By Danburg                                            H.B. No. 1598
         77R6579 GGS-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to certain procedures for the mailing of early voting
 1-3     ballot materials.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Section 84.002(a), Election Code, is amended to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           (a)  An early voting ballot application must include:
 1-8                 (1)  the applicant's name and the address at which the
 1-9     applicant is registered to vote;
1-10                 (2)  for an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-11     mail on the ground of absence from the county of residence, the
1-12     address outside the applicant's county of residence to which the
1-13     ballot is to be mailed for receipt by the applicant;
1-14                 (3)  for an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-15     mail on the ground of age or disability, the address of the
1-16     hospital, nursing home or other long-term care facility, or
1-17     retirement center, or of a person related to the applicant within
1-18     the second degree by affinity or the third degree by consanguinity,
1-19     as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, if the applicant
1-20     is living at that address and that address is different from the
1-21     address at which the applicant is registered to vote;
1-22                 (4)  for an application for a ballot to be voted by
1-23     mail on the ground of confinement in jail, the address of the jail
1-24     or of a person related to the applicant within the degree described
 2-1     by Subdivision (3);
 2-2                 (5)  for an application for a ballot to be voted by
 2-3     mail on any ground, an indication of each election for which the
 2-4     applicant is applying for a ballot; and
 2-5                 (6)  an indication of the ground of eligibility for
 2-6     early voting.
 2-7           SECTION 2. Section 86.003, Election Code, is amended by
 2-8     amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
 2-9     follows:
2-10           (c)  The address to which the balloting materials must be
2-11     addressed is the address at which the voter is registered to vote
2-12     unless the ground for voting by mail is:
2-13                 (1)  absence from the county of residence, in which
2-14     case the address must be an address outside the voter's county of
2-15     residence that is not an address of a forwarding agent;
2-16                 (2)  confinement in jail, in which case the address
2-17     must be the address of the jail or of a relative described by
2-18     Section 84.002(a)(4); or
2-19                 (3)  age or disability and the voter is living at a
2-20     hospital, nursing home or other long-term care facility, or
2-21     retirement center, or with a relative described by Section
2-22     84.002(a)(3), in which case the address must be the address of that
2-23     facility or relative.
2-24           (e)  The secretary of state shall prescribe any necessary
2-25     rules to describe a forwarding agent for purposes of this section.
2-26           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.