SRC-SEW S.B. 1424 77(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 1424
77R5638 DRH-DBy: Brown, J.  E.  "Buster"
State Affairs
3/25/2001
As Filed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

After the 2000 presidential election, the Texas Election Code was analyzed
to identify what statutory changes could be made to avoid the voting
difficulties encountered by members of the armed forces of the United
States who live in Florida.  As a result of that analysis, S.B. 1424, as
proposed, makes three changes to the Texas Election Code.  S.B. 1424 makes
a member of the armed forces eligible for early voting by mail under
certain conditions.  Texas currently allows early voting by mail only for
citizens over 65.  S.B. 1424 also increases the time period that balloting
materials for voting by mail are made available to voters from 45 days
prior to the election date to 60 days before the election date and mandates
that county clerks return problematic mail ballots or Federal Post Card
Application ballot requests to voters within two working days if received
within a certain time frame.   

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a
state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 82, Election Code, by adding Section 82.006, as
follows: 

Sec.  82.006.  EMERGENCY MILITARY DEPLOYMENT.  Provides that a qualified
voter who is a member of the armed forces of the United States is eligible
for early voting by mail if the voter expects to be absent from the county
of the voter's residence because of an emergency  military deployment on
election day and during the regular hours for conducting early voting at
the main early voting polling place for the period for early voting by
personal appearance. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 86.004, Election Code, to require the balloting
materials for voting by mail to be mailed to voters as soon as practicable
after the ballots become available but not earlier than the 60th (rather
than the 45th) day before election day. 

SECTION 3.  Amends Section 86.011(d), Election Code, to require the clerk,
notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, if the clerk receives a
timely carrier envelope before the seventh day before election day that
does not fully comply with the applicable requirements prescribed by this
title, to return the carrier envelope by mail to the voter not later than
the second day after the date the envelope is received.  Requires the
clerk, if the clerk receives a timely carrier envelope on or after the
seventh day before election day, to, if possible, notify the voter of the
defect by telephone and advise the voter that the voter may come to the
clerk's office in person to correct the defect or cancel the voter's
application to vote by mail and vote on election day. 

SECTION 4.  Effective date: September 1, 2001.