HBA-CMT C.S.H.B. 613 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 613 By: Maxey Elections 3/4/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Many Texans have access to the Internet and have grown accustomed to the 24-hour-a-day access to the information and services that the Internet provides. C.S.H.B. 613 authorizes the secretary of state and Department of Information Services to determine whether it is feasible for a voter to correct voter registration information by digitally transferring the information, and authorizes the secretary of state to adopt rules and procedures to permit a registrar to accept the corrected voter information. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the secretary of state in SECTION 1 (Section 15.021 Election Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 613 amends the Election Code to require the secretary of state, in conjunction with the Department of Information Resources, to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of allowing voters to correct voter registration information by digital transmission of the information to a voter registrar. If the study determines that the digital transmission of corrected information by a voter to a registrar is feasible, the corrected information may be submitted without the submission of a written, signed notice of the incorrect information and the corresponding correction. If the study determines it is feasible to allow digital transmission of corrected information by a voter, the secretary of state is authorized to adopt rules to approve technologies for submitting changes of registration information by digital transmission, and rules to prescribe additional procedures as necessary to implement a system for the digital transmission of changes in registration information. EFFECTIVE DATE January 1, 2002. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 613 differs from the original to add provisions requiring the secretary of state to conduct a study in conjunction with the Department of Information Resources to determine if the digital transfer of corrected voter registration information is feasible. The substitute differs from the original by providing that only changes to voter registration information may be submitted by digital transmission. The original provided that an initial voter registration application may be submitted by digital transmission. The substitute removes the provision from the original authorizing the commissioners court to permit the submission of a registration application to the registrar of the county by digital transmission. The substitute differs from the original by providing that the rules that the secretary of state adopts relate to changes to voter registration information rather than an initial voter registration application.