80R12155 ATP-F

By: Bohac H.B. No. 3742

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3742:

By: Howard of Fort Bend C.S.H.B. No. 3742

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the requirements for a voter's confirmation of residence or statement of residence.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 15.052(a) and (b), Election Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The officially prescribed form for a confirmation notice must include:

(1) a statement that, if the voter fails to submit to the registrar a written, signed response confirming the voter's current residence on or before the 30th day after the date the confirmation notice is mailed:

(A) the voter is subject to submission of a statement of residence before the voter may be accepted for voting in an election held after that deadline; or

(B) for a notice delivered under Section 14.023, the voter will remain subject to submission of a statement of residence before the voter may be accepted for voting in an election; [and]

(2) a warning that the voter's registration is subject to cancellation if the voter fails to confirm the voter's current residence either by notifying the registrar in writing or voting on a statement of residence before November 30 following the second general election for state and county officers that occurs after the date the confirmation notice is mailed; and

(3) a statement that the voter must include all of the required information on the official confirmation notice response form.

(b) The official confirmation notice response form must:

(1) provide spaces for the voter to include all of the information that a person must include in an application to register to vote under Section 13.002; and

(2) be postage prepaid and preaddressed for delivery to the registrar.

SECTION 2. Section 15.053(a), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Not later than the 30th day after the date a confirmation notice is mailed, the voter shall submit to the registrar a written, signed response to the notice that confirms the voter's current residence. The response must contain all of the information that a person must include in an application to register to vote under Section 13.002.

SECTION 3. Section 63.0011(c), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) Before being accepted for voting, the voter must execute and submit to an election officer a statement including:

(1) a statement that the voter satisfies the applicable residence requirements prescribed by Subsection (b);

(2) all of the information that a person must include in an application to register to vote under Section 13.002 [the voter's residence address or, if the residence has no address, the address at which the voter receives mail and a concise description of the location of the voter's residence]; and

(3) [the month, day, and year of the voter's birth; and

[(4)] the date the statement is submitted to the election officer.

SECTION 4. Not later than September 1, 2007, the secretary of state shall prescribe:

(1) official forms for a confirmation notice and confirmation notice response that meet the requirements of Section 15.052, Election Code, as amended by this Act; and

(2) a form that may be used for the statement of residence that meets the requirements of Section 63.0011(c), Election Code, as amended by this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.