Amend SB 5 (house committee printing) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTION to the bill and renumbering the SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____. Subchapter A, Chapter 31, Election Code, is amended by adding Section 31.014 to read as follows:
Sec. 31.014. STUDY REGARDING POTENTIAL FOR FRAUD FROM VOTER SIGNING CARRIER ENVELOPE. (a) The secretary of state, using existing resources, shall conduct a study regarding the potential for fraud arising from a voter's signature appearing on the outside of the carrier envelope as required by Section 86.005(c). The study must:
(1) identify instances where the voter's signature on the carrier envelope resulted in the fraudulent use of the voter's signature; and
(2) offer alternative procedures to the signing of the carrier envelope as required by Section 86.005(c) that do not present a potential for the fraudulent use of the voter's signature.
(b) Not later than December 1, 2018, the secretary of state shall report the study's findings to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the committees of each house of the legislature with jurisdiction over elections.
(c) This section expires September 1, 2019.