Bill Text: TX SB47 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: Relating to processes to address election irregularities; providing a civil penalty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 9-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-10-06 - Received from the Senate [SB47 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB47-Engrossed.html
| By: Bettencourt, et al. | S.B. No. 47 | |
|
|
||
|
|
||
| relating to processes to address election irregularities; | ||
| providing a civil penalty. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Title 16, Election Code, is amended by adding | ||
| Chapters 280, 281, and 282 to read as follows: | ||
| CHAPTER 280. REQUEST TO ADDRESS ELECTION IRREGULARITY | ||
| Sec. 280.001. REQUEST FOR EXPLANATION. (a) A person | ||
| described by Subsection (f) may issue a written request to the | ||
| county clerk or other authority conducting an election for an | ||
| explanation and supporting documentation for: | ||
| (1) an action taken by an election officer that | ||
| appears to violate this code; | ||
| (2) irregularities in results in a precinct or at a | ||
| polling place or early voting polling place; or | ||
| (3) inadequacy or irregularity of documentation | ||
| required to be maintained under this code. | ||
| (b) Not later than the 20th day after the date a request is | ||
| received under Subsection (a), the county clerk or other authority | ||
| shall provide the requested explanation and any supporting | ||
| documentation. | ||
| (c) A requestor who is not satisfied with the explanation | ||
| and supporting documentation provided under Subsection (b) may | ||
| issue a request for further explanation and supporting | ||
| documentation to the county clerk or other authority. | ||
| (d) Not later than the 10th day after the date a request is | ||
| received under Subsection (c), the county clerk or other authority | ||
| shall provide the requested explanation and any supporting | ||
| documentation. | ||
| (e) A requestor who is not satisfied with the explanation | ||
| and supporting documentation provided under Subsection (d) may | ||
| issue a request to the secretary of state for an audit of the issue | ||
| described by Subsection (a), as provided by Section 280.002. | ||
| (f) A person may make a request under this section if the | ||
| person participated in the relevant election as: | ||
| (1) a candidate; | ||
| (2) a county chair or state chair of a political party; | ||
| (3) a presiding judge; | ||
| (4) an alternate presiding judge; or | ||
| (5) the head of a specific-purpose political committee | ||
| that supports or opposes a ballot measure. | ||
| Sec. 280.002. AUDIT BY SECRETARY OF STATE. (a) A person to | ||
| whom Section 280.001(e) applies may submit a request for an audit to | ||
| the secretary of state for investigation. A request for an audit | ||
| must include copies of: | ||
| (1) the requests made by the person to the county clerk | ||
| or other authority conducting the election under Sections | ||
| 280.001(a) and (c); and | ||
| (2) the explanations and any supporting documentation | ||
| provided by the county clerk or other authority to the person under | ||
| Sections 280.001(b) and (d). | ||
| (b) Not later than the 30th day after the date the secretary | ||
| of state receives a request for an audit under this section, the | ||
| secretary must determine whether the information submitted under | ||
| Subsection (a) sufficiently explains the irregularity identified | ||
| under Section 280.001(a). If the information is insufficient, the | ||
| secretary shall immediately begin an audit of the identified | ||
| irregularity at the expense of the county or other authority | ||
| conducting the election. | ||
| (c) The county clerk or other authority conducting the | ||
| election shall cooperate with the office of the secretary of state | ||
| and may not interfere with or obstruct the audit. | ||
| (d) On conclusion of the audit, the secretary of state shall | ||
| provide notice of the findings of the audit to the person who | ||
| submitted the request for the audit and the county clerk or other | ||
| authority conducting the election. | ||
| (e) The secretary of state may, in the secretary's | ||
| discretion, make a determination that a violation of this code has | ||
| occurred solely on the basis of evidence submitted under Subsection | ||
| (a) without conducting an audit. The secretary shall send notice of | ||
| the determination to the person who submitted the request for the | ||
| audit and to the county clerk or other authority conducting the | ||
| election. | ||
| Sec. 280.003. FINDING OF VIOLATION. (a) In addition to the | ||
| notice required under Section 280.002(d), the secretary of state | ||
| shall provide special notice to the county clerk or other authority | ||
| conducting an election detailing any violation of this code found | ||
| by the secretary under Section 280.002. | ||
| (b) If the county clerk or other authority conducting an | ||
| election does not remedy a violation detailed in a notice under | ||
| Subsection (a) by the 30th day after the date the clerk or other | ||
| authority receives the notice, the secretary of state shall assess | ||
| a civil penalty of $500 for each violation not remedied and, if | ||
| possible, remedy the violation on behalf of the county clerk or | ||
| other authority. The remedy provided under this subsection is in | ||
| addition to any other remedy available under law for a violation of | ||
| this code. | ||
| (c) If the secretary of state is not able to remedy the | ||
| violation on behalf of the county clerk or other authority, the | ||
| secretary of state shall assess an additional penalty under | ||
| Subsection (b) for each day the county clerk or other authority does | ||
| not remedy the violation until the violation is remedied. | ||
| (d) The secretary of state shall maintain a record of county | ||
| clerks or other authorities that conduct elections who have been | ||
| assessed a civil penalty under Subsection (b). The secretary of | ||
| state shall publish the record on the secretary of state's Internet | ||
| website. | ||
| (e) The attorney general may bring an action under this | ||
| section to recover a civil penalty that has not been paid. | ||
| (f) A civil penalty collected under this section shall be | ||
| deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the general revenue | ||
| fund. | ||
| CHAPTER 281. AUDIT OF 2020 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS | ||
| Sec. 281.001. AUDIT OF RESULTS OF 2020 GENERAL ELECTION FOR | ||
| STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS. (a) In this section, "committee" means | ||
| an election review advisory committee. | ||
| (b) A state or county chair of a political party that made | ||
| nominations by primary election for the last general election for | ||
| state and county officers may request an audit of the results of the | ||
| 2020 general election for state and county officers by submitting a | ||
| written request to a county clerk. A county chair may only request | ||
| an audit from the county clerk of the county served by the county | ||
| chair. | ||
| (c) A county clerk who receives a request under this section | ||
| shall appoint an election review advisory committee to conduct an | ||
| audit under this chapter. The county clerk shall supervise the | ||
| committee. | ||
| (d) The county clerk shall appoint members of the committee | ||
| from lists of names of persons eligible for appointment submitted | ||
| to the county clerk by the party chair of each political party that | ||
| made nominations by primary election for the last general election | ||
| for state and county officers. The county clerk shall determine the | ||
| number of members necessary to conduct the audit and appoint an | ||
| equal number of members from each list. | ||
| (e) The committee members must be qualified voters of the | ||
| county. | ||
| (f) An audit under this section shall include a manual | ||
| review of the following: | ||
| (1) all ballots voted by any method in a precinct or | ||
| polling place in which the number of ballots cast exceeded the total | ||
| number of voters accepted for voting in the precinct or at the | ||
| polling place; and | ||
| (2) in addition to any ballots required to be included | ||
| under Subdivision (1): | ||
| (A) a random selection of ballots voted by mail, | ||
| totaling 20 percent of all ballots voted by mail in the election and | ||
| including both the original ballot and any duplicate made of the | ||
| ballot, and an equivalent number of carrier envelopes and the | ||
| associated application for a ballot to be voted by mail; | ||
| (B) a random selection of ballots voted by mail | ||
| that were rejected, totaling 20 percent of all ballots voted by mail | ||
| in the election that were rejected; | ||
| (C) ballots voted on election day from randomly | ||
| selected polling places in the county, including the greater of: | ||
| (i) three polling places; or | ||
| (ii) 20 percent of election day polling | ||
| places in the county; and | ||
| (D) the greater of 1,000 voted ballots or 10 | ||
| percent of all ballots voted at early voting polling places from a | ||
| number of polling places equal to: | ||
| (i) the greater of three randomly selected | ||
| early voting polling places or 20 percent of early voting polling | ||
| places; or | ||
| (ii) if the county has fewer than three | ||
| early voting polling places, all early voting polling places in the | ||
| county. | ||
| (g) An audit under this section shall be limited to not | ||
| fewer than three and not more than five contested races or ballot | ||
| measures. If there are more than five contested races or ballot | ||
| measures identified in the request under Subsection (b), the county | ||
| clerk shall randomly select five races or measures for audit. The | ||
| contested races must include at least one of each of the following | ||
| types of races, regardless of whether the type was identified in the | ||
| request under Subsection (b): | ||
| (1) a federal office; | ||
| (2) a statewide office; and | ||
| (3) a county office. | ||
| (h) The committee shall begin the audit not later than the | ||
| 20th day after the date the county clerk receives the request under | ||
| Subsection (b). The committee shall have access to precinct | ||
| election records in the custody of the county clerk for the purpose | ||
| of an audit under Subsection (f). | ||
| (i) Before the committee begins the audit, the secretary of | ||
| state shall determine an acceptable margin of error appropriate for | ||
| the county based on mathematical and statistical analyses | ||
| appropriate to the voting system used by the county. | ||
