Bill Text: TX HB4133 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to investigation and prosecution of certain election offenses; creating a criminal offense; increasing criminal penalties.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-06 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB4133 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB4133-Comm_Sub.html

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85R27971 GRM-F
By: Fallon H.B. No. 4133
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 4133:
By: Laubenberg C.S.H.B. No. 4133

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to investigation and prosecution of certain election
offenses; creating a criminal offense; increasing criminal
penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1.013, Election Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 1.013. DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS. (a) After expiration of
the prescribed period for preserving voted ballots, election
returns, other election records, or other records that are
preserved under this code, the records may be destroyed or
otherwise disposed of unless, at the expiration of the preservation
period, an election contest or a criminal investigation or
proceeding in connection with an election to which the records
pertain is pending. In that case, the records shall be preserved
until the contest, investigation, or proceeding is completed and
the judgment, if any, becomes final. If a preservation request has
been issued by a law enforcement agency, the custodian of records
may not destroy the records before receiving written permission
from that law enforcement agency.
(b) A person commits an offense if a person intentionally
destroys or causes the destruction of election records required to
be preserved under Subsection (a).
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), an offense under
Subsection (b) is a Class B misdemeanor.
(d) An offense under Subsection (b) in which a person
destroys or causes destruction of records subject to a preservation
request from a law enforcement agency is a state jail felony.
SECTION 2. Section 1.018, Election Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 1.018. APPLICABILITY OF PENAL CODE. Titles 1 through 4
[In addition to Section 1.03, Penal Code, and to other titles of the
Penal Code that may apply to this code, Title 4], Penal Code, apply
[applies] to offenses prescribed by this code.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 13.007, Election Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 13.007. FALSE STATEMENT ON REGISTRATION APPLICATION.
SECTION 4. Sections 13.007(a) and (b), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
makes a false statement or requests, commands, or attempts to
induce another person to make a false statement or causes a false
statement to be made on a registration application.
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony
[Class B misdemeanor].
SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 13, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 13.009 to read as follows:
Sec. 13.009. MISUSE OF VOTER REGISTRATION INFORMATION. (a)
A person commits an offense if the person copies or otherwise
records voter information obtained from a registration
application, including two or more of the following pieces of
information belonging to a voter:
(1) an address;
(2) a phone number;
(3) a date of birth; or
(4) any part of a:
(A) social security number; or
(B) driver's license number.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
possesses, sells, offers to sell, buys, or offers to buy voter
information copied from an application described by Subsection (a).
(c) This section does not apply to an employee of a
registrar or other governmental agency who copies, records, or
possesses the information for official administrative or law
enforcement purposes.
(d) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.
SECTION 6. Section 15.028(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) If the registrar determines that a person who is not an
eligible [a registered] voter voted in an election, or determines
that voter registration fraud or voting fraud may have occurred in
an election, the registrar shall execute and deliver to the
attorney general, the secretary of state, and the county or
district attorney having jurisdiction in the territory covered by
the election an affidavit stating the relevant facts. Unless
otherwise instructed by the attorney general and the county or
district attorney, the registrar shall preserve any election
records applicable to the offense for at least six months after the
date required by Section 66.058.
SECTION 7. Section 18.068(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The secretary of state shall quarterly compare the
information received under Section 16.001 of this code and Section
62.113, Government Code, to the statewide computerized voter
registration list. If the secretary determines that a voter on the
registration list is deceased or has been excused or disqualified
from jury service because the voter is not a citizen, the secretary
shall send notice of the determination to the voter registrar of the
counties considered appropriate by the secretary and to the
attorney general.
SECTION 8. Section 64.012, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 64.012. ILLEGAL VOTING. (a) A person commits an
offense if the person:
(1) votes or attempts to vote in an election in which
the person knows the person is not eligible to vote;
(2) knowingly votes or attempts to vote more than once
in an election;
(3) knowingly [impersonates another person and] votes
or attempts to vote a ballot belonging to another person, or by
impersonating another [as the impersonated] person; or
(4) knowingly marks or attempts to mark another
person's ballot without the consent of that person, or without
specific direction from that person how to mark the ballot.
