87R16121 MLH-D
 
  By: Guillen H.B. No. 1622
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to reporting of early voting rosters.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
  SECTION 1.  Section 87.121, Election Code, as amended by
  Chapters 1083 (H.B. 1850) and 1215 (S.B. 902), Acts of the 86th
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, is reenacted and amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 87.121.  EARLY VOTING ROSTERS. (a) The early voting
  clerk shall maintain for each election a roster listing each person
  who votes an early voting ballot by personal appearance and a roster
  listing each person to whom an early voting ballot to be voted by
  mail is sent.
         (b)  For each person listed, the applicable roster must
  include:
               (1)  the person's name, address, and voter registration
  number;
               (2)  an identification of the person's county election
  precinct of registration; and
               (3)  the date of voting or the date the ballot was
  mailed to the person, as applicable.
         (c)  Each roster shall be updated daily.
         (d)  Each roster may be maintained in any form approved by
  the secretary of state.
         (e)  The clerk shall preserve each roster after the election
  for the period for preserving the precinct election records.
         (f)  Information on the roster for a person to whom an early
  voting mail ballot has been sent is not available for public
  inspection, except to the voter seeking to verify that the
  information pertaining to the voter is accurate, until the first
  business day after election day.
         (g)  Information on the roster for a person who votes an
  early voting ballot by personal appearance shall be made available
  for public inspection as provided by Subsection (i) not later than
  11 a.m. on the day after the date the information is entered on the
  roster under Subsection (c).
         (h)  Information on the roster for a person who votes an
  early voting ballot by mail shall be made available for public
  inspection as provided by Subsection (i) not later than 11 a.m. on
  the day following the day the early voting clerk receives a ballot
  voted by mail.
         (i)  The information under Subsections (g) and (h) must be
  made available:
               (1)  for an election in which the county clerk is the
  early voting clerk:
                     (A)  on the publicly accessible Internet website
  of the county; or
                     (B)  if the county does not maintain a website, on
  the bulletin board used for posting notice of meetings of the
  commissioners court; or
               (2)  for an election not described by Subdivision (1):
                     (A)  on the publicly accessible Internet website
  of the authority ordering the election; or
                     (B)  if the authority ordering the election does
  not maintain a website, on the bulletin board used for posting
  notice of meetings of the governing body of the authority.
         (j) [(i)]  The early voting clerk for a primary election or
  the general election for state and county officers shall submit to
  the secretary of state for posting on the secretary of state's
  Internet website the information described by:
               (1)  Subsection (g) not later than 11 a.m. on the day
  after the date the information is entered on the roster under
  Subsection (c); and
               (2)  Subsection (h) not later than 11 a.m. on the day
  following the day the early voting clerk receives a ballot voted by
  mail.
         (k) [(j)]  The secretary of state shall [make any early
  voting roster created under this section available to the public on
  the secretary's Internet website.
         [(j)  The secretary of state shall] post the information
  described by Subsection (j) [(i)] on the secretary of state's
  Internet website in a downloadable format.
         (l) [(k)]  The secretary of state shall create a system for
  an early voting clerk for a primary election or the general election
  for state and county officers to provide the information to the
  secretary of state for posting on the secretary of state's Internet
  website under Subsection (j) [(i)].
         (m)  A person registered to vote in the county where the
  early voting clerk is conducting early voting may submit a
  complaint to the secretary of state stating that an early voting
  clerk has not complied with this section.
         (n)  The secretary of state by rule shall create and maintain
  a system for receiving and recording complaints made under this
  section.
         (o)  The secretary of state shall maintain a record
  indicating early voting clerks who have failed to comply with the
  requirements of this section.
         SECTION 2.  To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
  over another Act of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021,
  relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
  codes.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.