Enrolled Bill Summary

Senate Bill 1 (2nd C.S.)	Senate Author:  Hughes et al.
Effective:  12-2-21	House Sponsor:  Murr et al.

            Senate Bill 1, the Election Integrity Protection Act of 2021, amends the Election Code and Government Code to set out provisions relating to the conduct of elections in Texas with respect to voter registration, citizenship and residence verification, conduct and security of elections, in‑person early voting, poll watchers, early voting by mail, assistance of voters, election‑related offenses, and certain ineligible voters. In addition, the bill provides for the prioritization, docketing, and deadlines of certain election proceedings in the Texas Supreme Court, the courts of appeals, and the trial courts.

            Senate Bill 1 makes general principles of criminal responsibility under the Penal Code applicable to Election Code offenses. Furthermore, the bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require a court, after a defendant is adjudged guilty of a felony offense, to make an affirmative finding that the person has been found guilty, enter the finding in the judgment of the case, and instruct the defendant regarding how the felony conviction will impact the defendant's right to vote.

 

Voter Registration

 

            Senate Bill 1 requires certain contents of a voter registration application to be supplied by the person desiring to register to vote, requires a voter registrar to provide notice to certain entities that a person who is not eligible to vote registered to vote, and changes the conduct constituting the offense of making a false statement on a voter registration application. The bill also does the following:

·        authorizes any voter to digitally correct information on the voter's registration certificate;

·        sets out certain requirements for a voter registrar when there is a notice of change in voter registration information;

·        provides penalties that the secretary of state must impose on a voter registrar who does not substantially comply with certain suspense list requirements or rules regarding the statewide computerized voter registration list; and

·        requires a county election official, on request, to provide to a member of an early voting ballot board or signature verification committee all available information that is necessary for the board or committee to fulfill its functions.

 

Citizenship and Residence Verification         

 

            Senate Bill 1 requires the secretary of state to enter into an agreement with the Department of Public Safety (DPS) under which information in the existing statewide computerized voter registration list is compared monthly against information in the DPS database in order to verify the accuracy of citizenship status information previously provided on voter registration applications. A voter registrar, after receiving notification of a person who indicates a lack of citizenship status in connection with a vehicle or DPS record, must deliver a written notice requiring the voter to submit proof of U.S. citizenship. The bill requires the secretary of state to notify the appropriate counties upon the determination that a voter has been disqualified from jury service because the voter is not a resident of the county in which the voter is registered to vote.

 

Conduct and Security of Elections

 

            Senate Bill 1 prohibits a voter from voting inside a vehicle unless the voter is eligible for assistance. The bill does the following, among other provisions, with respect to the conduct and security of elections:

·        provides for a required declaration that an unopposed candidate is elected to office;

·        expands the eligibility criteria for participation in the countywide polling place program;

·        implements requirements for election judges when opening and closing a polling place and requires the secretary of state to create a checklist for both procedures;

·        requires the secretary of state to create and promulgate a form to be used for the register of spoiled ballots at a polling place;

·        clarifies that a voter who has not voted before the polls close is entitled to vote if the voter is in line at the polling place by closing time;

·        prohibits a temporary branch polling place from being located in a movable structure and specifies that a temporary branch polling place must be located inside a building;

·        revises provisions regarding the composition of, and appointment of members to, a county's early voting ballot board;

·        prohibits voting system ballots from being arranged in a manner that allows a political party's candidates to be selected in one motion or gesture;

·        authorizes an alternate presiding election judge to appoint clerks to serve at a central counting station;

·        provides for the development of a protocol for electronic devices inside a central counting station to be equipped with certain tracking software;

·        requires the general custodian of election records in a county with a population of 100,000 or more to implement a video surveillance system that retains a record of all areas containing voted ballots; and

·        provides for randomized county audits performed by the secretary of state.

 

In‑Person Early Voting

 

Senate Bill 1 requires a county with a population of at least 55,000 to conduct voting during the early voting period with extended hours. In addition, the bill revises the regular hours for in‑person early voting in an election in which the county clerk is the early voting clerk by establishing the following minimum periods for in‑person early voting:

·        on each weekday of the early voting period that is not a legal state holiday, at least nine hours between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.;

·        on the last Saturday of the early voting period, at least 12 hours between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.; and

·        on the last Sunday of the early voting period, at least six hours between the hours of 9 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The bill also does the following:

·        extends by one hour the requisite number of hours that in‑person early voting must occur for an election in which the county clerk is not the early voting clerk; and

·        requires in‑person early voting at the main early voting polling place for an election in which a city secretary is the early voting clerk to be conducted at least nine hours each weekday of the early voting period unless the territory covered by the election has fewer than 1,000 registered voters, in which case the voting must be conducted at least four hours each day.

