By Yarbrough H.B. No. 1017
75R2300 DRH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to requiring certain voters to show proof of residence.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 63.0011(c), Election Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 (c) before being accepted for voting, the voter must:
1-7 (1) execute and submit to an election officer a
1-8 statement including:
1-9 (A) [(1)] a statement that the voter satisfies
1-10 the applicable residence requirements prescribed by Subsection (b);
1-11 (B) [(2)] the voter's residence address or, if
1-12 the residence has no address, the address at which the voter
1-13 receives mail and a concise description of the location of the
1-14 voter's residence;
1-15 (C) [(3)] the month, day, and year of the
1-16 voter's birth; and
1-17 (D) [(4)] the date the statement is submitted to
1-18 the election officer; and
1-19 (2) attach to the statement documentation showing
1-20 proof of the voter's residence, in a form prescribed by the
1-21 secretary of state.
1-22 SECTION 2. Section 63.009(a), Election Code, is amended to
1-23 read as follows:
1-24 (a) A voter who does not present a voter registration
2-1 certificate when offering to vote, and whose name is not on the
2-2 list of registered voters for the precinct in which the voter is
2-3 offering to vote, shall be accepted for voting if the voter
2-4 provides documentation showing proof of the voter's residence, in a
2-5 form prescribed by the secretary of state, and:
2-6 (1) an election officer can determine from the voter
2-7 registrar that the person is a registered voter of the county, and
2-8 the voter executes the affidavits required by Sections 63.007 and
2-9 63.008; or
2-10 (2) the voter executes an affidavit in accordance with
2-11 Section 63.010.
2-12 SECTION 3. Section 86.002(d), Election Code, is amended to
2-13 read as follows:
2-14 (d) The secretary of state shall prescribe instructions to
2-15 be printed on the balloting materials for the execution and return
2-16 of a statement of residence. The instructions must:
2-17 (1) include an explanation of the circumstances under
2-18 which the ballot must be rejected with respect to the statement;
2-19 and
2-20 (2) require the voter to attach to the statement of
2-21 residence documentation showing proof of the voter's residence, in
2-22 a form prescribed by the secretary of state.
2-23 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
2-24 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
2-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.