|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the offense of unacknowledged assistance to a voter in |
|
completing an application for a ballot to be voted by mail. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Sections 84.003(b), (c), and (d), Election Code, |
|
are amended to read as follows: |
|
(b) A person who acts as a witness for an applicant for an |
|
early voting ballot application commits an offense if the person |
|
knowingly fails to comply with Section 1.011. A person who [in the
|
|
presence of the applicant] otherwise assists an applicant in |
|
completing an early voting ballot application commits an offense if |
|
the person knowingly fails to comply with Section 1.011(d) in the |
|
same manner as a witness. |
|
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third |
|
degree [Class A misdemeanor]. |
|
(d) Subsection (b) does not apply if: |
|
(1) the person is related to the applicant within the |
|
second degree by affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as |
|
determined under Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code, or is |
|
registered to vote at the same address as the applicant; or |
|
(2) the person provides the applicant with a blank |
|
application form for the applicant to complete and the person does |
|
not provide on the form any information particular to that |
|
applicant. |
|
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
|
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
|
covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the |
|
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
|
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
|
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |