Amend SB 1090 by striking all below the enacting clause and
substituting the following:
      SECTION 1.  Section 87.002, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read
as follows:
      (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), the <The>
presiding judge is appointed in the same manner as a presiding
election judge.  Except as provided by Subsection (c), the <The>
other members are appointed by the presiding judge in the same
manner as the precinct election clerks.
      (c)  In the general election for state and county officers,
each county chair of a political party with nominees on the general
election ballot shall submit to the county election board a list of
names of persons eligible to serve on the early voting ballot
board.  The county election board shall appoint at least one person
from each list to serve as a member of the early voting ballot
board.  The same number of members must be appointed from each
list.
      (d)  In addition to the members appointed under Subsection
(c), the county election board shall appoint the presiding judge
from the list provided under that subsection by the political party
whose nominee for governor received the most votes in the county in
the most recent gubernatorial general election.
      SECTION 2.  Sections 87.027(a), (i), and (j), Election Code,
are amended to read as follows:
      (a)  A signature verification committee may be appointed in
any election.  The early voting clerk is the authority responsible
for determining whether a signature verification committee is to be
appointed.  If the clerk determines that a committee is to be
appointed, the clerk shall issue a written order calling for the
appointment.  Section 87.0271 supersedes this section to the extent
of a conflict.
      (i)  The signature verification committee shall compare the
signature on each carrier envelope certificate, except those signed
for a voter by a witness, with the signature on the voter's ballot
application to determine whether the signatures are those of the
same person.  A determination that the signatures do not match must
be made by a majority vote of the committee's membership.  The
committee shall place the jacket envelopes, carrier envelopes, and
applications of voters whose signatures do not match in separate
containers from those of voters whose signatures match.  The
committee chair <chairman> shall deliver the sorted materials to
the early voting ballot board at the time specified by the board's
presiding judge but within the period permitted for the early
voting clerk's delivery of early voting ballots to the board.
      (j)  If a signature verification committee is appointed, the
early voting ballot board shall follow the same procedure for
accepting the early voting ballots voted by mail as in an election
without a signature verification committee, except that the board
may not determine whether a voter's signatures on the carrier
envelope certificate and ballot application match if the committee
has determined that the signatures match.  If the committee has
determined that the signatures do not match, the board may make a
determination that the signatures match by a majority vote of the
board's membership.
      SECTION 3.  Subchapter B, Chapter 87, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 87.0271 to read as follows:
      Sec. 87.0271.  COMMITTEE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIC TO GENERAL
ELECTION FOR STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS. (a)  A signature
verification committee shall be appointed in the general election
for state and county officers on receipt by the early voting clerk
of a written request for the committee submitted by at least 15
registered voters of the county.   Except as provided by this
section, Section 87.027 applies to the committee.
      (b)  If a signature verification committee is appointed under
this section, each county chair of a political party with nominees
on the general election ballot shall submit to the county election
board a list of names of persons eligible to serve on the
committee.  The county election board shall appoint at least two
persons from each list to serve as members of the committee.  The
same number of members must be appointed from each list.
      (c)  In addition to the members appointed under Subsection
(b), the county election board shall appoint the chair of the
committee from the list provided under that subsection by the
political party whose nominee for governor received the most votes
in the county in the most recent gubernatorial general election.
      SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
      SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby
suspended.