By: Miller of Fort Bend H.B. No. 1565

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to electors for president and vice president.

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

SECTION 1. Section 192.003, Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 192.003. METHOD OF BECOMING ELECTOR CANDIDATE. To become a presidential elector candidate, a person must be nominated as a political party's elector candidate in accordance with party rules or named as an elector candidate by an independent or write-in candidate for president, and execute the pledge required by Section 192.0031.

SECTION 2. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election Code is amended by adding Section 192.0031, Election Code, to read as follows:

Sec. 192.0031. PLEDGE. Each elector candidate of a political party shall execute the following pledge: "If selected for the position of elector, I agree to serve and to mark my ballots for President and Vice President for the nominees for those offices of the party that nominated me." Each elector candidate of an independent or write-in presidential candidate shall execute the following pledge: "If selected for the position of elector as a nominee of an independent or write-in presidential candidate, I agree to serve and to mark my ballots for that candidate and for that candidate's vice-presidential running mate." The executed pledges must accompany the submission of the corresponding names to the Secretary of State.

SECTION 3. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election Code is amended by adding Section 192.0051, Election Code, to read as follows:

Sec. 192.0051. CERTIFICATION OF ELECTORS. In submitting this state's certificate of ascertainment as required by 3 U.S.C. Section 6, the Governor shall certify this state's electors and state in the certificate that:

(1) the electors will serve as electors unless a vacancy occurs in the office of elector before the end of the meeting at which elector votes are cast, in which case a substitute elector will fill the vacancy; and

(2) if a substitute elector is appointed to fill a vacancy, the Governor will submit an amended certificate of ascertainment stating the names on the final list of this state's electors.

SECTION 4. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election Code is amended by adding Section 192.0061, Election Code, to read as follows:

Sec. 192.0061. ELECTOR VOTING. (a) At the time designated for elector voting and after all vacant positions have been filled under Section 6, the chair of electors shall provide each elector with a presidential and a vice- presidential ballot. The elector shall mark the elector's presidential and vice-presidential ballots with the elector's votes for the offices of President and Vice President, respectively, along with the elector's signature and the elector's legibly printed name.

(b) Each elector shall present both completed ballots to the chair of electors, who shall examine the ballots and accept as cast all ballots of electors whose votes are consistent with their pledges executed under Section 192.0031 or Section 192.007(c). The chair of electors may not accept and may not count either an elector's presidential or vice- presidential ballot if the elector has not marked both ballots or has marked a ballot in violation of the elector's pledge.

(c) An elector who refuses to present a ballot, presents an unmarked ballot, or presents a ballot marked in violation of the elector's pledge executed under Section 192.0031 or Section 192.007(c) vacates the office of elector, creating a vacant position to be filled under Section 192.007.

(d) The chair of electors shall distribute ballots to and collect ballots from a substitute elector and repeat the process under this section of examining ballots, declaring and filling vacant positions as required, and recording appropriately completed ballots from the substituted electors, until all of this state's electoral votes have been cast and recorded.

SECTION 5. Section 192.007, Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 192.007. REPLACEMENT AFTER ELECTION. (a) The electors meeting to vote for president and vice-president may appoint a replacement elector by a majority vote of the qualified electors present if:

(1) the vacancy occurred before presidential election day and a replacement was not chosen under Section 192.004;

(2) on or after presidential election day, an elector is declared ineligible or dies; or

(3) the vacancy is declared under Section 192.006(c).

(b) The chair of the electors shall notify the secretary of state of the name and residence address of a replacement elector immediately on the replacement's appointment.

(c) To qualify as a replacement elector under subsection (a), an individual who has not executed the pledge required under Section 192.0031 shall execute the following pledge: "I agree to serve and to mark my ballots for President and Vice President consistent with the pledge of the individual to whose elector position I have succeeded."

SECTION 6. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election Code is amended by adding Section 192.0071, Election Code, to read as follows:

Sec. 192.0071. ELECTOR REPLACEMENT; ASSOCIATED CERTIFICATES. (a) After the vote of this state's electors is completed, if the final list of electors differs from any list that the Governor previously included on a certificate of ascertainment prepared and transmitted under 3 U.S.C. Section 6, the Secretary of State immediately shall prepare an amended certificate of ascertainment and transmit it to the Governor for the [Governor's signature.

(b) The Governor immediately shall deliver the signed amended certificate of ascertainment to the Secretary of State and a signed duplicate original of the amended certificate of ascertainment to all individuals entitled to receive this state's certificate of ascertainment, indicating that the amended certificate of ascertainment is to be substituted for the certificate of ascertainment previously submitted.

(c) The Secretary of State shall prepare a certificate of vote. The electors on the final list shall sign the certificate. The Secretary of State shall process and transmit the signed certificate with the amended certificate of ascertainment under 3 U.S.C. Sections 9, 10, and 11.

SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.