1-1 By: Madden, Danburg (Senate Sponsor - Ellis) H.B. No. 2691 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 3, 2001; 1-3 May 4, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on State 1-4 Affairs; May 11, 2001, reported favorably, as amended, by the 1-5 following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.) 1-6 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 By: Shapleigh 1-7 Amend H.B. 2691 as follows: 1-8 1. In section 1 of the bill, delete section 20.066(a) and 1-9 substitute the following: 1-10 "(a) This section applies unilaterally to a person who 1-11 resides in a county with a population of 2.1 million or more, and, 1-12 if written request is made to the Department of Public Safety by 1-13 the commissioners court, applies to a person who resides in a 1-14 county with a population greater than 400,000 but less than 2.1 1-15 million." 1-16 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-17 AN ACT 1-18 relating to procedures for the electronic transfer of voter 1-19 registration applications by certain voter registration agencies. 1-20 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-21 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 20, Election Code, is 1-22 amended by adding Section 20.066 to read as follows: 1-23 Sec. 20.066. REGISTRATION PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN POPULOUS 1-24 COUNTIES. (a) This section applies unilaterally to a person who 1-25 resides in a county with a population of 2.1 million or more, 1-26 though the office responsible for voter registration in a county 1-27 with a population greater than 400,000 but less than 2.1 million is 1-28 able to request identical treatment of its citizens applying to 1-29 register to vote. 1-30 (b) If a person completes a voter registration application 1-31 as provided by Section 20.063, the Department of Public Safety 1-32 shall: 1-33 (1) input the information provided on the application 1-34 into the department's electronic data system; and 1-35 (2) inform the applicant that the applicant's 1-36 electronic signature provided to the department will be used for 1-37 submitting the applicant's voter registration application. 1-38 (c) Not later than the fifth day after the date a person 1-39 completes a voter registration application and provides an 1-40 electronic signature to the department, the department shall 1-41 electronically transfer the applicant's voter registration data, 1-42 including the applicant's signature, to the voter registrar of the 1-43 county in which the applicant resides. 1-44 (d) The voter registrar shall maintain a database approved 1-45 by the secretary of state for receiving electronically transmitted 1-46 registration applications under this section. 1-47 (e) The secretary of state shall prescribe additional 1-48 procedures as necessary to implement this section. 1-49 SECTION 2. (a) A committee is created to study and report 1-50 on the implementation of Section 20.066, Election Code, as added by 1-51 this Act. 1-52 (b) The study committee consists of a member appointed by 1-53 the secretary of state, a member appointed by the Department of 1-54 Public Safety, a member appointed by the lieutenant governor, and a 1-55 member appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives. 1-56 (c) The study committee shall report its findings and any 1-57 recommendations to the legislature not later than December 1, 2002. 1-58 (d) The study committee is abolished and this section 1-59 expires September 1, 2003. 1-60 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001. 1-61 * * * * *