|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to providing a voter in a party primary notice of party |
|
conventions. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 61.003(b)(1), Election Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(1) "Electioneering" includes the posting, use, or |
|
distribution of political signs or literature. The term does not |
|
include the distribution of a notice of a party convention |
|
authorized under Section 172.1114. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 162.004(c), Election Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
(c) If a voter is accepted to vote without presenting a |
|
registration certificate, the presiding judge shall issue the voter |
|
an affiliation certificate. The certificate is not required to be |
|
issued to a voter in a runoff primary unless the voter requests it. |
|
An affiliation certificate issued under this subsection may be |
|
combined with the notice provided under Section 172.1114. |
|
SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 172, Election Code, is |
|
amended by adding Section 172.1114 to read as follows: |
|
Sec. 172.1114. DISTRIBUTION OF NOTICE OF CONVENTIONS. (a) |
|
A political party may prepare a notice not larger than letter-sized |
|
for distribution to each voter participating in the party's primary |
|
election at the time the voter is accepted for voting by personal |
|
appearance. |
|
(b) The notice may include: |
|
(1) information describing the party's convention |
|
process; |
|
(2) information detailing the time and place of the |
|
party's first level convention process; |
|
(3) contact information for the county and state |
|
political parties; and |
|
(4) website links for information and registration for |
|
party conventions. |
|
(c) The state chair of a political party shall prescribe a |
|
form for a notice approved by the secretary of state that may be |
|
used in any county. |
|
(d) A county chair of a political party that elects to |
|
distribute a notice prepared under this section shall supply a |
|
notice to the authority conducting the election not later than the |
|
45th day before the date early voting by personal appearance |
|
begins. |
|
(e) The secretary of state shall prescribe procedures and |
|
adopt rules as necessary to implement this section. |
|
SECTION 4. 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, 2017. |