Amend SB 1234 (senate committee printing) in SECTION 1 of the bill, by striking the text of added Section 129.003, Election Code (page 1, lines 24-40), and substituting the following:
Sec. 129.003. PAPER AUDIT TRAIL REQUIRED. (a) In this section, "auditable voting system" means a voting system that:
(1) uses a paper record; or
(2) produces a paper record by which a voter can verify that the voter's ballot will be counted accurately.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a voting system that consists of direct recording electronic voting machines may not be used in an election unless the system is an auditable voting system.
(c) Except for a recount under Title 13 or an election contest under Title 14, the electronic vote is the official record of the ballot. For a recount of ballots cast on a system involving direct recording electronic voting machines, or in an election contest, the paper record is the official record of the vote cast.
(d) An authority that purchased a voting system other than an auditable voting system after September 1, 2016, and before September 1, 2021, may use available federal funding and, if federal funding is not available, available state funding to retrofit the purchased voting system as an auditable voting system in accordance with the following schedule:
(1) if the voting system was retrofitted as an auditable voting system not later than the election taking place November 8, 2022, the authority is eligible to have 100 percent of the cost of retrofitting reimbursed under this section; and
(2) if the authority is not eligible for a 100 percent reimbursement of cost under Subdivision (1) and the voting system was retrofitted as an auditable voting system not later than the election taking place November 3, 2026, the authority is eligible to have 50 percent of the cost of retrofitting reimbursed under this section.
(e) Subsections (a)-(c) do not apply to an election held before September 1, 2026.