87R1916 ADM-D
 
  By: Swanson H.B. No. 611
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the assistance of voters; increasing a criminal
  penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 64.034, Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 64.034.  OATH. A person selected to provide assistance
  to a voter must take the following oath, administered by an election
  officer at the polling place, before providing assistance:
         "I swear (or affirm) that I will not suggest, by word, sign,
  or gesture, how the voter should vote; I will confine my assistance
  to answering the voter's questions, to stating propositions on the
  ballot, and to naming candidates and, if listed, their political
  parties; I will prepare the voter's ballot as the voter directs; I
  did not pressure or intimidate the voter into choosing me to provide
  assistance; and I am not the voter's employer, an agent of the
  voter's employer, or an officer or agent of a labor union to which
  the voter belongs."
         SECTION 2.  Section 37.02, Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
  follows:
         (b)  An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor
  except as provided by Subsection (c).
         (c)  The punishment for an offense under this section is a
  state jail felony if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
               (1)  the false statement was the oath described by
  Section 64.034, Election Code; and 
               (2)  the person made a false statement described by
  Subdivision (1) three or more times in connection with a single
  election.
         SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
  An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
  purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
  effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
  before that date.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.