By:  Madden                                           H.B. No. 1882
       73R5400 GGS-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the date on which a voter registration becomes
    1-3  effective and to related dates and deadlines.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Sections 13.143(a) and (e), Election Code, are
    1-6  amended to read as follows:
    1-7        (a)  Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (e), if an
    1-8  applicant's registration application is approved, the registration
    1-9  becomes effective on the 21st <30th> day after the date the
   1-10  application is submitted to the registrar or on the date the
   1-11  applicant becomes 18 years of age, whichever is later.
   1-12        (e)  If the 21st <30th> day before the date of an election is
   1-13  a Saturday, Sunday, or legal state or national holiday, an
   1-14  application submitted by mail is considered to be timely if the
   1-15  date indicated by the post office cancellation mark is the next
   1-16  regular business day.
   1-17        SECTION 2.  Section 13.042(c), Election Code, is amended to
   1-18  read as follows:
   1-19        (c)  An application submitted after the 25th <34th> day and
   1-20  before the 20th <29th> day before the date of an election in which
   1-21  any qualified voter of the county is eligible to vote shall be
   1-22  delivered not later than 5 p.m.  of the 20th <29th> day before
   1-23  election day.
   1-24        SECTION 3.  Section 13.071(b), Election Code, is amended to
    2-1  read as follows:
    2-2        (b)  The registrar shall make the determination not later
    2-3  than the fourth <seventh> day after the date the application is
    2-4  submitted to the registrar.
    2-5        SECTION 4.  Section 13.073(a), Election Code, is amended to
    2-6  read as follows:
    2-7        (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), the registrar
    2-8  shall deliver written notice of the reason for the rejection of an
    2-9  application to the applicant not later than the first <second> day
   2-10  after the date of rejection.
   2-11        SECTION 5.  Sections 15.025 and 15.026, Election Code, are
   2-12  amended to read as follows:
   2-13        Sec. 15.025.  Effective Date of Registration in Precinct of
   2-14  New Residence.  The registration of a voter whose residence is
   2-15  changed on the registration records to another county election
   2-16  precinct in the same county becomes effective in the precinct of
   2-17  new residence on the 21st <30th> day after:
   2-18              (1)  the date the registrar receives a notice of a
   2-19  change in registration information under Section 15.021 or a
   2-20  voter's reply to a notice of investigation given under Section
   2-21  16.033, as applicable, indicating the change of residence; or
   2-22              (2)  the date the voter submits an affidavit indicating
   2-23  the change of residence to an election officer under Section
   2-24  14.052.
   2-25        Sec. 15.026.  Effective Date of Registration Under New Name.
   2-26  The registration of a voter whose name is changed on the
   2-27  registration records becomes effective under the new name on the
    3-1  21st <30th> day after the date the registrar receives notice of the
    3-2  change of name.
    3-3        SECTION 6.  Section 18.006, Election Code, is amended to read
    3-4  as follows:
    3-5        Sec. 18.006.  DELIVERY OF LISTS TO ELECTION AUTHORITIES.  The
    3-6  registrar shall deliver the lists furnished under this subchapter,
    3-7  including the lists furnished under Section 18.007, to the
    3-8  appropriate authority as soon as practicable after the request but
    3-9  in every case in time for receipt before the beginning of early
   3-10  voting by mail for the election in which the lists are to be used.
   3-11  If those lists do not contain the names of all voters who will be
   3-12  eligible to vote as of the beginning of early voting by personal
   3-13  appearance, another set of the appropriate lists shall be delivered
   3-14  before the beginning of early voting by personal appearance.  If
   3-15  those lists do not contain the names of all voters whose
   3-16  registrations will be effective on election day, another set of the
   3-17  appropriate lists shall be delivered as soon as practicable after
   3-18  the registrar has processed the remaining applications.
   3-19        SECTION 7.  Section 18.042, Election Code, is amended to read
   3-20  as follows:
   3-21        Sec. 18.042.  Preelection Registration Statement.  Not later
   3-22  than the 10th <20th> day before the date of the general primary
   3-23  election and the date of the general election for state and county
   3-24  officers, the registrar shall file with the secretary of state a
   3-25  statement of the number of persons whose voter registrations in the
   3-26  county and in each county election precinct will be effective on
   3-27  election day.
    4-1        SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
    4-2        SECTION 9.  The importance of this legislation and the
    4-3  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    4-4  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    4-5  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    4-6  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.