84R28356 ATP-F
 
  By: Reynolds H.B. No. 2381
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2381:
 
  By:  Fallon C.S.H.B. No. 2381
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the appointment and duties of election officers.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 32.002, Election Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
  follows:
         (c)  The presiding judge and alternate presiding judge must
  be affiliated or aligned with different political parties, subject
  to this subsection.  Before July of each year in a county to which
  Subsection (a)(1) applies or before August of each year in a county
  to which Subsection (a)(2) applies, the county chair of a political
  party whose candidate for governor received the highest or second
  highest number of votes in the county in the most recent
  gubernatorial general election shall submit in writing to the
  county clerk [commissioners court] a list of names of persons in
  order of preference for each precinct who are eligible for
  appointment as an election judge.  The county chair may supplement
  the list of names of persons until the 20th day before a general
  election or the 15th day before a special election in case an
  appointed election judge becomes unable to serve. The county clerk
  shall prepare for the commissioners court a list of persons whose
  names were submitted by the county chairs and who are eligible to
  serve as election judges. The commissioners court shall appoint the
  first person who meets [meeting] the applicable eligibility
  requirements from the list prepared by the county clerk and whose
  name was submitted in compliance with this subsection by the party
  with the highest number of votes in the precinct as the presiding
  judge and the first person who meets [meeting] the applicable
  eligibility requirements from the list prepared by the county clerk
  and whose name was submitted in compliance with this subsection by
  the party with the second highest number of votes in the precinct as
  the alternate presiding judge. If the candidates for governor of
  two political parties received the same number of votes in the
  precinct, the first person who meets [meeting] the applicable
  eligibility requirements from the list prepared by the county clerk
  and whose name was submitted by the party whose candidate for
  governor received the highest number of votes in the county shall be
  appointed as the presiding judge and the first person who meets 
  [meeting] the applicable eligibility requirements from the list
  prepared by the county clerk and whose name was submitted by the
  party whose candidate for governor received the second highest
  number of votes in the county shall be appointed as the alternate
  presiding judge.  The county clerk [commissioners court] may
  reject any person from the list if the person is [persons whose
  names are submitted on the list are] determined not to meet the
  applicable eligibility requirements.
         (c-1)  Judges of countywide polling places established under
  Section 43.007 must be appointed in compliance with Subsection (c)
  from the persons whose names were submitted for appointment by the
  county chairs in a manner that provides equitable representation,
  except that the commissioners court and county clerk are not
  required to make the appointments based on specific polling
  locations, a judge is not required to serve in a polling place
  located in the precinct in which the judge resides, and more than
  one presiding judge or alternate presiding judge may be selected
  from the same precinct to serve in polling places not located in the
  precinct in which the judges reside. The county clerk may submit,
  and the commissioners court may preapprove, the appointment of more
  presiding judges or alternate presiding judges than necessary to
  fill available positions. The county clerk may select an
  individual whose appointment was preapproved to fill a vacancy in a
  position that was held by an individual from the same political
  party. Nothing in this subsection precludes a county clerk from
  placing an election officer at a countywide polling place based on
  the need for services at that location.
         SECTION 2.  Section 32.006(a), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  The county chair of a political party holding a primary
  election shall appoint for each primary[, with the approval of the
  county executive committee,] the judges for each precinct in which
  the election will be held in the county and fill any vacancy that
  occurs in the position of presiding judge or alternate presiding
  judge.
         SECTION 3.  Section 32.009(d), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  A notice to a presiding judge must state the name, [and]
  address, and any available telephone number and e-mail address of
  the alternate, and a notice to an alternate must state the name,
  [and] address, and any available telephone number and e-mail
  address of the presiding judge.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter A, Chapter 32, Election Code, is
  amended by adding Section 32.012 to read as follows:
         Sec. 32.012.  PROVISION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO ELECTION
  JUDGES APPOINTED BY COMMISSIONERS COURT.  (a)  After the
  commissioners court appoints a presiding election judge and an
  alternate presiding judge, the county clerk shall provide to the
  county chair of each political party that submitted names for
  appointment the appointment list that includes each appointed
  judge's name, residence precinct, appointment location, address,
  and any available telephone number and e-mail address.
         (b)  The appointment list must be provided in writing.
         SECTION 5.  Section 85.009(b), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  Before July of each year, the county chair of each
  political party holding a primary election in the county shall
  submit in writing to the county clerk a list of names of persons in
  order of preference for each early voting polling place who are
  eligible for selection as an election officer.  The county chair
  may supplement the list of names of persons until the 30th day
  before early voting begins in case an appointed election officer
  becomes unable to serve.  The county clerk shall appoint the first
  person meeting the applicable eligibility requirements from the
  list submitted in compliance with this subsection by the party with
  the highest number of votes in the county as the presiding judge
  [election officer] of that polling place and the first person
  meeting the applicable eligibility requirements from the list
  submitted in compliance with this subsection by the party with the
  second highest number of votes in the county as the alternate
  presiding judge [election officer] of that polling place.  The
  county clerk shall appoint additional election officers for each
  polling place in the manner described by Subsection (a).  The
  county clerk may reject the list if the persons whose names are
  submitted on the list are determined not to meet the applicable
  eligibility requirements.
         SECTION 6.  Subchapter A, Chapter 85, Election Code, is
  amended by adding Section 85.0091 to read as follows:
         Sec. 85.0091.  EARLY VOTING ELECTION OFFICERS FOR PRIMARY
  ELECTIONS. (a) The early voting clerk shall select election
  officers for a primary election for the main early voting polling
  place and any branch polling place in the manner that Section 85.009
  provides for the county clerk to select officers from the
  appropriate political party, except that the early voting clerk
  shall prescribe the deadline by which county chairs must submit
  names of persons eligible to serve as election officers.
         (b)  This section does not apply to a joint primary governed
  by Section 172.126.
         SECTION 7.  Sections 32.006(b), 32.010, and 32.0511(d),
  Election Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.