Bill Text: TX SB1459 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating a voter unable to enter a polling place.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-24 - Referred to State Affairs [SB1459 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB1459-Introduced.html
| By: Zaffirini | S.B. No. 1459 | |
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| relating a voter unable to enter a polling place. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Chapter 62, Election Code, is amended by adding | ||
| Section 62.017 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 62.017. NOTICE OF CURBSIDE VOTING. (a) An election | ||
| officer shall post notice regarding assistance available to voters | ||
| unable to enter the polling place without assistance or likelihood | ||
| of injuring the voter’s health, as defined in Section 64.009 of this | ||
| title. | ||
| (b) Notice under this section shall: | ||
| (1) Be printed in: | ||
| (1) English; | ||
| (2) Spanish; and | ||
| (3) Any other language in which a political | ||
| subdivision is required to provide assistance under the Voting | ||
| Rights Act (52 U.S.C. Section 10301 et seq.); and | ||
| (2) Include instructions regarding eligibility | ||
| requirements for voting under Section 64.009. | ||
| (c) The secretary of state shall prescribe the form and | ||
| content of the notice poster in accordance with this section. If it | ||
| is not practical to fit all of the information required by this | ||
| section on a single poster, the secretary of state may provide for | ||
| the use of two or more posters to convey the information. | ||
| SECTION 2. Section 64.009, Election Code, is amended as | ||
| follows: | ||
| Sec. 64.009. VOTER UNABLE TO ENTER POLLING PLACE. (a) [ |
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| In this section a voter is physically unable to enter the polling | ||
| place if the voter cannot do so without: | ||
| (1) personal assistance; | ||
| (B) likelihood of injuring the voter's health; or | ||
| (C) likelihood of injuring another voter’s health, | ||
| including by infecting them with a disease with which the voter was | ||
| diagnosed that is capable of person-to-person transmission while | ||
| voting or waiting to a polling place. | ||
| (a-1) O[ |
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| unable unable to enter the polling place, an election officer shall | ||
| deliver a ballot at the polling place entrance or curb to: | ||
| (1) the voter; and | ||
| (2) a person accompanying the voter, other than the | ||
| driver of a vehicle hired to transport the voter to or from | ||
| the polls for compensation other than reimbursement for | ||
| milage [ |
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| (b) The regular voting procedures may be modified by the | ||
| election officer to the extent necessary to conduct voting under | ||
| this section. | ||
| (c) After the voter is accepted for voting, the voter shall | ||
| mark the ballot and give it to the election officer who shall | ||
| deposit it in the ballot box. | ||
| (d) On the voter's request, a person accompanying the voter | ||
| shall be permitted to select the voter's ballot and deposit the | ||
| ballot in the ballot box. | ||
| SECTION 3. 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, 2021. | ||
