By Danburg H.B. No. 1852
75R6702 GGS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain voter registration processes and procedures.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Sections 13.002(a), (c), and (d), Election Code,
1-5 are amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) A person desiring to register to vote must submit an
1-7 application to the registrar of the county in which the person
1-8 resides. An application must be submitted by personal delivery or
1-9 by mail.
1-10 (c) A registration application must include:
1-11 (1) the applicant's first name, middle name, if any,
1-12 last name, and former name, if any;
1-13 (2) the month, day, and year of the applicant's birth;
1-14 (3) a statement that the applicant is a United States
1-15 citizen;
1-16 (4) a statement that the applicant is a resident of
1-17 the county;
1-18 (5) a statement that the applicant has not been
1-19 determined mentally incompetent by a final judgment of a court;
1-20 (6) a statement that the applicant has not been
1-21 finally convicted of a felony or that the applicant is a felon
1-22 eligible for registration under Section 13.001;
1-23 (7) the applicant's residence address or, if the
1-24 residence has no address, the address at which the applicant
2-1 receives mail and a concise description of the location of the
2-2 applicant's residence;
2-3 (8) if the application is made by an agent, a
2-4 statement of the agent's relationship to the applicant; [and]
2-5 (9) the city and county in which the applicant
2-6 formerly resided; and
2-7 (10) the applicant's driver's license number or
2-8 personal identification card number issued by the Department of
2-9 Public Safety, if any.
2-10 (d) The omission of the applicant's middle or former name
2-11 under Subsection (c)(1), [or the applicant's] zip code under
2-12 Subsection (c)(7), or driver's license number or personal
2-13 identification card number under Subsection (c)(10) does not affect
2-14 the validity of a registration application, and the registrar may
2-15 not reject the application because of that omission.
2-16 SECTION 2. Section 13.122(a), Election Code, is amended to
2-17 read as follows:
2-18 (a) In addition to the other statements and spaces for
2-19 entering information that appear on an officially prescribed
2-20 registration application form, each official form must include:
2-21 (1) the statement: "I understand that giving false
2-22 information to procure a voter registration is perjury and a crime
2-23 under state and federal law.";
2-24 (2) a space for the applicant's registration number;
2-25 (3) [a space for the applicant's Texas driver's
2-26 license number or number of a personal identification card issued
2-27 by the Department of Public Safety;]
3-1 [(4)] a space for the applicant's telephone number;
3-2 (4) [(5)] a space for the applicant's social security
3-3 number;
3-4 (5) [(6)] a space for the applicant's sex;
3-5 (6) [(7)] a statement indicating that the furnishing
3-6 of the applicant's [driver's license number, personal
3-7 identification card number,] telephone number, social security
3-8 number, and sex is optional;
3-9 (7) [(8)] a statement that if the applicant declines
3-10 to register to vote, that fact will remain confidential and will be
3-11 used only for voter registration purposes;
3-12 (8) [(9)] a statement that if the applicant does
3-13 register to vote, information regarding the agency or office to
3-14 which the application is submitted will remain confidential and
3-15 will be used only for voter registration purposes; and
3-16 (9) [(10)] any other voter registration information
3-17 required by federal law or considered appropriate and required by
3-18 the secretary of state.
3-19 SECTION 3. Section 13.143(e), Election Code, is amended to
3-20 read as follows:
3-21 (e) If the 30th day before the date of an election is a
3-22 Saturday, Sunday, or legal state or national holiday, an
3-23 application [submitted by mail] is considered to be timely if it is
3-24 submitted to the registrar on or before [the date indicated by the
3-25 post office cancellation mark is] the next regular business day.
3-26 SECTION 4. Section 19.001(a), Election Code, is amended to
3-27 read as follows:
4-1 (a) Before May 15 of each year, the registrar shall prepare
4-2 and submit to the comptroller of public accounts a statement
4-3 containing:
4-4 (1) the total number of initial registrations for the
4-5 previous voting year; [and]
4-6 (2) the total number of registrations canceled under
4-7 Sections 16.031(a)(1) and 16.033 for the previous voting year; and
4-8 (3) the total number of registrations for which
4-9 information was updated for the previous voting year.
4-10 SECTION 5. Section 19.002(a), Election Code, is amended to
4-11 read as follows:
4-12 (a) Each registrar is entitled to receive the sum of the
4-13 following amounts:
4-14 (1) ____ [40] cents multiplied by the number of
4-15 initial registrations certified under Section 19.001(a)(1);
4-16 (2) 40 cents multiplied by the number of canceled
4-17 registrations certified under Section 19.001(a)(2); [and]
4-18 (3) ____ cents multiplied by the number of updated
4-19 registrations under Section 19.001(a)(3); and
4-20 (4) in each even-numbered year, 40 cents multiplied by
4-21 the difference between the number of registered voters and the
4-22 number of initial registrations certified for the two previous
4-23 voting years.
4-24 SECTION 6. Section 20.063, Election Code, is amended by
4-25 adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
4-26 (d) If a completed voter registration application submitted
4-27 to a department employee does not include the applicant's correct
5-1 driver's license number or personal identification card number, the
5-2 department shall enter the appropriate information on the
5-3 application.
5-4 SECTION 7. The provisions relating to voter registration are
5-5 changed to increase public confidence and participation in and
5-6 improve the functioning of the electoral and political processes.
5-7 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
5-8 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
5-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.