Amend CSHB 1735 (house committee printing) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering remaining SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____. Section 86.0015, Election Code, is amended by adding Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:
(g) The county clerk shall provide to a voter who has applied for and qualifies to receive ballots to be voted by mail under this section, with the ballot for an election held on the November uniform election date, an application for a ballot to be voted by mail and instructions for submitting the application under this subsection. The application:
(1) must be preprinted so that the voter is required only to sign and date the application;
(2) may be returned with the voter's ballot in the carrier envelope;
(3) applies to each election that occurs before December 31 of the next even-numbered year following the November election, notwithstanding Subsection (b)(2)(A); and
(4) must be signed by the applicant, or by a witness as provided by Section 84.003.
(h) The county clerk is not required to provide an application for a ballot to be voted by mail as provided by Subsection (g) in an odd-numbered year to a voter who has previously filed an application that covers elections for the next calendar year.
SECTION ____. Section 87.044, Election Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) The early voting ballot board shall deliver to the early voting clerk any early voting applications included as provided by Section 86.0015(g) in a carrier envelope with a ballot voted in an election held on the November uniform election date regardless of whether the ballot is accepted.