 

Poll Watchers

 

Senate Bill 1 provides the following with respect to poll watchers:

·        a person must complete a poll watcher training program to be eligible to serve as a watcher;

·        an election judge may not have a watcher removed from a polling place for violating any provision of law relating to the conduct of elections, other than a violation of the Penal Code,  unless the violation was observed by an election judge or clerk;

·        a watcher may not be denied free movement where election activity is occurring, except at a voting station;

·        a watcher who is entitled to observe an election activity is also entitled to sit or stand near enough to see and hear the activity;

·        a watcher may observe all election activities relating to closing a polling place;

·        a watcher is entitled to follow the transfer of election materials from a polling place to any location designated to process election materials; and

·        the appointing authority for a watcher and the secretary of state have the opportunity to seek relief upon the belief that the watcher or a state inspector was unlawfully prevented or obstructed from the performance of the watcher's or inspector's duties.

 

Early Voting by Mail

 

            Senate Bill 1 prohibits the distribution of a mail‑in ballot application to a person who did not request the application. Among other provisions regarding early voting by mail, the bill authorizes a signature verification committee and early voting ballot board, for the purpose of verifying a voter's applicable signature, to compare the signature with any known signature on file with the county clerk or voter registrar. The bill sets out the following requirements:

·        an application for a mail‑in ballot and the carrier envelope of the ballot must include either a driver's license number, the number of a DPS‑issued personal identification card, the last four digits of the applicable social security number, or a statement that the voter or applicant has not been issued any of those numbers;

·        the early voting clerk must reject an application for a mail‑in ballot if an applicable number does not match the number provided on the voter registration application;

·        the applicant's signature on an application for a mail‑in ballot must be submitted in writing using ink on paper;

·        a voter must be provided with an opportunity to correct a defect with a mail‑in ballot or to cancel the application to vote by mail;

·        a marked mail‑in ballot that is delivered in person must be received by an election official and recorded on a prescribed roster;

·        mail‑in ballots that were not timely returned must be retained in a locked container for the period for preserving the precinct election records; and

·        mail‑in ballots must be tabulated and stored separately from the ballots voted early by personal appearance and must be separately reported on the returns.

 

Assistance of Voters

 

            Senate Bill 1 prohibits the Election Code from being interpreted to prohibit or limit the right of a qualified individual with a disability from requesting a reasonable election accommodation or modification. With respect to the offense of unlawfully assisting a voter voting a ballot by mail, the bill revises the applicability of certain exemptions from the offense and sets out additional requirements for a person who assists a voter in preparing the ballot. Moreover, the bill provides the following with respect to the assistance of voters:

·        a voter is eligible to receive assistance in reading a ballot if the voter cannot read the ballot because of a physical disability or because of an inability to read the language in which the ballot is written;

·        a person, other than an election officer, who lawfully assists a voter must complete a form stating the relationship to the voter of the person assisting the voter, among other information;

·        a person who simultaneously provides seven or more voters requiring assistance with transportation to a polling place must complete and sign a form containing identifying information and the type of assistance provided; and

·        a person must swear or affirm the requisite oath, as revised by the bill, under penalty of perjury when providing voter assistance to a voter.

 

Election‑Related Offenses

 

            Senate Bill 1 creates the offense of vote harvesting for a person who knowingly does the following:

·        provides or offers to provide in‑person interaction with one or more voters, in the physical presence of an official ballot or a mail‑in ballot, intended to deliver votes for a specific candidate or measure in exchange for compensation or other benefit;

·        provides or offers to provide compensation or other benefit to another person in exchange for vote harvesting services; or

·        collects or possesses a mail ballot or official carrier envelope in connection with vote harvesting services.

Senate Bill 1 expands the conduct that constitutes the offense of election fraud to include the following:

·        preventing a voter from casting a legal ballot or providing false information to a voter with the intent to do so;

·        causing the ballot not to reflect the intent of the voter;

·        causing a ballot to be voted for another person that the actor knows to be deceased or otherwise knows not to be a qualified or registered voter;

·        causing or enabling a vote to be cast more than once in the same election; and

·        discarding or destroying a voter's completed ballot without the voter's consent.

Furthermore, the bill enhances the penalty for election fraud from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony if the person committed the offense while acting in the person's capacity as an elected official, but establishes that the offense is a Class B misdemeanor if the person is convicted of only an attempt. The bill also does the following:

·        creates offenses for the unlawful solicitation and distribution of an application to vote by mail and the unlawful distribution of early voting ballots and balloting materials;

·        revises the conduct constituting the offenses of unlawfully assisting a voter voting a ballot by mail and unlawful compensation for assisting a voter;

·        expands the conduct that constitutes the offense of making a false statement on a voter registration application and enhances the penalty for the offense from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony if compensation is involved;

·        creates an offense for an election judge who knowingly provides a voter with an affidavit form used for accepting a voter that contains information that the judge entered on the form knowing it was false;

·        creates an offense for an election officer who refuses to accept a poll watcher for service when the acceptance is required; and

·        expands the conduct that constitutes the offense of unlawfully prohibiting an employee from voting to include refusing to excuse an absence to vote early and subjecting the employee to a penalty for the absence.

 

Miscellaneous Provisions

 

Senate Bill 1 makes certain communications between a public official and a voting systems vendor public information and also does the following:

·        prohibits an authority operating a central counting station from purchasing or using certain centrally counted optical ballot scan systems;

·        sets out provisions regarding notification and witnessing of a public test of logic and accuracy of a voting system; and

·        provides for a study regarding the implementation of educational programs to help voters with disabilities understand how to use voting systems.