BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1314

By: Hefner

Elections

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Concerns have been raised regarding the potential vulnerability of certain components of voting systems, which leaves these systems, and therefore elections in Texas, open to undue influence or tampering. C.S.H.B. 1314 seeks to ensure the integrity of elections in Texas by requiring voting systems used in Texas elections to meet certain operational and manufacturing requirements.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1314 amends the Election Code to require a voting system used in an election in Texas to meet the following requirements:

· all software used in the system must be developed and operated entirely within the United States and sold by a company whose headquarters are located in the United States and whose parent company's headquarters, if applicable, are located in the United States; and

· all hardware used in the voting system, if manufactured outside the United States, must be delivered to the United States without any installed embedded software, as defined by the bill.

This requirement applies beginning September 1, 2021.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2021.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1314 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The original required all components of a voting system to be manufactured, stored, and held in the United States, whereas the substitute requires all software used in the voting system to be developed and operated entirely within the United States. The substitute includes a requirement absent from the original for all hardware used in the voting system, if manufactured outside the United States, to be delivered to the United States without any embedded software installed. The substitute includes a definition for "embedded software."