By: Ellis S.B. No. 251

(In the Senate - Filed December 19, 2014; January 28, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; April 15, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 3; April 15, 2015, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 251 By: Ellis

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to eligibility to serve as an interpreter in an election.

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

SECTION 1. Section 61.032, Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 61.032. INTERPRETER PERMITTED. If an election officer who attempts to communicate with a voter does not understand the language used by the voter, the voter may communicate through an interpreter selected by the voter or, if the voter has not selected an interpreter, an interpreter appointed by an election officer.

SECTION 2. Section 61.033, Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 61.033. ELIGIBILITY TO SERVE AS INTERPRETER. To be eligible to serve as an interpreter, a person:

(1) if selected by the voter, may be any person other than the voter's employer, an agent of the voter's employer, or an officer or agent of a labor union to which the voter belongs; or

(2) if appointed to serve as an interpreter by an election officer, must be a registered voter of the county in which the voter needing the interpreter resides or a registered voter of an adjacent county.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2015.

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