1-1 By: Cuellar (Senate Sponsor - Brown) H.B. No. 1257
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 14, 1997;
1-3 April 16, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on State
1-4 Affairs; May 8, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 12, Nays 0; May 8, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to certain early voting procedures; providing a criminal
1-9 penalty.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 84.002(a), Election Code, is amended to
1-12 read as follows:
1-13 (a) An early voting ballot application must include:
1-14 (1) the applicant's name and the address at which the
1-15 applicant is registered to vote;
1-16 (2) for an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-17 mail on the ground of absence from the county of residence, the
1-18 address outside the applicant's county of residence to which the
1-19 ballot is to be mailed;
1-20 (3) for an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-21 mail on the ground of age or disability, the address of the
1-22 hospital, nursing home or other long-term care facility, or
1-23 retirement center, or of a person related to the applicant within
1-24 the second degree by affinity or the third degree by consanguinity,
1-25 as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, if the applicant
1-26 is living at that address and that address is different from the
1-27 address at which the applicant is registered to vote;
1-28 (4) for an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-29 mail on the ground of confinement in jail, the address of the jail
1-30 or of a person related to the applicant within the degree described
1-31 by Subdivision (3);
1-32 (5) for an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-33 mail on any ground, [and] an indication of each election for which
1-34 the applicant [voter] is applying for a ballot; and
1-35 (6) [(3)] an indication of the ground of eligibility
1-36 for early voting.
1-37 SECTION 2. Section 84.0041(b), Election Code, is amended to
1-38 read as follows:
1-39 (b) An offense under this section is a Class A [B]
1-40 misdemeanor.
1-41 SECTION 3. Section 84.011(a), Election Code, is amended to
1-42 read as follows:
1-43 (a) The officially prescribed application form for an early
1-44 voting ballot must include:
1-45 (1) immediately preceding the signature space the
1-46 statement: "I certify that the information given in this
1-47 application is true, and I understand that giving false information
1-48 in this application is a crime.";
1-49 (2) a statement informing the applicant [voters] of
1-50 the offense prescribed by Section 84.004;
1-51 (3) spaces for entering an applicant's voter
1-52 registration number and county election precinct of registration,
1-53 with a statement informing the applicant that failure to furnish
1-54 that information does not invalidate the application; and
1-55 (4) on an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-56 mail:
1-57 (A) a space for an applicant applying on the
1-58 ground of absence from the county of residence to indicate the date
1-59 on or after which the applicant can receive mail at the address
1-60 outside the county;
1-61 (B) a space for indicating the fact that an
1-62 applicant whose application is signed by a witness cannot make the
1-63 applicant's [his] mark and a space for indicating the relationship
1-64 or [the] lack of relationship of the witness to the applicant;
2-1 [and]
2-2 (C) a space for entering an applicant's
2-3 telephone number, with a statement informing the applicant that
2-4 failure to furnish that information does not invalidate the
2-5 application;
2-6 (D) a space or box for an applicant applying on
2-7 the ground of age or disability to indicate that the address to
2-8 which the ballot is to be mailed is the address of a facility or
2-9 relative described by Section 84.002(a)(3), if applicable;
2-10 (E) a space or box for an applicant applying on
2-11 the ground of confinement in jail to indicate that the address to
2-12 which the ballot is to be mailed is the address of a relative
2-13 described by Section 84.002(a)(4), if applicable; and
2-14 (F) a statement informing the applicant of the
2-15 requirement prescribed by Section 86.003(c).
2-16 SECTION 4. Section 86.003, Election Code, is amended to read
2-17 as follows:
2-18 Sec. 86.003. METHOD OF PROVIDING BALLOT TO VOTER: REQUIRED
2-19 ADDRESS. (a) The balloting materials for voting by mail shall be
2-20 provided to the voter by mail. A ballot provided by any other
2-21 method may not be counted.
2-22 (b) Subject to Subsection (c), the balloting materials shall
2-23 be addressed to the applicable [mailing] address specified in the
2-24 voter's application. [If no mailing address is specified, the
2-25 materials shall be mailed to the voter's residence address unless a
2-26 different address is required by Subsection (c).] The election
2-27 officer providing the ballot may not knowingly mail the materials
2-28 to an address other than that prescribed by this section.
2-29 (c) The [mailing] address to which the balloting materials
2-30 must be addressed is the address at which the voter is registered
2-31 to vote [the voter's residence or temporary living quarters]
2-32 unless[:]
2-33 [(1)] the ground for voting by mail is:
2-34 (1) absence from the county of residence, in which
2-35 case the address must be an address outside the voter's county of
2-36 residence; [or]
2-37 (2) [the ground for voting by mail is] confinement in
2-38 jail, in which case the address must be the address of the jail or
2-39 of a relative described by Section 84.002(a)(4); or
2-40 (3) age or disability and the voter is living at a
2-41 hospital, nursing home or other long-term care facility, or
2-42 retirement center, or with a relative described by Section
2-43 84.002(a)(3), in which case the address must be the address of that
2-44 facility or relative.
2-45 (d) If the applicable [mailing] address specified in a
2-46 voter's application is an address other than that prescribed by
2-47 Subsection (c), the voter's application shall be rejected in
2-48 accordance with Section 86.001(c) [ballot may not be counted].
2-49 SECTION 5. Section 86.014(a), Election Code, is amended to
2-50 read as follows:
2-51 (a) A copy of an application for a ballot to be voted by
2-52 mail may be obtained from the early voting clerk:
2-53 (1) 72 hours after the time a ballot is mailed to the
2-54 voter; or
2-55 (2) 48 hours after the time a ballot is mailed to the
2-56 voter if the mailing occurs on the fourth day before election day
2-57 [receipt of the application by the clerk].
2-58 SECTION 6. Section 87.121(f), Election Code, is amended to
2-59 read as follows:
2-60 (f) Information on the roster for a person to whom an early
2-61 voting mail ballot has been sent is not available for public
2-62 inspection, except to the voter seeking to verify that the
2-63 information pertaining to the voter [him] is accurate, until:
2-64 (1) 72 hours after the time a ballot is mailed to the
2-65 voter; or
2-66 (2) 48 [24] hours after the time a ballot is [was]
2-67 mailed to the voter if the mailing occurs on the fourth day before
2-68 election day.
2-69 SECTION 7. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
3-1 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
3-2 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
3-3 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
3-4 before that date.
3-5 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-6 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-7 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-8 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-9 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
3-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-14 * * * * *