BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 658 |
By: Bernal |
Elections |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Concerned citizens note that a voter with a medical condition or disability that impairs the voter's mobility may be required to wait hours in line to vote, potentially putting the voter's health at risk. C.S.H.B. 658 seeks to address this issue by granting such individuals priority for voting.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 658 amends the Election Code to authorize an election officer to accept a voter with a mobility problem that substantially impairs the voter's ability to ambulate before accepting other voters at the polling place who arrived before the voter with a mobility problem. The bill requires notice of the priority given to such voters to be posted at one or more locations in each polling place where it can be read by persons waiting to vote, on the secretary of state's website, and on each website relating to elections maintained by a county. The bill sets out the required language for the notice. The bill authorizes a person assisting a voter with a mobility problem that substantially impairs the voter's ability to ambulate to be accepted to vote concurrently with such a voter at the voter's request.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 658 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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