Bill Text: TX HB226 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Relating to the powers and duties of a presiding judge and alternate presiding judge in an election.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-07-09 - Filed [HB226 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB226-Introduced.html

---

87S10495 JON-F
By: Jetton H.B. No. 226

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of a presiding judge and alternate
presiding judge in an election.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 32.031, Election Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 32.031. PRESIDING JUDGE AND ALTERNATE PRESIDING JUDGE
TO APPOINT CLERKS.
SECTION 2. 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 presiding judge and alternate presiding judge in the
conduct of an election at the polling place served by the presiding
judge and alternate presiding judge.
SECTION 3. Sections 32.033(a), (b), and (c), Election Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(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 and alternate presiding judge shall each appoint at least one
clerk [two clerks] for each precinct in each election and may
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 presiding judge and alternate
presiding judge consider [considers] necessary for the proper
conduct of the election.
SECTION 4. Sections 32.034(b), (c), and (d), Election Code,
are amended 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 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 an 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 from both parties is
submitted, the presiding judge and alternate presiding judge shall
each appoint at least one clerk from those lists [the list], except
as provided by Subsection (c). 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.
(c) If only one additional clerk is to be appointed 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 no list or only one
[such a] list has been [is not] submitted, the presiding judge and
alternate presiding judge are [is] not required to make an
appointment from any list.
(d) The presiding judge and 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.
SECTION 5. Subchapter D, Chapter 32, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 32.0715 to read as follows:
Sec. 32.0715. ALTERNATE PRESIDING JUDGE. (a) An alternate
presiding judge shall have access to the voting area at all times
the polling place is open for voting and a presiding judge may not
assign any duty to an alternate presiding judge that prevents
continuous access to that area.
(b) The alternate presiding judge shall assume the
responsibilities of the presiding judge if the presiding judge is
not present at the polling place.
SECTION 6. Section 573.061, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 573.061. GENERAL EXCEPTIONS. Section 573.041 does not
apply to:
(1) an appointment to the office of a notary public or
to the confirmation of that appointment;
(2) an appointment of a page, secretary, attendant, or
other employee by the legislature for attendance on any member of
the legislature who, because of physical infirmities, is required
to have a personal attendant;
(3) a confirmation of the appointment of an appointee
appointed to a first term on a date when no individual related to
the appointee within a degree described by Section 573.002 was a
member of or a candidate for the legislature, or confirmation on
reappointment of the appointee to any subsequent consecutive term;
(4) an appointment or employment of a bus driver by a
school district if:
(A) the district is located wholly in a county
with a population of less than 35,000; or
(B) the district is located in more than one
county and the county in which the largest part of the district is
located has a population of less than 35,000;
(5) an appointment or employment of a personal
attendant by an officer of the state or a political subdivision of
the state for attendance on the officer who, because of physical
infirmities, is required to have a personal attendant;
(6) an appointment or employment of a substitute
teacher by a school district;
(7) an appointment or employment of a person by a
municipality that has a population of less than 200; or
(8) an appointment of an election clerk under Section
32.031, Election Code[, who is not related in the first degree by
consanguinity or affinity to an elected official of the authority
that appoints the election judges for that election].
SECTION 7. Section 32.032, Election Code, is repealed.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
last day of the legislative session.