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BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

C.S.H.B. 4447

By: Cain

Elections

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

Concerns have been raised regarding the process by which early voting rosters are made available for public inspection. It has been suggested that these rosters are not published in a uniform, timely manner and that this results in people being solicited by campaigns when their vote has already been cast. C.S.H.B. 4447 seeks to address this issue to ensure the timely, public availability of early voting rosters.

 

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. 4447 amends the Election Code to change the deadline by which information on the early voting roster for a person who votes an early voting ballot by personal appearance or by mail is required to be made available for public inspection from the beginning of regular business hours on the day after the date the information is entered into the roster to 11 a.m. on that day. The bill requires that information to be posted on the publicly accessible website of the authority ordering the election or, if the authority does not maintain a website, on the bulletin board used for posting notice of meetings of the governing body of the authority or of the commissioners court, if the authority is a county.

 

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2019.

 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

 

While C.S.H.B. 4447 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 provision establishing the methods by which the information on the early voting roster is required to be made available for public inspection.