BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 1382 By: Oakley 04-23-95 Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND Currently, twenty-one states allow seventeen year old people to vote in the primary election preceding the general election in which they are eligible to vote. Since a person may be qualified to vote in the general election for state and county officers, that person should have the opportunity to vote in the primary election to select the candidates for the general election. PURPOSE As proposed, H.B. 1382 authorizes a person who will be 18 years of age before the general election for state and county officers to vote in the preceding primary election. 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. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 172, Subchapter A, Election Code, by adding Section 172.005, as follows: Sec. 172.005. VOTING BY PERSON UNDER AGE 18. (a) Authorizes a person to vote in a primary election if the person will be 18 years of age or older on the first day of the period for early voting by personal appearance in the subsequent general election for state and county officers, and satisfies the requirements for being a qualified voter except for age. (b) Requires the secretary of state, after consulting with the state chairman of each political party required to make nominations by primary election, to prescribe the procedures necessary to implement this section. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1995. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS Committee Amendment No. 1. Substitutes language in SECTION 1. of the bill that would allow young people to vote if they would be 18 by the date of the next general election. Previously, the bill would only allow young people to vote if they were going to be 18 by the date of the first day of early voting. This amendment simply enfranchises more young people. Committee Amendment No.1 also strikes language from SECTION 2 of the bill and makes 17 years of age be the age a person must be in order to register to vote. Committee Amendment No. 2. Substitutes language into the SECTION of the bill containing the effective date. This language would make the act effective contingent upon the passage of a constitutional amendment. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION HB 1382 was considered by the Committee on Elections in a public hearing on April 5, 1995. The Committee considered 1 amendment to the bill. The amendment was adopted as Committee Amendment No.1 without objection. The following persons testified in favor of the bill: Victor Manuel Morales representing himself and Poteet High School; Lauren Ann Jobe representing herself and Poteet High School; Anita Chacko representing herself and Poteet High School; Erin Dow representing herself and Poteet High School; Teena Mathew representing herself and Poteet High School; Summer Thompson representing herself and Poteet High School; Tara Yates Wilcox representing herself; Holly J. Wyatt representing herself and Poteet High School; Brigit Smith representing herself and Poteet High School; Jason Varughese representing himself and Poteet High School; and Steve McDonald representing the Texas Democratic Party. The following person testified against HB 1382: Dana DeBeauvoir, Travis County Clerk, representing the County and District Clerk's Association. The following persons testified neutrally on HB 1382: Tom Harrison representing the Secretary of State, Tony Garza; Melinda Nickless representing the Secretary of State, Tony Garza; and John Willingham representing himself. The bill was reported favorably as amended with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed by a record vote of 7 AYES, 0 NAYS, 0 PNV, 2 ABSENT. HB 1382 was considered by the Committee on Elections in a public hearing on April 12, 1995. The vote by which HB 1382 as amended was reported favorably to the full House on April 5, 1995, was reconsidered without objection. The Committee considered 1 amendment to the bill. The amendment was adopted as Committee Amendment No.2 without objection. The bill was reported favorably as amended with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed, by a record vote of 8 AYES, 0 NAYS, 0 PNV, 1 ABSENT.