By Madden                                              H.B. No. 306
         76R618 DRH-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to certain practices and procedures involving polling
 1-3     places used for an election; providing a criminal penalty.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Chapter 43, Election Code, is amended by adding
 1-6     Subchapter C to read as follows:
 1-7       SUBCHAPTER C.  INFORMATION REGARDING LOCATION OF POLLING PLACE
 1-8           Sec. 43.061.  NOTICE AT PREVIOUS POLLING PLACE.  If the
 1-9     location of the polling place for an election precinct is different
1-10     from the location used for the precinct in the preceding election
1-11     ordered by the same authority, the authority responsible for giving
1-12     notice of the election shall, if possible, post notice at the
1-13     entrance to the previous polling place stating that the location
1-14     has changed and providing the location of the new polling place.
1-15           Sec. 43.062.  USE OF COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION.  In an
1-16     election in which detailed poll location information is available
1-17     at a polling place through a computer, an election officer shall
1-18     provide that information to assist voters in determining the
1-19     correct polling place location for the voter's election precinct.
1-20           SECTION 2.  Section 62.001, Election Code, is amended to read
1-21     as follows:
1-22           Sec. 62.001.  OFFICERS TO ASSEMBLE.  (a)  On election day,
1-23     the presiding judge and the election clerks the judge assigns to
1-24     assist with preparing the polling place shall meet at the polling
 2-1     place in time to prepare it to receive the voters.
 2-2           (b)  If the polling place is left unattended at any time
 2-3     after the preparations for voting begin, the presiding judge shall
 2-4     take appropriate steps to provide for the security of the polling
 2-5     place.
 2-6           SECTION 3.  Chapter 63, Election Code, is amended by adding
 2-7     Section 63.011 to read as follows:
 2-8           Sec. 63.011.  WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS PROHIBITED.  (a)  During
 2-9     the voting period, a voter may not have in the voter's actual
2-10     possession at the polling place or in the area within which
2-11     electioneering is prohibited a written communication that:
2-12                 (1)  was prepared and furnished to the voter by another
2-13     person; and
2-14                 (2)  is marked or printed in a way that identifies one
2-15     or more candidates or measures for which the voter has agreed to
2-16     vote or has been requested to vote.
2-17           (b)  A sample ballot that has not been marked or printed in a
2-18     way that identifies candidates or measures for which to vote, that
2-19     is obtained by the voter from a newspaper or another person, and
2-20     that is marked by the voter is one example of a written
2-21     communication that is not prohibited under Subsection (a).
2-22           (c)  An election officer may not accept a voter for voting if
2-23     the officer knows that the voter has actual possession of a
2-24     communication  prohibited by Subsection (a) at the time the voter
2-25     offers to vote.
2-26           (d)  If a voter has a prohibited communication, the voter may
2-27     not receive an official ballot until the voter delivers the
 3-1     communication to the election officer.
 3-2           (e)  A person commits an offense if the person violates
 3-3     Subsection (a).  An offense under this subsection is a Class C
 3-4     misdemeanor.
 3-5           SECTION 4.  Section 104.001, Election Code, is amended to
 3-6     read as follows:
 3-7           Sec. 104.001.  ELIGIBILITY.  A qualified voter in whose
 3-8     precinct polling place voting is conducted by voting machine or
 3-9     voting device is eligible to vote by the early voting procedure
3-10     provided by this chapter if:
3-11                 (1)  the voter has a sickness or physical condition
3-12     that prevents the voter from voting in the regular manner without
3-13     personal assistance or a likelihood of injuring the voter's health;
3-14     and
3-15                 (2)  the machine or device cannot be used by the voter
3-16     at the polling place entrance or curb under Section 64.009.
3-17           SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-18           SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-19     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-20     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-21     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-22     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.