By Ellis S.B. No. 435
74R2605 GGS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to written communications used by voters in a polling
1-3 place.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 61, Election Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 61.011 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 61.011. REMOVING WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS FOUND IN
1-8 POLLING PLACE. (a) An election officer shall periodically check
1-9 each voting station and other areas of the polling place for sample
1-10 ballots or other written communications used by voters that were
1-11 left or discarded in the polling place.
1-12 (b) An election officer shall remove from the sight of the
1-13 voters any written communication found under Subsection (a).
1-14 SECTION 2. Sections 63.011 and 63.012, Election Code, are
1-15 amended to read as follows:
1-16 <Sec. 63.011. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION PROHIBITED. (a) A
1-17 voter may not have in his actual possession while marking the
1-18 ballot a written communication that:>
1-19 <(1) was prepared and furnished to the voter by
1-20 another person; and>
1-21 <(2) is marked or printed in a way that identifies one
1-22 or more candidates or measures for which the voter has agreed to
1-23 vote or has been requested to vote.>
1-24 <(b) A sample ballot that has not been marked or printed in
2-1 a way that identifies candidates or measures for which to vote,
2-2 that is obtained by the voter from a newspaper or another person,
2-3 and that the voter marks himself is one example of a written
2-4 communication that is not prohibited under Subsection (a).>
2-5 <(c) An election officer may not accept a voter for voting
2-6 if the officer knows that the voter has actual possession of a
2-7 communication prohibited by Subsection (a) at the time he offers to
2-8 vote.>
2-9 <(d) An election officer may require a voter to answer under
2-10 oath whether the voter has actual possession of a communication
2-11 prohibited by Subsection (a). If a voter has a prohibited
2-12 communication, the voter may not receive an official ballot until
2-13 the voter delivers the communication to the election officer.>
2-14 <(e) A person commits an offense if the person violates
2-15 Subsection (a). The offense is a Class C misdemeanor.>
2-16 Sec. 63.011 <63.012>. Unlawfully Accepting or Refusing to
2-17 Accept Voter. (a) An election officer commits an offense if the
2-18 officer knowingly:
2-19 (1) permits an ineligible voter to vote without having
2-20 been challenged; or
2-21 (2) refuses to accept a person for voting whose
2-22 acceptance is required by this code.
2-23 (b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
2-24 SECTION 3. An offense under Section 63.011, Election Code,
2-25 committed before the effective date of this Act is subject to the
2-26 law in effect when the offense was committed, and that law is
2-27 continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
3-1 section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this
3-2 Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
3-3 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-4 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.