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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the assistance of voters; creating a criminal offense. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 64.034, Election Code, is amended to |
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read as follows: |
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Sec. 64.034. OATH. A person selected to provide assistance |
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to a voter must take the following oath, administered by an election |
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officer at the polling place, before providing assistance: |
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"I swear (or affirm) under penalty of perjury that I will not |
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suggest, by word, sign, or gesture, how the voter should vote; I |
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will confine my assistance to answering the voter's questions, to |
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stating propositions on the ballot, and to naming candidates and, |
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if listed, their political parties; I will prepare the voter's |
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ballot as the voter directs; I did not encourage, pressure, coerce, |
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or intimidate the voter into choosing me to provide assistance; and |
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I am not the voter's employer, an agent of the voter's employer, or |
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an officer or agent of a labor union to which the voter belongs." |
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SECTION 2. Chapter 276, Election Code, is amended by adding |
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Section 276.017 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 276.017. PERJURY IN CONNECTION WITH CERTAIN VOTING |
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PROCEDURES. (a) A person commits an offense if the person makes a |
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false statement when making the oath described by Section 64.034 or |
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swears to the truth of a false statement previously made when making |
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the oath described by Section 64.034. |
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(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor |
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except that the punishment for an offense under this section is a |
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state jail felony if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the |
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person made a false statement under Subsection (a) three or more |
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times in connection with any election in a four-year period. |
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SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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before that date. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |