By Madden H.B. No. 1966
75R2697 DRH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain election procedures.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 13.072, Election Code, is amended by
1-5 amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d) or (e), if the
1-8 registrar determines that an application does not comply with
1-9 Section 13.002 or does not indicate that the applicant is eligible
1-10 for registration, the registrar shall reject the application.
1-11 (e) If the registrar determines that an application is
1-12 incomplete, the registrar shall notify the applicant of that fact.
1-13 If the applicant submits the required information not later than
1-14 the third day after the date notice is received under this
1-15 subsection, the registrar shall proceed with the review of the
1-16 application.
1-17 SECTION 2. Section 13.143(e), Election Code, is amended to
1-18 read as follows:
1-19 (e) If the 30th day before the date of an election is a
1-20 Saturday, Sunday, or legal state or national holiday, an
1-21 application [submitted by mail] is considered to be timely if it is
1-22 submitted to the registrar on or before [the date indicated by the
1-23 post office cancellation mark is] the next regular business day.
1-24 SECTION 3. Section 41.001, Election Code, is amended by
2-1 adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
2-2 (c) Except for an election under Subsection (a) or Section
2-3 41.0011, an election may not be held within 30 days before or after
2-4 the date of the general election for state and county officers,
2-5 general primary election, or runoff primary election.
2-6 SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 61, Election Code, is
2-7 amended by adding Section 61.011 to read as follows:
2-8 Sec. 61.011. REGISTRATION OF PERSON DISTRIBUTING CAMPAIGN
2-9 MATERIALS. (a) A person who distributes materials pertaining to a
2-10 candidate or measure in the election at the polling place outside
2-11 the prescribed limits within which electioneering is prohibited
2-12 shall register on a list provided by the election judge.
2-13 (b) The registration must be in a form prescribed by the
2-14 secretary of state and include:
2-15 (1) the name, address, and telephone number of the
2-16 person distributing the materials; and
2-17 (2) the name of the candidate, committee, or other
2-18 organization, if any, that the person represents.
2-19 SECTION 5. Section 85.001, Election Code, is amended by
2-20 amending Subsections (a), (c), and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to
2-21 read as follows:
2-22 (a) The period for early voting by personal appearance
2-23 begins on the 20th day before election day and continues through
2-24 the fifth [fourth] day before election day, except as otherwise
2-25 provided by this section.
2-26 (c) For an election other than the general election for
2-27 state and county officers, general primary election, or runoff
3-1 primary election, the period begins on the 13th day before election
3-2 day.
3-3 (d) If the date prescribed by this section [Subsection (a)
3-4 or (b)] for beginning the period is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal
3-5 state holiday, the period begins on the next regular business day.
3-6 (e) [(d)] If because of the date for which an election is
3-7 ordered it is not possible to being early voting by personal
3-8 appearance on the prescribed date, the early voting period shall
3-9 begin on the earliest date practicable after the prescribed date as
3-10 set by the authority ordering the election.
3-11 SECTION 6. Section 85.062(b), Election Code, is amended to
3-12 read as follows:
3-13 (b) A polling place established under this section may be
3-14 located, subject to Subsection (d), at any place in the territory
3-15 served by the early voting clerk and may be located in any
3-16 stationary structure[, whether stationary or movable,] as directed
3-17 by the authority establishing the branch office. The polling place
3-18 may be located in a movable structure in the general election for
3-19 state and county officers, general primary election, or runoff
3-20 primary election. Ropes or other suitable objects may be used at
3-21 the polling place to ensure compliance with Section 62.004. Persons
3-22 who are not expressly permitted by law to be in a polling place
3-23 shall be excluded from the polling place to the extent practicable.
3-24 SECTION 7. Section 85.064(b), Election Code, is amended to
3-25 read as follows:
3-26 (b) Early voting by personal appearance at each temporary
3-27 branch polling place established under Section 85.062(d) shall be
4-1 conducted on the days [and for the same number of hours] that
4-2 voting is required to be conducted at the main early voting polling
4-3 place under Section 85.005. The authority establishing the
4-4 temporary branch polling place shall determine the hours during
4-5 which the voting is to be conducted on those days.
4-6 SECTION 8. Section 87.002, Election Code, is amended by
4-7 adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
4-8 (c) The early voting ballot board for the general election
4-9 for state and county officers, general primary election, or runoff
4-10 primary election must include at least one representative from each
4-11 political party that conducts a primary election in that county.
4-12 The representative shall be appointed from a list submitted by the
4-13 county chair of the political party.
4-14 SECTION 9. Section 87.0241(b), Election Code, is amended to
4-15 read as follows:
4-16 (b) The board may not count early voting ballots until the
4-17 end of the period for early voting by personal appearance [polls
4-18 open on election day].
4-19 SECTION 10. Section 87.1231, Election Code, is amended to
4-20 read as follows:
4-21 Sec. 87.1231. EARLY VOTING VOTES REPORTED BY PRECINCT [AND
4-22 POLLING PLACE LOCATION]. (a) Not later than the time of the local
4-23 canvass, the early voting clerk shall deliver to the local
4-24 canvassing authority a report of the total number of early voting
4-25 votes for each candidate or measure by election precinct [and by
4-26 early voting polling place location]. The report may reflect the
4-27 total for votes by mail and the total for votes by personal
5-1 appearance.
5-2 (b) The early voting clerk may not report vote totals under
5-3 Subsection (a) for an election precinct in which fewer than five
5-4 votes are cast during the early voting period.
5-5 SECTION 11. Section 127.1231, Election Code, is amended to
5-6 read as follows:
5-7 Sec. 127.1231. SECURITY OF AUTOMATIC TABULATING EQUIPMENT.
5-8 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the [The] general
5-9 custodian of election records shall ensure that any computer
5-10 terminals located outside the central counting station that are
5-11 capable of accessing the automatic tabulating equipment during the
5-12 tabulation are capable of inquiry functions only and shall ensure
5-13 that no modem access to the tabulating equipment is available
5-14 during the tabulation.
5-15 (b) The secretary of state may prescribe procedures for the
5-16 use of a system to allow results to be transmitted by a modem to
5-17 the central counting station from units of automatic tabulating
5-18 equipment located at a precinct polling place or at a regional
5-19 tabulating center serving several precincts. The system must
5-20 provide for a secure transmission of data. Results may not be
5-21 transmitted under this subsection until the polls close on election
5-22 day.
5-23 SECTION 12. Not later than January 15, 1999, the secretary
5-24 of state shall file a report with the lieutenant governor and the
5-25 speaker of the house of representatives on the costs of elections
5-26 held by political subdivisions of this state on dates other than
5-27 the uniform election dates prescribed by Section 41.001, Election
6-1 Code.
6-2 SECTION 13. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
6-3 SECTION 14. The importance of this legislation and the
6-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.