1-1     By:  Cuellar (Senate Sponsor - Duncan)                  H.B. No. 59
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 1999;
 1-3     May 12, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on State
 1-4     Affairs; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to making a voter information guide for judicial elections
 1-9     available to the public on the Internet.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Title 16, Election Code, is amended by adding
1-12     Chapter 278 to read as follows:
1-13        CHAPTER 278.  VOTER INFORMATION GUIDE FOR JUDICIAL ELECTIONS
1-14           Sec. 278.001.  APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER.  This chapter
1-15     applies to each candidate whose name is to appear on the ballot or
1-16     a list of declared write-in candidates in a judicial election.
1-17           Sec. 278.002.  INTERNET VOTER INFORMATION GUIDE.  The
1-18     secretary of state may implement a voter information service
1-19     program to:
1-20                 (1)  compile information on candidates for election in
1-21     the form of a voter information guide; and
1-22                 (2)  make the guide available to the public on the
1-23     Internet.
1-24           Sec. 278.003.  STATEMENT FILED BY CANDIDATE.  If the
1-25     secretary of state implements a voter information service program,
1-26     a candidate may file with the secretary not later than the 70th day
1-27     before the date of the judicial election an informational
1-28     statement, on a form prescribed by the secretary, to be included in
1-29     the voter information guide for that election.
1-30           Sec. 278.004.  STATEMENT REQUIREMENTS.  (a)  A candidate's
1-31     statement must include a summary of the following information:
1-32                 (1)  current occupation;
1-33                 (2)  educational and occupational background;
1-34                 (3)  biographical information; and
1-35                 (4)  any previous experience serving in government.
1-36           (b)  The secretary of state may prescribe the format and
1-37     length of the candidate's statement.
1-38           Sec. 278.005.  REVIEW BY SECRETARY OF STATE.  (a)  Not later
1-39     than the fifth day after the date the candidate's statement is
1-40     received, the secretary of state may review the statement to
1-41     determine whether it complies with this chapter.
1-42           (b)  If the secretary of state determines that the statement
1-43     does not comply with the applicable requirements, the secretary may
1-44     reject the statement and deliver written notice of the reason for
1-45     the rejection to the candidate not later than the second day after
1-46     the date of rejection.
1-47           (c)  A candidate whose statement is rejected may resubmit the
1-48     statement subject to the prescribed deadline.
1-49           Sec. 278.006.  PREPARATION OF GUIDE.  (a)  The secretary of
1-50     state may contract for the preparation of the voter information
1-51     guide after soliciting bids for that work.  The secretary may
1-52     prepare the guide if the secretary determines that the costs of
1-53     that preparation are less than or equal to the most reasonable bid
1-54     submitted.
1-55           (b)  The voter information guide must include the candidates'
1-56     statements that comply with this chapter, with candidates for
1-57     election and write-in candidates for election as separate groups.
1-58     The order of the candidates' names within the groups is determined
1-59     by a drawing conducted by the secretary of state.
1-60           (c)  The secretary of state may prescribe appropriate
1-61     explanatory material to be included in the voter information guide
1-62     to assist the voters, including a statement that the guide may be
1-63     used at the polls to assist the voters in marking their ballots.
1-64           Sec. 278.007.  AVAILABILITY OF GUIDE.  If the secretary of
 2-1     state implements a voter information service program, the secretary
 2-2     may make the voter information guide available to the public on the
 2-3     Internet not later than the 45th day before the date of each
 2-4     judicial election.
 2-5           Sec. 278.008.  ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES.  The secretary of state
 2-6     may prescribe any additional procedures necessary to implement this
 2-7     chapter.
 2-8           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-9           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-10     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-11     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-12     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-13     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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