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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; increasing a criminal |
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penalty. |
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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) that I will not suggest, by word, sign, |
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or gesture, how the voter should vote; I will confine my assistance |
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to answering the voter's questions, to stating propositions on the |
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ballot, and to naming candidates and, if listed, their political |
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parties; I will prepare the voter's ballot as the voter directs; I |
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did not pressure or intimidate the voter into choosing me to provide |
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assistance; and I am not the voter's employer, an agent of the |
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voter's employer, or an officer or agent of a labor union to which |
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the voter belongs." |
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SECTION 2. Section 37.02, Penal Code, is amended by |
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amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as |
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follows: |
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(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor |
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except as provided by Subsection (c). |
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(c) 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: |
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(1) the false statement was the oath described by |
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Section 64.034, Election Code; and |
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(2) the person made a false statement described by |
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Subdivision (1) three or more times in connection with a single |
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election. |
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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. |