Bill Text: TX HB3686 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the acceptance of a voter at a polling place; creating an offense; increasing a criminal penalty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-24 - Left pending in committee [HB3686 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB3686-Introduced.html
85R10178 JRJ-D | ||
By: Swanson | H.B. No. 3686 |
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relating to the acceptance of a voter at a polling place; creating | ||
an offense; increasing a criminal penalty. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 63.001, Election Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (i) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(g) If the requirements for identification prescribed by | ||
Subsection (b) are not met or the documentation presented by a voter | ||
under Subsection (b) is not documentation listed under Section | ||
63.0101 containing the voter's photograph, the voter may be | ||
accepted for provisional voting only under Section 63.011. For a | ||
voter who is not accepted for voting under this section, an election | ||
officer [ |
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(1) shall inform the voter of the voter's right to cast | ||
a provisional ballot under Section 63.011; [ |
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(2) shall provide the voter with written information, | ||
in a form prescribed by the secretary of state, that: | ||
(A) lists the requirements for identification; | ||
(B) states the procedure for presenting | ||
identification under Section 65.0541; | ||
(C) includes a map showing the location where | ||
identification must be presented; and | ||
(D) includes notice that if all procedures are | ||
followed and the voter is found to be eligible to vote and is voting | ||
in the correct precinct, the voter's provisional ballot will be | ||
accepted; and | ||
(3) may, according to the policy of the county in which | ||
the election officer serves, photograph the entire face of the | ||
voter using secure equipment and software provided by the county | ||
election board. | ||
(i) A photograph of a voter obtained under Subsection (g)(3) | ||
may not be used for the purposes of accepting a voter under | ||
Subsection (b). | ||
SECTION 2. Section 63.006(b), Election Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(b) After the voter is accepted, an election officer shall[ |
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that the voter was accepted under this section[ |
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SECTION 3. Section 63.012, Election Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 63.012. UNLAWFULLY ACCEPTING OR REFUSING TO ACCEPT | ||
VOTER. (a) An election officer commits an offense if the officer | ||
knowingly: | ||
(1) permits an ineligible voter to vote other than as | ||
provided by Section 63.011; [ |
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(2) refuses to accept a person for voting whose | ||
acceptance is required by this code; or | ||
(3) permits an ineligible person to vote under Section | ||
63.006. | ||
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an [ |
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under this section is a Class A [ |
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(c) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under | ||
Subsection (a)(3) that the election officer has committed three or | ||
more offenses under Subsection (a)(3), the offense is a state jail | ||
felony. | ||
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section | ||
63.012, Election Code, 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 governed by the law in effect at | ||
the time of the offense, 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |