By: Bettencourt  S.B. No. 47
         (In the Senate - Filed October 1, 2021; October 1, 2021,
  read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  October 4, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
  Nays 2; October 4, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  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 and 281 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:
               (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.
         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.
 
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