88R7063 MLH-F
 
  By: Jetton H.B. No. 1862
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the appointment of election clerks.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 32.001, Election Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
  follows:
         (b)  The alternate presiding judge shall serve as presiding
  judge for an election if the regularly appointed presiding judge is
  not present at a polling location or otherwise cannot serve.
         (c)  A person may not prevent an alternate presiding judge
  from freely occupying or observing the area in which voters are
  being accepted for voting.
         SECTION 2.  The heading to Section 32.031, Election Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 32.031.  JUDGES [PRESIDING JUDGE] TO APPOINT CLERKS.
         SECTION 3.  Section 32.031(a), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  The presiding judge and alternate presiding judge for
  each election precinct shall each appoint [the] election clerks to
  assist the judges [judge] in the conduct of an election at the
  polling place served by the judges [judge].
         SECTION 4.  Section 32.033, Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 32.033.  NUMBER OF CLERKS. (a) The authority that
  appoints the election judges shall prescribe the maximum number of
  clerks that each presiding judge and alternate presiding judge may
  appoint for each election. The authority may prescribe different
  maximums for different types of elections.
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), the presiding
  judge shall appoint at least one clerk and the alternate presiding
  judge shall appoint at least one clerk [two clerks] for each
  precinct in each election. The presiding judge and alternate
  presiding judge may each appoint as many additional clerks, within
  the prescribed limit, as are necessary for the proper conduct of the
  election.
         (c)  In each election ordered by the governor or a county
  authority in which the regular county election precincts are
  required to be used, the presiding judge and alternate presiding
  judge shall each appoint clerks for each precinct in the number,
  within the prescribed limit, the judges consider [judge considers]
  necessary for the proper conduct of the election.
         SECTION 5.  Section 32.034, Election Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) and adding Subsection
  (c-1) to read as follows:
         (b)  The county chair of a political party whose candidate
  for governor received the highest or second highest number of votes
  in the county in the most recent gubernatorial general election
  may, not later than the 30th [25th] day before a general election or
  the 10th day before a special election to which Subsection (a)
  applies, submit to a presiding judge and alternate presiding judge
  a list containing the names of at least two persons who are eligible
  for appointment as a clerk. If a timely list is submitted, the
  presiding judge shall appoint at least one clerk from the list and
  the alternate presiding judge shall appoint at least one clerk from
  the list[, except as provided by Subsection (c)].
         (c)  If only one additional clerk is to be appointed, the
  presiding judge shall make the appointment from the list submitted
  by the county chair of the party whose candidate for governor
  received the highest number of votes in the county in the most
  recent gubernatorial election [for an election in which the
  alternate presiding judge will serve as a clerk, the clerk shall be
  appointed from the list of a political party with which neither the
  presiding judge nor the alternate judge is affiliated or aligned,
  if such a list is submitted.  If two such lists are submitted, the
  presiding judge shall decide from which list the appointment will
  be made].  If such a list is not submitted, the presiding judge is
  not required to make an appointment from any list.
         (c-1)  The presiding judge and alternate presiding judge
  shall each appoint the same number of clerks to the extent possible
  given the total number of clerks to be appointed.
         (d)  The presiding judge and the alternate presiding judge
  shall make an appointment under this section not later than the
  fifth day after the date the judges receive [judge receives] the
  list and shall deliver written notification of the appointment to
  the appropriate county chair.
         (e)  If a presiding judge and an alternate presiding judge
  have [has] not been appointed at the time the county chair of a
  political party is required to submit a list of names for the
  appointment of a clerk under this section, a [the] list of names
  shall be submitted by the county clerk to the county chair of the
  political party that failed to timely submit a list of names [whose
  candidate for governor received the most votes in the precinct in
  the most recent gubernatorial election and to the commissioners
  court].  The county chair, or the commissioners court in a county
  without a county chair, shall appoint clerks from the list in the
  same manner provided for a presiding judge and an alternate
  presiding judge to appoint clerks by this section.
         SECTION 6.  Section 32.032, Election Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.