By Chavez H.B. No. 2994 75R8655 DRH-D A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to procedures for voting by telephone. 1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-4 SECTION 1. (a) The secretary of state shall implement a 1-5 pilot program to allow voting by telephone in a primary election or 1-6 the general election for state and county officers. The secretary 1-7 of state shall designate not more than five counties for inclusion 1-8 in the program. A county may be included in the program only if 1-9 the commissioners court of the county approves the use of the 1-10 telephone voting system for the election. 1-11 (b) The secretary of state shall adopt rules to allow a 1-12 county to conduct an election with a telephone voting system as 1-13 described by Subsection (a) of this section. The secretary may 1-14 contract with any governmental entity to assist in implementing the 1-15 system or to provide technical assistance or guidance in operating 1-16 the system, but a system may be administered only by the county 1-17 officer who regularly conducts elections for the county. 1-18 (c) After conclusion of the election, the secretary of state 1-19 shall file with the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the 1-20 speaker of the house of representatives a report evaluating the use 1-21 of telephone voting in an election. The secretary of state shall 1-22 make recommendations on whether a telephone voting system should be 1-23 used in future elections and how those elections should be 1-24 implemented. 2-1 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997. 2-2 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 2-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.