The bill would amend the Election Code to make providing false information on an application for an early voting ballot punishable as a state jail felony. Under current statute, providing false information on an application for an early voting ballot is punishable as Class A Misdemeanor if the person is the applicant, is related to the applicant with consanguinity, or is registered to vote at the same address as the applicant; otherwise the offense is punishable as a state jail felony.

A Class A Misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed one year and/or a fine not to exceed $4,000. A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000 or Class A Misdemeanor punishment (mandatory post conviction community supervision).

Increasing the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to longer terms of supervision in the community, or longer terms of confinement in county jail, state jail or prison. When an offense is changed from a misdemeanor to a felony, there is a transfer of the burden of confinement of convicted offenders from the counties to the State. The impact of the bill on correctional populations would depend on how many persons would be prosecuted under the proposed statute compared to existing statute. In fiscal year 2010, less than five individuals were arrested, and less than five were placed under misdemeanor community supervision for providing false information on an application for an early voting ballot. For this analysis, it is assumed the number of offenders convicted under this statute would not result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of State corrections agencies or on the demand for resources and services of those agencies.