By Gray                                               H.B. No. 2457
         77R7947 PAM-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to certain procedures governing the operation of early
 1-3     voting signature verification committees.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Sections 87.027(i) and (j), Election Code, are
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (i)  The signature verification committee shall compare the
 1-8     signature on each carrier envelope certificate, except those signed
 1-9     for a voter by a witness, with the signature on the voter's ballot
1-10     application to determine whether the signatures are those of the
1-11     same person.  The committee may also compare the signatures with
1-12     the signature on the voter's registration application to confirm
1-13     that the signatures match but may not use the registration
1-14     application signature to determine that the signatures do not
1-15     match.  If the committee chair determines that the ballots are so
1-16     numerous that the full committee cannot review each carrier
1-17     envelope certificate and ballot application independently, the
1-18     chair may designate subcommittees of the committee members to
1-19     compare signatures under this subsection. In an election in which
1-20     party alignment is indicated on the ballot, the subcommittees must
1-21     be balanced as equally as possible by members of each political
1-22     party required to nominate candidates by primary election. If the
1-23     committee suspects that the signatures on the carrier envelope
1-24     certificate and the ballot application do not match, the committee
 2-1     shall immediately notify the voter by telephone and advise the
 2-2     voter that the voter may appear before the committee and submit
 2-3     evidence, including testimony, to establish that the voter signed
 2-4     both the carrier envelope certificate and the ballot application.
 2-5     A determination under this subsection that the signatures do not
 2-6     match must be made by a majority vote of the committee's
 2-7     membership.  The committee shall place the jacket envelopes,
 2-8     carrier envelopes, and applications of voters whose signatures do
 2-9     not match in separate containers from those of voters whose
2-10     signatures match.  The committee chair shall deliver the sorted
2-11     materials to the early voting ballot board at the time specified by
2-12     the board's presiding judge but within the period permitted for the
2-13     early voting clerk's delivery of early voting ballots to the board.
2-14           (j)  If a signature verification committee is appointed, the
2-15     early voting ballot board shall follow the same procedure for
2-16     accepting the early voting ballots voted by mail as in an election
2-17     without a signature verification committee, except that the board
2-18     may not determine whether a voter's signatures on the carrier
2-19     envelope certificate and ballot application match if the committee
2-20     has determined that the signatures match.  If the committee has
2-21     determined that the signatures do not match, the board shall review
2-22     that determination.  The board may make a determination that the
2-23     signatures match by a majority vote of the board's membership.
2-24           SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.