(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 state jail felony.
(c) It is sufficient for the purposes of Subsection (a)(1)
to establish that the person had knowledge of the person's
ineligibility to vote if the person was aware of the facts or
circumstances causing the person's ineligibility under this code.
(d) It is not a defense to prosecution that the ballot was
not finally counted.
(e) An offense under this section is increased to the next
higher category of offense if it is shown on the trial of an offense
under this section that:
(1) the defendant was previously convicted of an
offense under this code;
(2) if the defendant is being charged as a party to the
offense, the offense involves a voter 65 years of age or older; or
(3) the defendant committed another offense under this
section in the same election.
SECTION 9. Section 66.058(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by this code, the precinct
election records shall be preserved by the authority to whom they
are distributed:
(1) in an election involving a federal office, for at
least 22 months after election day in accordance with federal law;
or
(2) in an election not involving a federal office, for
at least 12 [six] months after election day.
SECTION 10. Section 162.014(b), Election Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A [Class C]
misdemeanor.
SECTION 11. Section 231.008, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) The clerk shall deliver a copy of the judgment and any
findings of fact or conclusions of law to the attorney general, and
upon request from the attorney general, shall deliver copies of any
portion of the record for use in a criminal investigation.
SECTION 12. Section 273.001(e), Election Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(e) Not later than the 30th day after the date on which a
peace officer or county or district attorney receives a complaint
of an offense under this code punishable as a Class B misdemeanor or
higher [begins an investigation under this section], the officer or
county or district attorney shall deliver notice of the complaint
[investigation] to the secretary of state and the attorney general.
The notice must include a copy of the complaint, a statement on
whether [that] a criminal investigation is being conducted, and the
date on which the election that is the subject of the complaint
[investigation] was held. The secretary of state may disclose
information relating to a criminal investigation received under
this subsection only if the county or district attorney or the
attorney general has disclosed the information or would be required
by law to disclose the information.
SECTION 13. Subchapter B, Chapter 273, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 273.025 to read as follows:
Sec. 273.025. LIMITATIONS. An indictment or information
for an offense under this code must be presented not later than five
years after the date of the commission of the offense.
SECTION 14. Chapter 276, Election Code, is amended by
adding Sections 276.002 and 276.011 to read as follows:
Sec. 276.002. OBSTRUCTION OF ELECTION INVESTIGATION OR
PROCEEDING. (a) A person commits an offense if the person, with
intent to influence a witness or prospective witness in an
investigation or proceeding brought under this code:
(1) offers a benefit to, intimidates, harms, or
threatens to harm a witness or prospective witness;
(2) instructs or encourages a witness or prospective
witness to give a false statement or testimony or withhold or make
unavailable any testimony, information, or evidence; or
(3) instructs or encourages a witness or prospective
witness:
(A) to elude legal process summoning the witness
to testify or supply evidence; or
(B) to be absent from a legal proceeding to which
the witness has been legally summoned.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
degree.
Sec. 276.011. ELECTION FRAUD. (a) A person commits an
offense if the person knowingly or intentionally makes any effort
to:
(1) influence the independent exercise of the vote of
another in the presence of the ballot or during the voting process;
(2) cause a voter registration application, ballot, or
vote to be obtained or cast under false pretenses;
(3) cause any false or intentionally misleading
statement, representation, or information to be provided:
(A) to an election official; or
(B) on an election-related:
(i) form;
(ii) petition;
(iii) statement;
(iv) oath;
(v) affirmation; or
(vi) official document; or
(4) subvert the election process in order to obtain a
benefit or to benefit another person, candidate, or political
party.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
(c) An offense under this section is increased to the next
higher category of offense if it is shown on the trial of the
offense that:
(1) the defendant was previously convicted of an
offense under this code;
(2) the offense involved a voter 65 years of age or
older; or
(3) the defendant committed another offense under this
section in the same election.
(d) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this
section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor
may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
SECTION 15. Sections 13.007(c) and 15.028(b), Election
Code, are repealed.
SECTION 16. The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 on the date 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 17. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.