| (j) The committee shall observe any random selection made by | ||
| the county clerk under this section. | ||
| (k) If, for any contested race or ballot measure in the | ||
| audit, the results of the audit differ from canvassed results from | ||
| the 2020 general election for state and county officers by an amount | ||
| outside the margin of error determined under Subsection (i) for the | ||
| county, the committee shall conduct another audit. An audit under | ||
| this subsection shall be conducted in the same manner as the initial | ||
| audit. | ||
| (l) If, for any contested race or ballot measure in the | ||
| audit under Subsection (k), the results of the audit differ from | ||
| canvassed results from the 2020 general election for state and | ||
| county officers by an amount outside the margin of error determined | ||
| under Subsection (i) for the county, the committee shall conduct a | ||
| final audit. An audit under this subsection shall be conducted in | ||
| the same manner as the initial audit, except that: | ||
| (1) for a contested race or ballot measure under | ||
| Subsection (g), the audit shall include the entire county; and | ||
| (2) for any other contested race, the audit shall | ||
| include the entire district. | ||
| (m) The committee shall provide the full results of the | ||
| audit to: | ||
| (1) the county clerk; | ||
| (2) the secretary of state; and | ||
| (3) the county chair of each political party in the | ||
| county. | ||
| (n) The secretary of state shall issue a notice of the | ||
| results of the audit to: | ||
| (1) the governor; | ||
| (2) the lieutenant governor; | ||
| (3) the speaker of the house of representatives; and | ||
| (4) each member of the legislature. | ||
| (o) The notice under Subsection (n) must include an | ||
| indication whether the result of the audit: | ||
| (1) confirmed the final canvass of the 2020 general | ||
| election for state and county officers; | ||
| (2) differed from the final canvass of the 2020 | ||
| general election for state and county officers, but by an amount | ||
| within the margin of error determined under Subsection (i) for the | ||
| county; or | ||
| (3) differed from the final canvass of the 2020 | ||
| general election for state and county officers by an amount outside | ||
| the margin of error determined under Subsection (i) for the county. | ||
| (p) If the notice under Subsection (n) indicates a | ||
| difference greater than the margin of error determined under | ||
| Subsection (i) for the county, the secretary of state shall prepare | ||
| a report to accompany the notice. The report must include: | ||
| (1) an analysis of the difference from the results of | ||
| the final canvass of the 2020 general election for state and county | ||
| officers; | ||
| (2) the likely causes of the difference from the | ||
| results of the final canvass of the 2020 general election for state | ||
| and county officers; and | ||
| (3) recommended measures to avoid similar differences | ||
| in future elections. | ||
| (q) A notice under Subsection (n) and any accompanying | ||
| report shall be posted on: | ||
| (1) the secretary of state's Internet website; and | ||
| (2) the county's Internet website, if the county | ||
| maintains an Internet website. | ||
| (r) This chapter expires on September 1, 2024. | ||
| CHAPTER 282. JOINT COMMITTEE FOR OVERSIGHT | ||
| Sec. 282.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "joint | ||
| committee" means the joint committee established under this | ||
| chapter. | ||
| Sec. 282.002. JOINT COMMITTEE FOR OVERSIGHT ESTABLISHED. | ||
| (a) A joint committee is established to monitor compliance with | ||
| Chapter 280 and, until its expiration, Chapter 281. | ||
| (b) The joint committee is composed of 10 members, appointed | ||
| as follows: | ||
| (1) five senators appointed by the lieutenant | ||
| governor; and | ||
| (2) five representatives appointed by the speaker of | ||
| the house of representatives. | ||
| (c) The lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of | ||
| representatives shall designate one member appointed under | ||
| Subsection (b)(1) and one member appointed under Subsection (b)(2) | ||
| to serve as co-chairs of the joint committee. | ||
| (d) A quorum of the joint committee is established if at | ||
| least five members are present. | ||
| Sec. 282.003. JOINT COMMITTEE DUTIES. (a) The secretary of | ||
| state shall, on a quarterly basis and on request of the joint | ||
| committee, report to the joint committee any actions taken by the | ||
| secretary under Chapter 280. | ||
| (b) The election review advisory committee established | ||
| under Chapter 281 shall, on a quarterly basis and on request of the | ||
| joint committee, report to the joint committee any actions taken by | ||
| the election review advisory committee. This subsection expires on | ||
| September 1, 2024. | ||
| (c) The joint committee shall, as necessary, produce a | ||
| report that details: | ||
| (1) all actions reported to the committee; | ||
| (2) any findings made by the committee; and | ||
| (3) recommendations for legislative action. | ||
| SECTION 2. A person may make a request under Section | ||
| 280.001, Election Code, as added by this Act, only for an election | ||
| held on or after the effective date of this Act. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the | ||
| last day of the legislative session. | ||
