Bill Text: TX HB2452 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to requirements to vote, including presenting proof of identification; providing criminal penalties.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-21 - Referred to Elections [HB2452 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB2452-Introduced.html

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85R3371 JRJ-D
By: Reynolds H.B. No. 2452

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requirements to vote, including presenting proof of
identification; providing criminal penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 15.022(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The registrar shall make the appropriate corrections in
the registration records, including, if necessary, deleting a
voter's name from the suspense list:
(1) after receipt of a notice of a change in
registration information under Section 15.021;
(2) after receipt of a voter's reply to a notice of
investigation given under Section 16.033;
(3) after receipt of any affidavits executed under
Section 63.007 [63.006], following an election;
(4) after receipt of a voter's statement of residence
executed under Section 63.0011;
(5) before the effective date of the abolishment of a
county election precinct or a change in its boundary;
(6) after receipt of United States Postal Service
information indicating an address reclassification;
(7) after receipt of a voter's response under Section
15.053; or
(8) after receipt of a registration application or
change of address under Chapter 20.
SECTION 2. Section 32.114(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The county clerk shall provide one or more sessions of
training using the standardized training program and materials
developed and provided by the secretary of state under Section
32.111 for the election judges and clerks appointed to serve in
elections ordered by the governor or a county authority. Each
election judge shall complete the training program. [Each election
clerk shall complete the part of the training program relating to
the acceptance and handling of the identification presented by a
voter to an election officer under Section 63.001.]
SECTION 3. Sections 63.001(b), (c), (d), and (f), Election
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) On [Except as provided by Subsection (h), on] offering
to vote, a voter must present the voter's voter registration
certificate to an election officer at the polling place [one form of
identification described by Section 63.0101].
(c) On presentation of a registration certificate [the
documentation required under Subsection (b)], an election officer
shall determine whether the voter's name on the registration
certificate [documentation] is on the list of registered voters for
the precinct. [If in making a determination under this subsection
the election officer determines under standards adopted by the
secretary of state that the voter's name on the documentation is
substantially similar to but does not match exactly with the name on
the list, the voter shall be accepted for voting under Subsection
(d) if the voter submits an affidavit stating that the voter is the
person on the list of registered voters.]
(d) If [, as determined under Subsection (c),] the voter's
name is on the precinct list of registered voters [and the voter's
identity can be verified from the documentation presented under
Subsection (b)], the voter shall be accepted for voting.
(f) After determining whether to accept a voter, an election
officer shall return the voter's registration certificate
[documentation] to the voter.
SECTION 4. Section 63.0011(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Before a voter may be accepted for voting, an election
officer shall ask the voter if the voter's residence address on the
precinct list of registered voters is current and whether the voter
has changed residence within the county. If the voter's address is
omitted from the precinct list under Section 18.005(c), the officer
shall ask the voter if the voter's residence as [, if] listed [,] on
the voter's voter registration certificate [identification
presented by the voter under Section 63.001(b)] is current and
whether the voter has changed residence within the county.
SECTION 5. Section 63.006, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 63.006. VOTER WITH CORRECT CERTIFICATE [REQUIRED
DOCUMENTATION] WHO IS NOT ON LIST. (a) A voter who, when offering to
vote, presents a voter registration certificate indicating that the
voter is currently registered in the precinct in which the voter is
offering to vote, [the documentation required under Section
63.001(b)] but whose name is not on the precinct list of registered
voters, shall be accepted for voting [if the voter also presents a
voter registration certificate indicating that the voter is
currently registered:
[(1) in the precinct in which the voter is offering to
vote; or
[(2) in a different precinct in the same county as the
precinct in which the voter is offering to vote and the voter
executes an affidavit stating that the voter:
[(A) is a resident of the precinct in which the
voter is offering to vote or is otherwise entitled by law to vote in
that precinct;
[(B) was a resident of the precinct in which the
voter is offering to vote at the time the information on the voter's
residence address was last provided to the voter registrar;
[(C) did not deliberately provide false
information to secure registration in a precinct in which the voter
does not reside; and
[(D) is voting only once in the election].
(b) After the voter is accepted, an election officer shall
[:
[(1)] indicate beside the voter's name on the poll list
that the voter was accepted under this section[; and
[(2) enter the voter's name on the registration
omissions list].
SECTION 6. Chapter 63, Election Code, is amended by adding
Sections 63.007 and 63.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 63.007. VOTER WITH INCORRECT CERTIFICATE WHO IS NOT ON
LIST. (a) A voter who, when offering to vote, presents a voter
registration certificate indicating that the voter is currently
registered in a different precinct from the one in which the voter
is offering to vote, and whose name is not on the precinct list of
registered voters, shall be accepted for voting if the voter
executes an affidavit stating that the voter:
(1) is a resident of the precinct in which the voter is
offering to vote or is otherwise entitled by law to vote in that
precinct;
(2) was a resident of the precinct in which the voter
is offering to vote at the time the information on the voter's
residence address was last provided to the voter registrar;
(3) did not deliberately provide false information to
secure registration in a precinct in which the voter does not
reside; and
(4) is voting only once in the election.
(b) After the voter is accepted, an election officer shall
indicate beside the voter's name on the poll list that the voter was
accepted under this section.
