By Zaffirini S.B. No. 500
75R4067 GGS-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the contents of a voter registration application.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Sections 13.002(c) and (d), Election Code, are
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (c) A registration application must include:
1-7 (1) the applicant's first name, middle name, if any,
1-8 last name, and former name, if any;
1-9 (2) the month, day, and year of the applicant's birth;
1-10 (3) a statement that the applicant is a United States
1-11 citizen;
1-12 (4) a statement that the applicant is a resident of
1-13 the county;
1-14 (5) a statement that the applicant has not been
1-15 determined mentally incompetent by a final judgment of a court;
1-16 (6) a statement that the applicant has not been
1-17 finally convicted of a felony or that the applicant is a felon
1-18 eligible for registration under Section 13.001;
1-19 (7) the applicant's residence address or, if the
1-20 residence has no address, the address at which the applicant
1-21 receives mail and a concise description of the location of the
1-22 applicant's residence;
1-23 (8) if the application is made by an agent, a
1-24 statement of the agent's relationship to the applicant; [and]
2-1 (9) the city and county in which the applicant
2-2 formerly resided; and
2-3 (10) the applicant's driver's license number or
2-4 personal identification card number issued by the Department of
2-5 Public Safety, if any.
2-6 (d) The omission of the applicant's middle or former name
2-7 under Subsection (c)(1), [or the applicant's] zip code under
2-8 Subsection (c)(7), or driver's license number or personal
2-9 identification card number under Subsection (c)(10) does not affect
2-10 the validity of a registration application, and the registrar may
2-11 not reject the application because of that omission.
2-12 SECTION 2. Section 13.122(a), Election Code, is amended to
2-13 read as follows:
2-14 (a) In addition to the other statements and spaces for
2-15 entering information that appear on an officially prescribed
2-16 registration application form, each official form must include:
2-17 (1) the statement: "I understand that giving false
2-18 information to procure a voter registration is perjury and a crime
2-19 under state and federal law.";
2-20 (2) a space for the applicant's registration number;
2-21 (3) [a space for the applicant's Texas driver's
2-22 license number or number of a personal identification card issued
2-23 by the Department of Public Safety;]
2-24 [(4)] a space for the applicant's telephone number;
2-25 (4) [(5)] a space for the applicant's social security
2-26 number;
2-27 (5) [(6)] a space for the applicant's sex;
3-1 (6) [(7)] a statement indicating that the furnishing
3-2 of the applicant's [driver's license number, personal
3-3 identification card number,] telephone number, social security
3-4 number, and sex is optional;
3-5 (7) [(8)] a statement that if the applicant declines
3-6 to register to vote, that fact will remain confidential and will be
3-7 used only for voter registration purposes;
3-8 (8) [(9)] a statement that if the applicant does
3-9 register to vote, information regarding the agency or office to
3-10 which the application is submitted will remain confidential and
3-11 will be used only for voter registration purposes; and
3-12 (9) [(10)] any other voter registration information
3-13 required by federal law or considered appropriate and required by
3-14 the secretary of state.
3-15 SECTION 3. Section 20.063, Election Code, is amended by
3-16 adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
3-17 (d) If a completed voter registration application submitted
3-18 to a department employee does not include the applicant's correct
3-19 driver's license number or personal identification card number, the
3-20 department shall enter the appropriate information on the
3-21 application.
3-22 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-23 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.