Bill Text: TX SB2147 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the creation of the offense of engaging in organized election fraud activity.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-29 - Referred to State Affairs [SB2147 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-SB2147-Introduced.html
85R6387 ATP-F | ||
By: Huffman | S.B. No. 2147 |
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relating to the creation of the offense of engaging in organized | ||
election fraud activity. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 276, Election Code, is amended by adding | ||
Section 276.011 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 276.011. ENGAGING IN ORGANIZED ELECTION FRAUD | ||
ACTIVITY. (a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to | ||
establish, maintain, or participate in a vote harvesting | ||
organization, the person commits or conspires to commit one or more | ||
offenses under Titles 1 through 7. | ||
(b) An offense under this section is one category higher | ||
than the most serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that is | ||
committed, and if the most serious offense is a Class A misdemeanor, | ||
the offense is a state jail felony. | ||
(c) At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may | ||
raise the issue as to whether in voluntary and complete | ||
renunciation of the offense the defendant withdrew from the vote | ||
harvesting organization before commission of an offense listed in | ||
Subsection (a) and made substantial effort to prevent the | ||
commission of the offense. If the defendant proves the issue in the | ||
affirmative by a preponderance of the evidence the offense is the | ||
same category of offense as the most serious offense listed in | ||
Subsection (a) that is committed. | ||
(d) In this section, "vote harvesting organization" means | ||
three or more persons who collaborate in committing offenses under | ||
Titles 1 through 7, although participants may not know each other's | ||
identity, membership in the organization may change from time to | ||
time, and participants may stand in a candidate-consultant, | ||
donor-consultant, consultant-field operative, or other arm's | ||
length relationship in the organization's operations. | ||
(e) For purposes of this section, "conspires to commit" | ||
means that a person agrees with one or more persons that they or one | ||
or more of them engage in conduct that would constitute the offense | ||
and that person and one or more of them perform an overt act in | ||
pursuance of the agreement. An agreement constituting conspiring | ||
to commit may be inferred from the acts of the parties. | ||
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act 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 when 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |