Bill Text: TX HR123 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 2nd Special Session | Enrolled

Texas House Resolution 123 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Expressing the beliefs of the House regarding prosecution for the offense of illegal voting.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-08-31 - Reported enrolled [HR123 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HR123-Enrolled.html



	H.R. No. 123



	R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, The right to vote is sacred, and the exercise of that
	right represents a cornerstone of our democracy; and
	WHEREAS, The offense of illegal voting has long existed in
	this state, and when first codified, stated that if "any person,
	knowing himself not to be a qualified voter" nonetheless voted, the
	person would be subject to a fine; and
	WHEREAS, The offense has changed over the decades until its
	eventual recodification in Section 64.012(a)(1), Election Code,
	which states that a person commits the offense if the person "votes
	or attempts to vote in an election in which the person knows the
	person is not eligible to vote"; and
	WHEREAS, The offense is punishable by incarceration, fine, or
	both; and
	WHEREAS, A person's knowledge of the person's own
	ineligibility has always been an element of the offense; and
	WHEREAS, It is a fundamental principle of criminal law in
	this state that persons should only be convicted of an offense when
	all required elements of the offense are shown to have been
	satisfied; and
	WHEREAS, Instances where a person knows that the person is
	ineligible to vote in an election but nonetheless votes or attempts
	to vote should be prosecuted; and
	WHEREAS, Cases of genuine mistake, where the person votes or
	attempts to vote under the honest belief that the person is eligible
	to vote, should not establish the required element of knowledge of
	one's own ineligibility; and
	WHEREAS, In such cases, the ineligible person's vote should
	not be allowed, and any vote erroneously cast by an ineligible
	person should not be counted, but a person should not be criminally
	incarcerated for making an innocent mistake; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas
	Legislature, 2nd Called Session, hereby strongly believes that no
	Texan should be prosecuted for the offense of illegal voting if the
	person voted or attempted to vote based on a mistaken, honest belief
	that the person was in fact eligible to vote; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas House of Representatives encourages
	the careful exercise of discretion at all levels of government when
	investigating and prosecuting cases of alleged illegal voting.

	Burrows

	______________________________
	Speaker of the House

	I certify that H.R. No. 123 was adopted by the House on August
	31, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 119, Nays 4, 1 present, not
	voting.

	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House