputy early voting | ||
clerk who has already entered service; | ||
(10) a member of an early voting ballot board or | ||
signature verification committee who has already entered service; | ||
or | ||
(11) a presiding judge, manager, or tabulation | ||
supervisor of a central counting station who has already entered | ||
service. | ||
(b) An oath, statement, or certificate described under | ||
Subsection (a) is valid for the duration of the election officer's | ||
term of office and shall be filed with election records for the | ||
election in which the election officer is serving. | ||
(c) The secretary of state may prescribe a form of oath, | ||
statement, or certificate that incorporates any oaths or statements | ||
required by the Texas Constitution or this code for an election | ||
officer into a single oath or statement. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 32.002, Election Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows: | ||
(c-1) For purposes of this subsection, the county chair | ||
shall provide a list of names of persons eligible for appointment as | ||
election judges. Judges of countywide polling places established | ||
under Section 43.007 must be appointed from the list of names of | ||
persons submitted by the county chair in compliance with Subsection | ||
(c) except that in appointing a person from the list the | ||
commissioners court shall apportion the number of judges in direct | ||
proportion to the percentage of precincts located in each county | ||
commissioners precinct won by each party in the last gubernatorial | ||
election, the commissioners court is not required to make the | ||
appointments based on specific polling locations or precincts, a | ||
presiding judge or alternate presiding judge is not required to | ||
serve in a polling place located in the precinct in which the judge | ||
resides, and more than one presiding judge or alternate presiding | ||
judge may be selected from the same precinct to serve in polling | ||
places not located in the precinct in which the judges reside. The | ||
county chairs may submit, and the commissioners court may | ||
preapprove, the appointment of more presiding judges or alternate | ||
presiding judges than necessary to fill available positions. The | ||
county clerk may select an individual whose appointment was | ||
preapproved by the commissioners court to fill a vacancy in a | ||
position that was held by an individual from the same political | ||
party. Other than a judge's party affiliation, nothing in this | ||
subsection precludes a county clerk from placing an election | ||
officer at a countywide polling place based on the need for services | ||
at that location. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 32.002, Election Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows: | ||
(g) Following an oral warning to the election judge and with | ||
the concurrence of the county chair of the same political party with | ||
which the judge is affiliated or aligned, the county clerk may | ||
remove, replace, or reassign an election judge who causes a | ||
disruption in a polling location or wilfully disobeys the | ||
provisions of this code. A vacancy created under this subsection | ||
shall be filled in the same manner as an emergency appointment under | ||
Section 32.007. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 32.006(a), Election Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(a) The county chair of a political party holding a primary | ||
election shall appoint for each primary[ |
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the election will be held in the county and fill any vacancy that | ||
occurs in the position of presiding judge or alternate presiding | ||
judge. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 32.009(d), Election Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(d) A notice to a presiding judge must state the name, [ |
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address, and any available telephone number and e-mail address of | ||
the alternate, and a notice to an alternate must state the name, | ||
[ |
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address of the presiding judge. | ||
SECTION 6. Subchapter A, Chapter 32, Election Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 32.012 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 32.012. PROVISION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO ELECTION | ||
JUDGES APPOINTED BY COMMISSIONERS COURT. (a) After the | ||
commissioners court appoints a presiding election judge and an | ||
alternate presiding judge, the county clerk shall provide to the | ||
county chair of each political party a list of the individuals | ||
appointed by the commissioners court. | ||
(b) The appointment list must be provided in writing. | ||
SECTION 7. Section 32.034, Election Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows: | ||
(f) Following an oral warning to the election clerk and with | ||
the concurrence of the county chair of the same political party with | ||
which the election clerk is affiliated or aligned, the county clerk | ||
may remove, replace, or reassign an election clerk who causes a | ||
disruption in a polling location or wilfully disobeys the | ||
provisions of this code. A vacancy created under this subsection | ||
shall be filled by the presiding judge, who shall appoint a | ||
replacement election clerk who is affiliated or aligned with the | ||
same political party as the original clerk, if possible. | ||
SECTION 8. Section 32.114(e), Election Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(e) An election judge, early voting clerk, or deputy early | ||
voting clerk in charge of an early voting polling place is entitled | ||
to compensation for attending the training program at an hourly | ||
rate fixed by the appropriate authority in an amount that is equal | ||
to or greater than the federal minimum wage [ |
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SECTION 9. Section 43.007, Election Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (m) and (n) to read | ||
as follows: | ||
(a) The secretary of state shall implement a program to | ||
allow each commissioners court participating in the program to | ||
eliminate county election precinct polling places and establish | ||
countywide polling places for: | ||
(1) each general election for state and county | ||
officers; | ||
(2) each election held on the uniform election date in | ||
May and any resulting runoff; | ||
(3) each election on a proposed constitutional | ||
amendment; | ||
(4) each primary election and runoff primary election | ||
if: | ||
(A) the county chair or county executive | ||
committee of each political party participating in a joint primary | ||
election under Section 172.126 agrees to the use of countywide | ||
polling places; or | ||
(B) the county chair or county executive | ||
committee of each political party required to nominate candidates | ||
by primary election agrees to use the same countywide polling | ||
places; and | ||
(5) each election of a political subdivision located | ||
in the county that is held jointly with an election described by | ||
Subdivision (1), (2), (3), or (4). | ||
(m) In adopting a methodology under Subsection (f), the | ||
county must ensure that: | ||
