AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

A voter who has a physical disability that renders the person unable to write or unable to read the language on the ballot, for example, can currently receive assistance in marking the ballot. Various complaints have been made about voter assistance and whether these voters are being swayed by the people who assist them in their efforts to vote. H.B. 2475 seeks to address this concern by changing the content of the oath taken by such an assistant.

 

H.B. 2475 amends current law relating to the oath taken by a person who assists a voter.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1. Amends Section 64.034, Election Code, as follows:

 

Sec. 64.034.  OATH. Requires a person selected to provide assistance to a voter to take the following oath, administered by an election officer at the polling place, before providing assistance: "I swear (or affirm) that I will not suggest, by word, sign, or gesture, how the voter should vote; I will confine my assistance to answering the voter's questions, to stating propositions on the ballot, and to naming candidates and, if listed, their political parties; I will prepare the voter's ballot as the voter directs; and I am not the voter's employer, an agent of the voter's employer, or an officer or agent of a labor union to which the voter belongs." Makes a nonsubstantive change.

 

SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2013.