Sec. 63.008. VOTER WITHOUT CERTIFICATE WHO IS ON LIST. (a) A
voter who does not present a voter registration certificate when
offering to vote, but whose name is on the list of registered voters
for the precinct in which the voter is offering to vote, shall be
accepted for voting if the voter executes an affidavit stating that
the voter does not have the voter's voter registration certificate
in the voter's possession at the polling place at the time of
offering to vote and the voter presents proof of identification in a
form described by Section 63.0101.
(b) If the requirements prescribed by Subsection (a) are not
met, the voter may be accepted for provisional voting only under
Section 63.011.
SECTION 7. Section 63.009, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 63.009. VOTER WITHOUT CERTIFICATE WHO IS NOT ON LIST.
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a [A] voter who does not
present a voter registration certificate when offering to vote, and
whose name is not on the list of registered voters for the precinct
in which the voter is offering to vote, shall be accepted for
provisional voting if the voter executes an affidavit in accordance
with Section 63.011.
(b) If an election officer can determine from the voter
registrar that the person is a registered voter of the county and
the person presents proof of identification, the affidavits
required by Sections 63.007 and 63.008 are substituted for the
affidavit required by Section 63.011 in complying with that
section. After the voter is accepted under this subsection, an
election officer shall also indicate beside the voter's name on the
poll list that the voter was accepted under this section.
SECTION 8. Section 63.0101, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 63.0101. DOCUMENTATION OF PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION. The
following documentation is [an] acceptable as proof [form] of
[photo] identification under this chapter:
(1) a driver's license[, election identification
certificate,] or personal identification card issued to the person
by the Department of Public Safety or a similar document issued to
the person by an agency of another state, regardless of whether the
license or card [that] has [not] expired [or that expired no earlier
than 60 days before the date of presentation];
(2) a form of identification containing the person's
photograph that establishes the person's identity [United States
military identification card that contains the person's photograph
that has not expired or that expired no earlier than 60 days before
the date of presentation];
(3) a birth certificate or other document confirming
birth that is admissible in a court of law and establishes the
person's identity;
(4) United States citizenship papers [certificate
issued to the person that contains the person's photograph];
(5) [(4)] a United States passport issued to the
person [that has not expired or that expired no earlier than 60 days
before the date of presentation];
(6) official mail addressed to the person by name from
a governmental entity;
(7) a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement,
government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows
the name and address of the voter; or
(8) any other form of identification prescribed by the
secretary of state [or
[(5) a license to carry a handgun issued to the person
by the Department of Public Safety that has not expired or that
expired no earlier than 60 days before the date of presentation].
SECTION 9. Sections 63.011(a) and (b), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person to whom Section 63.008(b) or 63.009(a)
[63.001(g) or 63.009] applies may cast a provisional ballot 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) is eligible to vote in the election.
(b) A form for an affidavit required by this section must be
printed on an envelope in which the provisional ballot voted by the
person may be placed and must include[:
[(1)] a space for entering the identification number
of the provisional ballot voted by the person[; and
[(2) a space for an election officer to indicate
whether the person presented a form of identification described by
Section 63.0101].
SECTION 10. Section 64.012(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
[second] degree unless the person is convicted of an attempt. In
that case, the offense is a Class A misdemeanor [state jail felony].
SECTION 11. Section 65.054(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A provisional ballot may [shall] be accepted only if the
board determines that[:
[(1)] from the information in the affidavit or
contained in public records, the person is eligible to vote in the
election and has not previously voted in that election[;
[(2) the person:
[(A) meets the identification requirements of
Section 63.001(b) at the time the ballot was cast or in the period
prescribed under Section 65.0541;
[(B) notwithstanding Chapter 110, Civil Practice
and Remedies Code, executes an affidavit under penalty of perjury
that states the voter has a religious objection to being
photographed and the voter has consistently refused to be
photographed for any governmental purpose from the time the voter
has held this belief; or
[(C) executes an affidavit under penalty of
perjury that states the voter does not have any identification
meeting the requirements of Section 63.001(b) as a result of a
natural disaster that was declared by the president of the United
States or the governor, occurred not earlier than 45 days before the
date the ballot was cast, and caused the destruction of or inability
to access the voter's identification; and
[(3) the voter has not been challenged and voted a
provisional ballot solely because the voter did not meet the
requirements for identification prescribed by Section 63.001(b)].
SECTION 12. Section 66.0241, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 66.0241. CONTENTS OF ENVELOPE NO. 4. Envelope no. 4
must contain:
(1) the precinct list of registered voters;
(2) the registration correction list;
(3) any statements of residence executed under Section
63.0011; and
(4) any affidavits executed under Section 63.007
[63.006] or 63.011.
SECTION 13. (a) The following sections of the Election
Code are repealed:
(1) Section 13.002(i);
(2) Section 15.001(c);
(3) Section 15.005;
(4) Section 31.012;
(5) Section 32.111(c);
(6) Section 62.016;
(7) Sections 63.001(g) and (h);
(8) Section 63.0012; and
(9) Section 65.0541.
(b) Chapter 521A, Transportation Code, is repealed.
SECTION 14. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2017.