(1) each county commissioners precinct contains at | ||
least one countywide polling place; and | ||
(2) the total number of permanent branch and temporary | ||
branch polling places open for voting in a county commissioners | ||
precinct does not exceed more than twice the number of permanent | ||
branch and temporary branch polling places in another county | ||
commissioners precinct. | ||
(n) To the greatest extent possible, countywide polling | ||
places shall be located in a precinct where the political party that | ||
received the greatest number of votes in the last gubernatorial | ||
election is the same political party with which the presiding judge | ||
is affiliated. | ||
SECTION 10. Section 85.009(b), Election Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(b) Before July of each year, the county chair of each | ||
political party holding a primary election in the county shall | ||
submit in writing to the county clerk a list of names of persons in | ||
order of preference for each early voting polling place who are | ||
eligible for selection as an election officer. The county chair | ||
may supplement the list of names of persons until the 30th day | ||
before early voting begins in case an appointed election officer | ||
becomes unable to serve. The county clerk shall appoint the first | ||
person meeting the applicable eligibility requirements from the | ||
list submitted in compliance with this subsection by the party with | ||
the highest number of votes in the county as the presiding judge | ||
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meeting the applicable eligibility requirements from the list | ||
submitted in compliance with this subsection by the party with the | ||
second highest number of votes in the county as the alternate | ||
presiding judge [ |
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county clerk shall appoint additional election officers for each | ||
polling place in the manner described by Subsection (a). The | ||
county clerk may reject the list if the persons whose names are | ||
submitted on the list are determined not to meet the applicable | ||
eligibility requirements. | ||
SECTION 11. Subchapter A, Chapter 85, Election Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 85.0091 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 85.0091. EARLY VOTING ELECTION OFFICERS FOR PRIMARY | ||
ELECTIONS. (a) The early voting clerk shall select election | ||
officers for a primary election for the main early voting polling | ||
place and any branch polling place in a manner consistent with | ||
Section 85.009, except that the early voting clerk shall prescribe | ||
the deadline by which county chairs must submit names of persons | ||
eligible to serve as election officers during early voting. | ||
(b) This section does not apply to a joint primary governed | ||
by Section 172.126. | ||
SECTION 12. Subchapter A, Chapter 87, Election Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 87.006 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 87.006. EARLY VOTING BALLOT BOARD MEMBERS: OATH AND | ||
IDENTIFICATION. (a) A member of the early voting ballot board | ||
shall repeat the following oath aloud: | ||
"I swear (or affirm) that I will objectively work to be sure | ||
every eligible voter's vote is accepted and counted, and that only | ||
the ballots of those voters who violated the Texas Election Code | ||
will be rejected. I will make every effort to correctly reflect the | ||
voter's intent when it can be clearly determined. I will not work | ||
alone when ballots are present and will work only in the presence of | ||
a member of a political party different from my own. I will | ||
faithfully perform my duty as an officer of the election and guard | ||
the purity of the election." | ||
(b) A member of the early voting ballot board who arrives | ||
after the oath is made shall repeat the oath aloud before performing | ||
any duties as a member. | ||
(c) Following administration of the oath, each member of the | ||
early voting ballot board shall be issued a form of identification, | ||
prescribed by the secretary of state, to be displayed by the member | ||
during the member's hours of service on the board. | ||
SECTION 13. Subchapter G, Chapter 87, Election Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 87.127 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 87.127. RESOLUTION OF INCORRECT DETERMINATION BY EARLY | ||
VOTING BALLOT BOARD. (a) If a county election officer, as defined | ||
by Section 31.091, determines a ballot was incorrectly rejected or | ||
accepted by the early voting ballot board before the time set for | ||
convening the canvassing authority, the county election officer may | ||
petition a district court for injunctive or other relief as the | ||
court determines appropriate. | ||
(b) In an election ordered by the governor or by a county | ||
judge, the county election officer must confer with and establish | ||
the agreement of the county chair of each political party before | ||
petitioning the district court. | ||
SECTION 14. Subchapter A, Chapter 127, Election Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 127.0015 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 127.0015. CENTRAL COUNTING STATION OFFICERS: OATH AND | ||
IDENTIFICATION. (a) Election officers appointed under this | ||
subchapter shall repeat the following oath aloud: | ||
"I swear (or affirm) that I will objectively work to be sure | ||
every eligible voter's vote is accepted and counted, and that only | ||
the ballots of those voters who violated the Texas Election Code | ||
will be rejected. I will make every effort to correctly reflect the | ||
voter's intent when it can be clearly determined. I will not work | ||
alone when ballots are present and will work only in the presence of | ||
a member of a political party different from my own. I will | ||
faithfully perform my duty as an officer of the election and guard | ||
the purity of the election." | ||
(b) An officer who arrives after the oath is made shall | ||
repeat the oath aloud before performing any duties as an election | ||
officer. | ||
(c) Following administration of the oath, each election | ||
officer shall be issued a form of identification, prescribed by the | ||
secretary of state, to be displayed by the officer during the | ||
officer's hours of service at the central counting station. | ||
SECTION 15. Section 127.004(b), Election Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(b) To be eligible for appointment, a person must: | ||
(1) have the competence, training, and experience | ||
required for the proper performance of the work assigned; and | ||
(2) in a county with a population of less than 60,000, | ||
be a registered voter of the political subdivision served by the | ||
authority establishing the counting station or an employee of the | ||
political subdivision that adopts or owns the voting system. | ||
SECTION 16. Section 127.007, Election Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows: | ||
(c) The plan required under this section must be available | ||
to the public on request not later than 5 p.m. on the fifth day | ||
before the date of the election. | ||
SECTION 17. Sections 32.006(b) and 32.010, Election Code, | ||
are repealed. | ||
SECTION 18. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |