84R6771 ATP-F
 
  By: Reynolds 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 as
  election judges for the precincts in the geographic vicinity of the
  countywide polling place.
         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
  JUDGE APPOINTED BY COMMISSIONERS COURT.  (a)  After the
  commissioners court appoints an election 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, precinct, address, and any available
  telephone number and e-mail address.
         (b)  The appointment list must be provided in writing or by
  posting the list on the county's website.
         SECTION 5.  Section 32.034, Election Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
         (f)  The person who appoints an election clerk under this
  section shall provide to the county chair of each political party
  that submitted names for appointment under Subsection (b) the
  appointment list that includes each appointed clerk's name,
  precinct, address, and any available telephone number and e-mail
  address. If the commissioners court appoints a clerk as provided by
  Subsection (e), the county clerk must provide the appointment list
  under this section.
         SECTION 6.  Section 32.051(c), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (c)  Except as provided by Section 32.0511, to be eligible to
  serve as a clerk of an election precinct, a person must be a
  qualified voter and, to the extent practicable, the person should
  be a qualified voter:
               (1)  of the county, in a countywide election ordered by
  the governor or a county authority or in a primary election;
               (2)  of the part of the county in which the election is
  held, for an election ordered by the governor or a county authority
  that does not cover the entire county of the person's residence; or
               (3)  of the political subdivision, in an election
  ordered by an authority of a political subdivision other than a
  county.
         SECTION 7.  Subchapter D, Chapter 32, Election Code, is
  amended by adding Section 32.076 to read as follows:
         Sec. 32.076.  PRESENCE OF OFFICER FROM DIFFERENT POLITICAL
  PARTY REQUIRED. When the presiding judge is performing any
  activity within the polling location related to handling ballots or
  voting machines, counting ballots or recording results, or any
  similar activity, an alternate presiding judge or clerk whose name
  was submitted for appointment by a political party other than the
  party that submitted the presiding judge's name for appointment
  must be present to allow the alternate presiding judge or clerk to
  observe the activity or hear any discussion between election
  workers.
         SECTION 8.  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 9.  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 CERTAIN
  PARTISAN ELECTIONS. (a) This section applies only to an election
  that is not held jointly with the general election for state and
  county officers and is a special election or election for city
  officers in which a candidate's political party alignment is
  indicated on the ballot.
         (b)  The early voting clerk shall select election officers
  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, 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.
         SECTION 10.  Section 172.126(c), Election Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (c)  One set of election officers shall conduct the primary
  elections at each polling place. Not later than the second Monday in
  December preceding the primary elections, each county chair shall
  deliver to the county clerk a list of the names of the election
  judges and clerks for that party. The presiding judge of each party,
  or alternate judge if applicable, serves as a co-judge for the
  precinct. If an eligible presiding co-judge and alternate co-judge
  cannot be found to serve for a particular party in a precinct, the
  county clerk may appoint any voter meeting the qualifications of
  election judge to serve as the presiding judge in the precinct [a
  joint primary may not be conducted in that precinct, and that
  precinct must be consolidated with another precinct that has an
  eligible presiding co-judge and alternate co-judge to serve for
  each party]. The county clerk shall appoint the election clerks in
  accordance with rules prescribed by the secretary of state. The
  secretary of state shall prescribe the maximum number of clerks
  that may be appointed for each precinct. The early voting ballot
  board and any central counting station shall also be composed of and
  administered by one set of election officers that provides
  representation for each party, and the secretary of state by rule
  shall prescribe procedures consistent with this subsection for the
  appointment of those officers.
         SECTION 11.  Sections 32.006(b), 32.010, and 32.0511(d),
  Election Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 12.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.