79R3797 JRJ-F

By:  Bohac                                                        H.B. No. 1268



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the information included on a voter registration 
application.   
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 13.002(c), Election Code, is amended to 
read as follows: 
	(c)  A registration application must include:                                  
		(1)  the applicant's first name, middle name, if any, 
last name, and former name, if any;
		(2)  the month, day, and year of the applicant's birth;                       
		(3)  a statement that the applicant is a United States 
citizen;             
		(4)  a statement that the applicant is a resident of the 
county;            
		(5)  a statement that the applicant has not been 
determined mentally incompetent by a final judgment of a court;
		(6)  a statement that the applicant has not been 
finally convicted of a felony or that the applicant is a felon 
eligible for registration under Section 13.001;
		(7)  the applicant's residence address or, if the 
residence has no address, the address at which the applicant 
receives mail and a concise description of the location of the 
applicant's residence;
		(8)  [the following information:                             
			[(A)]  the applicant's Texas driver's license 
number or the number of a personal identification card issued by the 
Department of Public Safety or a statement by the applicant that the 
applicant has not been issued a driver's license or personal 
identification card;
		(9) [(B)  if the applicant has not been issued a number 
described by Paragraph (A),] the last four digits of the 
applicant's social security number[;] or
			[(C)]  a statement by the applicant that the 
applicant has not been issued a social security number [described 
by Paragraph (A) or (B)];
		(10) [(9)]  if the application is made by an agent, a 
statement of the agent's relationship to the applicant;
		(11)  the city, state, and country of the applicant's 
birth; and     
		(12) [(10)]  the city and county in which the applicant 
formerly resided.
	SECTION 2.  Section 13.122(a), Election Code, is amended to 
read as follows: 
	(a)  In addition to the other statements and spaces for 
entering information that appear on an officially prescribed 
registration application form, each official form must include:
		(1)  the statement:  "I understand that giving false 
information to procure a voter registration is perjury and a crime 
under state and federal law.";
		(2)  a space for the applicant's registration number;                         
		(3)  a space for the applicant's Texas driver's license 
number or number of a personal identification card issued by the 
Department of Public Safety;
		(4)  a space for the applicant's telephone number;                            
		(5)  a space for the applicant's social security 
number;                    
		(6)  a space for the applicant's sex;                                         
		(7)  a statement indicating that the furnishing of the 
applicant's telephone number and sex is optional;
		(8)  a space or box for indicating whether the 
applicant or voter is submitting new registration information or a 
change in current registration information;
		(9)  a statement instructing a voter who is using the 
form to make a change in current registration information to enter 
the voter's name and the changed information in the appropriate 
spaces on the form;
		(10)  a statement that if the applicant declines to 
register to vote, that fact will remain confidential and will be 
used only for voter registration purposes;
		(11)  a statement that if the applicant does register 
to vote, information regarding the agency or office to which the 
application is submitted will remain confidential and will be used 
only for voter registration purposes; [and]
		(12)  a space or box for indicating whether the 
applicant is interested in working as an election judge;
		(13)  a statement warning that a conviction for making 
a false statement may result in imprisonment for up to 180 days, a 
fine of up to $2,000, or both the imprisonment and the fine; and
		(14)  any other voter registration information 
required by federal law or considered appropriate and required by 
the secretary of state.
	SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only 
to an application for voter registration that is submitted on or 
after the effective date of this Act.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.