87R2862 BRG-D
 
  By: Fierro H.B. No. 1056
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to temporary branch polling places.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 85.062(e), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (e)  In an election covered by Subsection (d), a temporary
  branch polling place that is [located in a] movable [structure] may
  be established only with the approval of the county clerk. If a
  movable temporary branch polling place is established [in a movable
  structure] on the request of a political party, each other
  political party whose nominee for governor in the most recent
  gubernatorial general election received more than 10 percent of the
  total number of votes received by all candidates for governor in the
  election is entitled to establishment of such a polling place. The
  election officers serving a polling place covered by this
  subsection must be affiliated or aligned with different political
  parties to the extent possible. The secretary of state, after
  consulting the state chair of each affected political party, shall
  prescribe the procedures necessary to implement this subsection.
         SECTION 2.  Section 85.064, Election Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
  follows:
         (b)  Early voting by personal appearance at each temporary
  branch polling place established under Section 85.062(d) shall be
  conducted on the days that voting is required to be conducted at the
  main early voting polling place under Section 85.005 and remain
  open for at least:
               (1)  eight hours each day; or
               (2)  three hours each day if the city or county clerk
  does not serve as the early voting clerk for the territory holding
  the election and the territory has fewer than 1,000 registered
  voters.
         (c)  Early voting by personal appearance at a temporary
  branch polling place other than a temporary branch polling place
  established under Section 85.062(d) may be conducted on any one or
  more days and during any hours of the period for early voting by
  personal appearance, as determined by the authority establishing
  the branch.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.