BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3159

By: Fallon

Elections

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties report that a county will often execute contracts for election services with local entities even though certain elections are not conducted by the county. The parties cite this example as one reason for the need to revise state law relating to election services contracts. H.B. 3159 seeks to provide for this revision.

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. 3159 amends the Election Code to remove the exclusion of a city from the statutory provision authorizing an election services contract with a political subdivision to provide that the county election officer will be the custodian of voted ballots. The bill applies the statutory provision authorizing the delivery of the jacket envelope containing the early voting ballots voted by mail in an election conducted by an authority of a county with a population of 100,000 or more or conducted jointly with such a county to the early voting ballot board by a certain deadline to an election conducted with such a county through a contract for election services. The bill prohibits the early voting ballot board from counting the early voting ballots until the end of the period for early voting by personal appearance in an election conducted under a contract for election services.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.