By Danburg                                      H.B. No. 3141

      75R7489 ESH-F                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to applications for early voting ballots.

 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 84.001, Election Code, is amended to read

 1-5     as follows:

 1-6           Sec. 84.001.  APPLICATION REQUIRED.  (a)  To be entitled to

 1-7     vote an early voting ballot, a person who is eligible for early

 1-8     voting must make an application for an early voting ballot as

 1-9     provided by this title.

1-10           (b)  An application must be in writing and signed by the

1-11     applicant.

1-12           (c)  An applicant is not required to use an official

1-13     application form.

1-14           (d)  An applicant may not use an application form that is

1-15     part of  or is included with a campaign communication or political

1-16     advertising, as defined by Section 251.001, unless the application

1-17     form and campaign communication or political advertising are

1-18     provided to the applicant by:

1-19                 (1)  an individual, candidate, or officeholder not

1-20     working in concert with another person; or

1-21                 (2)  the principal political committee of the state

1-22     executive committee or a county executive committee of a political

1-23     party.

1-24           (e)  An applicant for a ballot to be voted by mail may apply

 2-1     for ballots for the main election and any resulting runoff election

 2-2     on the same application.  The timeliness of the application for

 2-3     both elections is determined in relation to the main election.

 2-4     However, if the application is not timely for the main election,

 2-5     the timeliness of the application for the runoff election is

 2-6     determined in relation to that election.

 2-7           (f) [(e)]  A person who has not made an application as

 2-8     provided by this title is not entitled to receive an early voting

 2-9     ballot.

2-10           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-11           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-12     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-13     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-14     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-15     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.