LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 81ST LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

April 25, 2009

TO:	Honorable Todd Smith, Chair, House Committee on Elections
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB4392 by Farias (Relating to an electronic means for voters to determine the status of ballots submitted by mail.), As Introduced

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would require the Secretary of State to require that a detachable receipt be attached to official carrier envelopes and unique identification numbers be printed on the receipts and the reverse side of the envelopes.  The bill would require early voting clerks in counties with a population of 20,000 or more in which a federal office appears on the ballot  to make the unique identification numbers available on the county’s website and indicate whether the returns of the official carrier envelopes associated with the numbers are timely.  The bill would be effective September 1, 2009.

Local Government Impact

There could be some additional costs to early voting clerks in counties with a population of 20,000 to comply with the provisions of the bill; however, no significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

307 Secretary of State

LBB Staff:

JOB, TP, BTA