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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the creation of the offense of engaging in organized |
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election fraud activity. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Chapter 276, Election Code, is amended by adding |
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Section 276.011 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 276.011. ENGAGING IN ORGANIZED ELECTION FRAUD |
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ACTIVITY. (a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to |
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establish, maintain, or participate in a vote harvesting |
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organization, the person commits or conspires to commit one or more |
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offenses under Titles 1 through 7. |
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(b) An offense under this section is one category higher |
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than the most serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that is |
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committed, and if the most serious offense is a Class A misdemeanor, |
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the offense is a state jail felony. |
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(c) At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may |
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raise the issue as to whether in voluntary and complete |
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renunciation of the offense the defendant withdrew from the vote |
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harvesting organization before commission of an offense listed in |
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Subsection (a) and made substantial effort to prevent the |
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commission of the offense. If the defendant proves the issue in the |
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affirmative by a preponderance of the evidence the offense is the |
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same category of offense as the most serious offense listed in |
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Subsection (a) that is committed. |
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(d) In this section, "vote harvesting organization" means |
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three or more persons who collaborate in committing offenses under |
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Titles 1 through 7, although participants may not know each other's |
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identity, membership in the organization may change from time to |
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time, and participants may stand in a candidate-consultant, |
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donor-consultant, consultant-field operative, or other arm's |
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length relationship in the organization's operations. |
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(e) For purposes of this section, "conspires to commit" |
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means that a person agrees with one or more persons that they or one |
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or more of them engage in conduct that would constitute the offense |
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and that person and one or more of them perform an overt act in |
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pursuance of the agreement. An agreement constituting conspiring |
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to commit may be inferred from the acts of the parties. |
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SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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governed by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and |
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the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes |
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of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date |
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of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |