1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain early voting procedures; providing a criminal
1-3 penalty.
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, the
1-12 address outside the applicant's county of residence to which the
1-13 ballot is to be mailed;
1-14 (3) for an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-15 mail on the ground of age or disability, the address of the
1-16 hospital, nursing home or other long-term care facility, or
1-17 retirement center, or of a person related to the applicant within
1-18 the second degree by affinity or the third degree by consanguinity,
1-19 as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, if the applicant
1-20 is living at that address and that address is different from the
1-21 address at which the applicant is registered to vote;
1-22 (4) for an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-23 mail on the ground of confinement in jail, the address of the jail
1-24 or of a person related to the applicant within the degree described
2-1 by Subdivision (3);
2-2 (5) for an application for a ballot to be voted by
2-3 mail on any ground, [and] an indication of each election for which
2-4 the applicant [voter] is applying for a ballot; and
2-5 (6) [(3)] an indication of the ground of eligibility
2-6 for early voting.
2-7 SECTION 2. Section 84.0041(b), Election Code, is amended to
2-8 read as follows:
2-9 (b) An offense under this section is a Class A [B]
2-10 misdemeanor.
2-11 SECTION 3. Section 84.011(a), Election Code, is amended to
2-12 read as follows:
2-13 (a) The officially prescribed application form for an early
2-14 voting ballot must include:
2-15 (1) immediately preceding the signature space the
2-16 statement: "I certify that the information given in this
2-17 application is true, and I understand that giving false information
2-18 in this application is a crime.";
2-19 (2) a statement informing the applicant [voters] of
2-20 the offense prescribed by Section 84.004;
2-21 (3) spaces for entering an applicant's voter
2-22 registration number and county election precinct of registration,
2-23 with a statement informing the applicant that failure to furnish
2-24 that information does not invalidate the application; and
2-25 (4) on an application for a ballot to be voted by
2-26 mail:
2-27 (A) a space for an applicant applying on the
3-1 ground of absence from the county of residence to indicate the date
3-2 on or after which the applicant can receive mail at the address
3-3 outside the county;
3-4 (B) a space for indicating the fact that an
3-5 applicant whose application is signed by a witness cannot make the
3-6 applicant's [his] mark and a space for indicating the relationship
3-7 or [the] lack of relationship of the witness to the applicant;
3-8 [and]
3-9 (C) a space for entering an applicant's
3-10 telephone number, with a statement informing the applicant that
3-11 failure to furnish that information does not invalidate the
3-12 application;
3-13 (D) a space or box for an applicant applying on
3-14 the ground of age or disability to indicate that the address to
3-15 which the ballot is to be mailed is the address of a facility or
3-16 relative described by Section 84.002(a)(3), if applicable;
3-17 (E) a space or box for an applicant applying on
3-18 the ground of confinement in jail to indicate that the address to
3-19 which the ballot is to be mailed is the address of a relative
3-20 described by Section 84.002(a)(4), if applicable; and
3-21 (F) a statement informing the applicant of the
3-22 requirement prescribed by Section 86.003(c).
3-23 SECTION 4. Section 86.003, Election Code, is amended to read
3-24 as follows:
3-25 Sec. 86.003. METHOD OF PROVIDING BALLOT TO VOTER: REQUIRED
3-26 ADDRESS. (a) The balloting materials for voting by mail shall be
3-27 provided to the voter by mail. A ballot provided by any other
4-1 method may not be counted.
4-2 (b) Subject to Subsection (c), the balloting materials shall
4-3 be addressed to the applicable [mailing] address specified in the
4-4 voter's application. [If no mailing address is specified, the
4-5 materials shall be mailed to the voter's residence address unless a
4-6 different address is required by Subsection (c).] The election
4-7 officer providing the ballot may not knowingly mail the materials
4-8 to an address other than that prescribed by this section.
4-9 (c) The [mailing] address to which the balloting materials
4-10 must be addressed is the address at which the voter is registered
4-11 to vote [the voter's residence or temporary living quarters]
4-12 unless[:]
4-13 [(1)] the ground for voting by mail is:
4-14 (1) absence from the county of residence, in which
4-15 case the address must be an address outside the voter's county of
4-16 residence; [or]
4-17 (2) [the ground for voting by mail is] confinement in
4-18 jail, in which case the address must be the address of the jail or
4-19 of a relative described by Section 84.002(a)(4); or
4-20 (3) age or disability and the voter is living at a
4-21 hospital, nursing home or other long-term care facility, or
4-22 retirement center, or with a relative described by Section
4-23 84.002(a)(3), in which case the address must be the address of that
4-24 facility or relative.
4-25 (d) If the applicable [mailing] address specified in a
4-26 voter's application is an address other than that prescribed by
4-27 Subsection (c), the voter's application shall be rejected in
5-1 accordance with Section 86.001(c) [ballot may not be counted].
5-2 SECTION 5. Section 86.014(a), Election Code, is amended to
5-3 read as follows:
5-4 (a) A copy of an application for a ballot to be voted by
5-5 mail may be obtained from the early voting clerk:
5-6 (1) 72 hours after the time a ballot is mailed to the
5-7 voter; or
5-8 (2) 48 hours after the time a ballot is mailed to the
5-9 voter if the mailing occurs on the fourth day before election day
5-10 [receipt of the application by the clerk].
5-11 SECTION 6. Section 87.121(f), Election Code, is amended to
5-12 read as follows:
5-13 (f) Information on the roster for a person to whom an early
5-14 voting mail ballot has been sent is not available for public
5-15 inspection, except to the voter seeking to verify that the
5-16 information pertaining to the voter [him] is accurate, until:
5-17 (1) 72 hours after the time a ballot is mailed to the
5-18 voter; or
5-19 (2) 48 [24] hours after the time a ballot is [was]
5-20 mailed to the voter if the mailing occurs on the fourth day before
5-21 election day.
5-22 SECTION 7. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
5-23 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
5-24 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
5-25 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
5-26 before that date.
5-27 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
6-1 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
6-2 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
6-3 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
6-4 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
6-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1257 was passed by the House on April
11, 1997, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1257 was passed by the Senate on May
19, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor