By Zaffirini S.B. No. 928
74R5326 GGS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain procedures in connection with providing to
1-3 voters early voting ballots to be voted by mail.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 84.002(a), Election Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 (a) An early voting ballot application must include:
1-8 (1) the applicant's name and the address at which the
1-9 applicant is registered to vote;
1-10 (2) for an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-11 mail on the ground of absence from the county of residence or
1-12 confinement in jail, the address to which the ballot is to be
1-13 mailed;
1-14 (3) for an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-15 mail on any ground, <and> an indication of each election for which
1-16 the voter is applying for a ballot; and
1-17 (4) <(3)> an indication of the ground of eligibility
1-18 for early voting.
1-19 SECTION 2. Section 84.011(a), Election Code, is amended to
1-20 read as follows:
1-21 (a) The officially prescribed application form for an early
1-22 voting ballot must include:
1-23 (1) immediately preceding the signature space the
1-24 statement: "I certify that the information given in this
2-1 application is true, and I understand that giving false information
2-2 in this application is a crime.";
2-3 (2) a statement informing the applicant <voters> of
2-4 the offense prescribed by Section 84.004;
2-5 (3) spaces for entering an applicant's voter
2-6 registration number and county election precinct of registration,
2-7 with a statement informing the applicant that failure to furnish
2-8 that information does not invalidate the application; and
2-9 (4) on an application for a ballot to be voted by
2-10 mail:
2-11 (A) a space for an applicant applying on the
2-12 ground of absence from the county of residence to indicate the date
2-13 on or after which the applicant can receive mail at the address
2-14 outside the county;
2-15 (B) a space for indicating the fact that an
2-16 applicant whose application is signed by a witness cannot make his
2-17 mark and a space for indicating the relationship or the lack of
2-18 relationship of the witness to the applicant; <and>
2-19 (C) a space for entering an applicant's
2-20 telephone number, with a statement informing the applicant that
2-21 failure to furnish that information does not invalidate the
2-22 application; and
2-23 (D) a statement informing the applicant of the
2-24 requirement prescribed by Section 86.003(c).
2-25 SECTION 3. Section 86.003, Election Code, is amended to read
2-26 as follows:
2-27 Sec. 86.003. Method of Providing Ballot to Voter: Required
3-1 Address. (a) The balloting materials for voting by mail shall be
3-2 provided to the voter by mail. A ballot provided by any other
3-3 method may not be counted.
3-4 (b) Subject to Subsection (c), the balloting materials shall
3-5 be addressed to the applicable <mailing> address specified in the
3-6 voter's application. <If no mailing address is specified, the
3-7 materials shall be mailed to the voter's residence address unless a
3-8 different address is required by Subsection (c).> The election
3-9 officer providing the ballot may not knowingly mail the materials
3-10 to an address other than that prescribed by this section.
3-11 (c) The <mailing> address to which the balloting materials
3-12 must be addressed is the address at which the voter is registered
3-13 to vote <the voter's residence or temporary living quarters>
3-14 unless:
3-15 (1) the ground for voting by mail is absence from the
3-16 county of residence, in which case the address must be an address
3-17 outside the voter's county of residence; or
3-18 (2) the ground for voting by mail is confinement in
3-19 jail, in which case the address must be the jail.
3-20 (d) If the applicable <mailing> address specified in a
3-21 voter's application is an address other than that prescribed by
3-22 Subsection (c), the voter's application shall be rejected in
3-23 accordance with Section 86.001(c) <ballot may not be counted>.
3-24 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-25 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.