By: Patterson S.B. No. 1090
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the appointment and duties of signature verification
1-2 committees and early voting ballot boards for the purposes of early
1-3 voting.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 87.002, Election Code, is amended by
1-6 amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read
1-7 as follows:
1-8 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the [The]
1-9 presiding judge is appointed in the same manner as a presiding
1-10 election judge. Except as provided by Subsection (c), the [The]
1-11 other members are appointed by the presiding judge in the same
1-12 manner as the precinct election clerks.
1-13 (c) In the general election for state and county officers,
1-14 each county chair of a political party with nominees on the general
1-15 election ballot shall submit to the county election board a list of
1-16 names of persons eligible to serve on the early voting ballot
1-17 board. The county election board shall appoint at least one person
1-18 from each list to serve as a member of the early voting ballot
1-19 board. The same number of members must be appointed from each
1-20 list.
1-21 (d) In addition to the members appointed under Subsection
1-22 (c), the county election board shall appoint the presiding judge
1-23 from the list provided under that subsection by the political party
2-1 whose nominee for governor received the most votes in the county in
2-2 the most recent gubernatorial general election.
2-3 SECTION 2. Subsections (a), (i), and (j), Section 87.027,
2-4 Election Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-5 (a) A signature verification committee may be appointed in
2-6 any election. The early voting clerk is the authority responsible
2-7 for determining whether a signature verification committee is to be
2-8 appointed. If the clerk determines that a committee is to be
2-9 appointed, the clerk shall issue a written order calling for the
2-10 appointment. Section 87.0271 supersedes this section to the extent
2-11 of a conflict.
2-12 (i) The signature verification committee shall compare the
2-13 signature on each carrier envelope certificate, except those signed
2-14 for a voter by a witness, with the signature on the voter's ballot
2-15 application to determine whether the signatures are those of the
2-16 same person. A determination that the signatures do not match must
2-17 be made by a majority vote of the committee's membership. The
2-18 committee shall place the jacket envelopes, carrier envelopes, and
2-19 applications of voters whose signatures do not match in separate
2-20 containers from those of voters whose signatures match. The
2-21 committee chair [chairman] shall deliver the sorted materials to
2-22 the early voting ballot board at the time specified by the board's
2-23 presiding judge but within the period permitted for the early
2-24 voting clerk's delivery of early voting ballots to the board.
2-25 (j) If a signature verification committee is appointed, the
3-1 early voting ballot board shall follow the same procedure for
3-2 accepting the early voting ballots voted by mail as in an election
3-3 without a signature verification committee, except that the board
3-4 may not determine whether a voter's signatures on the carrier
3-5 envelope certificate and ballot application match if the committee
3-6 has determined that the signatures match. If the committee has
3-7 determined that the signatures do not match, the board may make a
3-8 determination that the signatures match by a majority vote of the
3-9 board's membership.
3-10 SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 87, Election Code, is
3-11 amended by adding Section 87.0271 to read as follows:
3-12 Sec. 87.0271. COMMITTEE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIC TO GENERAL
3-13 ELECTION FOR STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS. (a) A signature
3-14 verification committee shall be appointed in the general election
3-15 for state and county officers on receipt by the early voting clerk
3-16 of a written request for the committee submitted by at least 15
3-17 registered voters of the county. Except as provided by this
3-18 section, Section 87.027 applies to the committee.
3-19 (b) If a signature verification committee is appointed under
3-20 this section, each county chair of a political party with nominees
3-21 on the general election ballot shall submit to the county election
3-22 board a list of names of persons eligible to serve on the
3-23 committee. The county election board shall appoint at least two
3-24 persons from each list to serve as members of the committee. The
3-25 same number of members must be appointed from each list.
4-1 (c) In addition to the members appointed under Subsection
4-2 (b), the county election board shall appoint the chair of the
4-3 committee from the list provided under that subsection by the
4-4 political party whose nominee for governor received the most votes
4-5 in the county in the most recent gubernatorial general election.
4-6 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-7 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.