BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1264

By: Bell, Keith

Elections

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Recent issues relating to election integrity reported across the nation have included claims of individuals using a deceased person's identity to vote illegally. In Texas, the local registrar of deaths is required to file each abstract of a death certificate with the voter registrar of the decedent's county of residence and the secretary of state not later than the 10th day of the month following the month in which the abstract is prepared. C.S.H.B. 1264 seeks to ensure the integrity of elections in Texas by tightening that deadline in order to make the process of removing deceased persons from electoral rolls more efficient.

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. 1264 amends the Election Code to change the deadline by which the local registrar of deaths is required to file an abstract of a death certificate with the applicable voter registrar and with the secretary of state from not later than the 10th day of the month following the month in which the abstract is prepared to as soon as possible but not later than the seventh day after the date the abstract is prepared.

C.S.H.B. 1264 changes the deadline by which the clerk of a court having probate jurisdiction is required to file an abstract of a small estate affidavit or an application for probate of a will, administration of a decedent's estate, or determination of heirship with the voter registrar and with the secretary of state from not later than the 10th day of the month following the month in which the abstract is prepared to as soon as possible but not later than the seventh day after the date the abstract is prepared.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2021.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1264 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 changes the revised deadline by which the local registrar of deaths and the clerk of a probate court must file the applicable abstracts from not later than one day after an abstract is prepared to not later than the seventh day after the date the abstract is prepared.