By Nixon                                         H.B. No. 419

      75R450 DRH-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to requiring proof of citizenship at the time a person

 1-3     registers to vote.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 13.002, Election Code, is amended by

 1-6     amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as

 1-7     follows:

 1-8           (c)  A registration application must include:

 1-9                 (1)  the applicant's first name, middle name, if any,

1-10     last name, and former name, if any;

1-11                 (2)  the month, day, and year of the applicant's birth;

1-12                 (3)  a statement that the applicant is a United States

1-13     citizen;

1-14                 (4)  a statement that the applicant is a resident of

1-15     the county;

1-16                 (5)  a statement that the applicant has not been

1-17     determined mentally incompetent by a final judgment of a court;

1-18                 (6)  a statement that the applicant has not been

1-19     finally convicted of a felony or that the applicant is a felon

1-20     eligible for registration under Section 13.001;

1-21                 (7)  the applicant's residence address or, if the

1-22     residence has no address, the address at which the applicant

1-23     receives mail and a concise description of the location of the

1-24     applicant's residence;

 2-1                 (8)  if the application is made by an agent, a

 2-2     statement of the agent's relationship to the applicant; [and]

 2-3                 (9)  the city and county in which the applicant

 2-4     formerly resided; and

 2-5                 (10)  an attached document providing proof that the

 2-6     applicant is a United States citizen.

 2-7           (e)  The secretary of state shall prescribe the procedures

 2-8     necessary for the implementation of Subsection (c)(10).

 2-9           SECTION 2.  The change in law made by Section 1 of this Act

2-10     applies only to an application for voter registration that is

2-11     submitted on or after the effective date of this Act.

2-12           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-13           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-14     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-15     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-16     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-17     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.