BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 484

By: Capriglione

Elections

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties point out that only two public offices out of over thirty offices that were sought in a recent election year had a qualification for office that required candidates to be registered voters, namely the office of Railroad Commissioner and office of Member, State Board of Education. H.B. 484 seeks to require a candidate running for public office in Texas to be a registered voter.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 484 amends the Election Code to expand the eligibility requirements that a person must meet in order to be eligible to be a candidate for, or elected or appointed to, a public elective office in Texas to include a requirement that the person, on a certain date, be registered to vote in the territory from which the office is elected.

H.B. 484 amends the Government Code to establish that a person may not qualify for a public elective office unless the person is a registered voter. The bill makes this qualification provision inapplicable to an office for which the federal or state constitution prescribes exclusive qualification requirements.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2015.