By: Raymond H.B. No. 127

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to electioneering on the premises of certain privately owned polling places.

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

SECTION 1. Section 43.031, Election Code, is amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows:

(d) If a suitable public building is unavailable, the polling place may be located in some other building, including a building on a federal military base or facility with the permission of the post or base commander, and any charge for its use is an election expense. A polling place may not be located in a building under this subsection unless electioneering is permitted on the building's premises outside the prescribed limits within which electioneering is prohibited, except that a polling place may be located in a building at which electioneering is not permitted if it is the only building available for use as a polling place in the election precinct or the building is owned by a private business and the owner of the business has provided notice under Subsection (d-1).

(d-1) This subsection applies only to a county located on an international border that has a population of less than 300,000 in which a city with a population of more than 200,000 is located. If the polling place is located in a building owned by a private business, the owner of the business must notify the authority holding the election if the owner intends to impose reasonable restrictions concerning the time, place, and manner of electioneering on the privately owned premises of the building outside the area described by Section 61.003(a).

SECTION 2. Section 61.003, Election Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), a [A] person commits an offense if, during the voting period and within 100 feet of an outside door through which a voter may enter the building in which a polling place is located, the person:

(1) loiters; or

(2) electioneers for or against any candidate, measure, or political party.

(a-1) This subsection applies only to a county located on an international border that has a population of less than 300,000 in which a city with a population of more than 200,000 is located. A person commits an offense if, during the voting period and on the privately owned premises of a building in which a polling place is located, the person loiters or electioneers for or against any candidate, measure, or political party if the polling place is located in a building owned by a private business and the owner of the business has provided notice under Section 43.031(d-1) that electioneering is restricted on the building's privately owned premises, and the electioneering violates the restrictions.

SECTION 3. Section 85.036, Election Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (b) to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), during [During] the time an early voting polling place is open for the conduct of early voting, a person commits an offense if the person electioneers [may not electioneer] for or against any candidate, measure, or political party in or within 100 feet of an outside door through which a voter may enter the building or structure in which the early voting polling place is located.

(b) This subsection applies only to a county located on an international border that has a population of less than 300,000 in which a city with a population of more than 200,000 is located. A person commits an offense if, during the early voting period and on the privately owned premises of a building in which a polling place is located, the person electioneers for or against any candidate, measure, or political party if the polling place is located in a building owned by a private business and the owner of the business notifies the early voting clerk that electioneering is reasonably restricted concerning its time, place, and manner on the building's privately owned premises, and the electioneering violates the restrictions .

SECTION 4. Section 85.036(d), Election Code, is repealed.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.