| TO: | Honorable Mary Denny, Chair, House Committee on Elections |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB1695 by Denny (Relating to certain election processes and procedures.), As Introduced |
The bill would amend the Election Code affecting various procedures related to the election process, including requirements of a signature verification committee, delivery of ballots for counting, certification of votes, early voting, voter registration, and filing to run for office. The bill would also require the Department of Public Safety (DPS) monthly to prepare an abstract on each final judgment received by the department on convictions of persons 18 years of age or older. The abstract would be filed with the Secretary of State (SOS), which would notify the voter registrar of the convicted person's county of residence.
The bill would also repeal sections of the Election Code that would conflict with or would be clarified by the provisions of the bill. The bill would take effect September 1, 2003 and would apply to elections held on or after that date.
The DPS already provides abstracts to the SOS on a weekly basis; therefore, there would be no fiscal impact to the state for the department to file a monthly report.
County election administrators indicated that the majority of the provisions of the bill would have no or insignificant fiscal impact, although requirements that change the time frames for counting early voting ballots and that would extend the time for the main early voting poll location to be open on election day to allow disabled voters to vote using early voting methods (7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., rather than 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.) may result in some counties having to increase staff on election day.
| Source Agencies: | 307 Secretary Of State, 405 Department Of Public Safety
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| LBB Staff: | JK, GO, JB, DLBa
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