BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 431

By: Shaheen

Elections

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been noted that the prohibition against a person serving as a poll watcher if the person has been convicted of an offense in connection with conduct directly attributable to an election has helped prevent potential voter fraud. C.S.H.B. 431 seeks to expand this prohibition in the interest of voter fraud prevention to include a person who has been finally convicted of a felony offense.

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.

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.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 431 amends the Election Code to make a person ineligible to serve as a poll watcher if the person has been finally convicted of a felony offense. The bill requires the affidavit executed by a poll watcher and contained in the watcher's certificate of appointment to state that the watcher has not been finally convicted of a felony offense.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 431 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a requirement for the affidavit executed by a poll watcher and contained in the watcher's certificate of appointment to state that the watcher has not been finally convicted of a felony offense.