BILL ANALYSIS
By: Jones, Jesse
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Current law requires a voter registrar to immediately notify the voter in writing if the voter's registration has been cancelled for certain reasons. These include ineligibility because the voter is not a U.S. citizen, is mentally incompetent, or has been finally convicted of a felony; or because the voter has cancelled his or her registration. The law does not provide for a deadline by which the voter must be notified that registration has been cancelled, however. Sometimes, errors in cancellation can occur, and if the registrar does not notify the voter in a timely manner, the voter may be unable to correct the mistake in time to vote in the next election. CSHB 1382 would require the voter registrar to notify a voter that the voter's registration has been cancelled within 30 days of the cancellation.
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
CSHB 1382 requires voter registrars to deliver written notice of the cancellation of a voter's registration to the voter immediately, but not later than the 30th day after the date the registration has been cancelled, rather than immediately after the cancellation.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2005.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
The substitute modifies the original by requiring the voter registrar to deliver notice of registration cancellation to the voter not later than the 30th day after such cancellation occurs, rather than adding voters cancelled after being placed on the suspense list to those whom the registrar is required to send notice of cancellation.