C.S.S.B. 197 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 197 By: Staples Elections Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, the voter registrar is required to deliver a confirmation notice to a voter whose registration has been challenged based on residency. Voters who rely on mail-forwarding services in order to receive mail after moving or when out of town need additional time to respond to a voter registration challenge. If a voter is challenged close to an election, the voter may not have sufficient time to receive and respond to the challenge, resulting in a cancellation of the voter's vote. CSSB 197 places a deadline for the registrar to deliver a confirmation notice to a voter whose registration is challenged based on residency. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS CSSB 197 amends the Election Code by prohibiting the voter registrar from delivering a confirmation notice resulting from a sworn statement challenging a voter's registration based on residency filed after the 75th day before the date of the general election for state and county officers (election) until after the date of that election. The bill provides that this prohibition does not apply to a person who registers after the 75th day and prior to the 30th day before an election. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2003. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE CSSB 197 modifies the original by specifying that the deadline for delivering a confirmation notice resulting from a challenge of a voter's registration based on residency relates to the general election for state and county officers, rather than to an election generally.