BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2898

By: Fierro

Elections

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been suggested that Texans attempting to vote while supervising a child often face challenges that may discourage them from voting, which could potentially reduce voter turnout. C.S.H.B. 2898 seeks to address this issue by providing for the delivery of a ballot to a voter at a polling place entrance or curb if the voter is accompanied by their child.

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. 2898 amends the Election Code to authorize the authority conducting an election to permit a voter who is a parent or legal guardian of a child who is five years of age or younger and is accompanied by that child to vote at a polling place entrance or curb. The bill adds a temporary provision set to expire September 1, 2021, requiring the secretary of state, in cooperation with county elections administrators, to conduct a study to determine the best practices in conducting voting under the bill's provision and to report the study's findings to the committees of each house of the legislature with jurisdiction over elections not later than December 31, 2020.              

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2898 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 does not include an authorization for an election officer, on a voter's request, to deliver a ballot to the voter at a polling place entrance or curb if the voter is a parent or legal guardian accompanied by the parent's or legal guardian's child to the polling place but includes an authorization for the authority conducting an election instead to permit a voter who is a parent or legal guardian of a child who is five years of age or younger and is accompanied by that child to vote at a polling place entrance or curb.

The substitute includes a temporary provision requiring the secretary of state, in cooperation with county elections administrators, to conduct a study to determine the best practices in conducting voting under the bill's provisions and to report the study's findings to the applicable legislative committees not later than December 31, 2020.