Bill Text: TX SB1995 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to requiring a general custodian of election records to adopt procedures for public inspection of voted ballots.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-21 - Referred to State Affairs [SB1995 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB1995-Introduced.html
| 88R8139 PRL-D | ||
| By: Middleton | S.B. No. 1995 | |
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| relating to requiring a general custodian of election records to | ||
| adopt procedures for public inspection of voted ballots. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 66, Election Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 66.0571 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 66.0571. PROCEDURES FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION OF CERTAIN | ||
| ELECTION RECORDS. (a) A general custodian of election records | ||
| shall adopt a written policy establishing procedures for providing | ||
| access to voted ballots for public inspection. | ||
| (b) At a minimum, a policy adopted under this section shall | ||
| include: | ||
| (1) procedures to ensure the redaction of any | ||
| personally identifiable information of the voter contained on a | ||
| ballot before making the ballot available for public inspection; | ||
| (2) a defined time period for public inspection | ||
| consistent with Chapter 552, Government Code; | ||
| (3) a log containing the name of any person who | ||
| accesses the voted ballots during the defined time period; | ||
| (4) general regulations regarding access to the | ||
| ballots, including: | ||
| (A) requiring at least one member of the general | ||
| custodian's staff to be present at all times in the room containing | ||
| the voted ballots while public inspection takes place; | ||
| (B) prohibiting pens, pencils, and other marking | ||
| devices from being brought into the room containing the voted | ||
| ballots; | ||
| (C) prohibiting food and beverages in the room | ||
| containing the voted ballots; | ||
| (D) requiring voted ballots to be kept in the | ||
| same stacks, containers, or boxes, as applicable, while public | ||
| inspection takes place; | ||
| (E) prohibiting the removal of voted ballots from | ||
| the room in which public inspection takes place; and | ||
| (F) permitting the use of imaging devices for the | ||
| purpose of taking a photo or making a copy of a voted ballot; | ||
| (5) the use of video surveillance, if available, to | ||
| monitor all activities in the inspection room during the time that | ||
| the voted ballots are made available for public inspection; | ||
| (6) the use of other security measures necessary to | ||
| ensure no alteration of the ballots is possible; and | ||
| (7) procedures to ensure that all other materials | ||
| unrelated to the ballot inspection request are removed from the | ||
| room in which the public inspection takes place. | ||
| (c) If a county maintains an electronic copy of the voted | ||
| ballot in addition to the voted paper ballot, a copy of the | ||
| electronic voted ballot shall be made available upon request for | ||
| public inspection in the same manner as the voted paper ballot. | ||
| (d) A county may image or scan voted ballots before they are | ||
| made available for public inspection to ensure there is an | ||
| electronic record of the voted ballot before public inspection | ||
| takes place. | ||
| SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. | ||
