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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the offense of possessing another person's official |
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ballot or official carrier envelope. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 86.006(f), Election Code, is amended to |
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read as follows: |
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(f) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly |
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possesses an official ballot or official carrier envelope provided |
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under this code to another. Unless the person possessed the ballot |
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or carrier envelope with intent to defraud the voter or the election |
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authority, it is an exception to the application of [affirmative
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defense to prosecution under] this subsection that the person, on |
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the date of the offense, was: |
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(1) related to the voter within the second degree by |
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affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as determined under |
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Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code; |
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(2) registered to vote at the same address as the |
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voter; |
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(3) an early voting clerk or a deputy early voting |
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clerk; |
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(4) a person who possesses the carrier envelope in |
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order to deposit the envelope in the mail or with a common or |
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contract carrier and who provides the information required by |
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Section 86.0051(b) in accordance with that section; |
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(5) an employee of the United States Postal Service |
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working in the normal course of the employee's authorized duties; |
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or |
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(6) a common or contract carrier working in the normal |
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course of the carrier's authorized duties if the official ballot is |
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sealed in an official carrier envelope that is accompanied by an |
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individual delivery receipt for that particular carrier envelope. |
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SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to an offense committed on or after September 1, 2007. An offense |
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committed before September 1, 2007, is covered by the law in effect |
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when the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in |
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effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense |
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was committed before September 1, 2007, if any element of the |
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offense occurred before that date. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007. |