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.