87R5036 MLH-D

By: Beckley H.B. No. 1899

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the posting of voter information on Internet websites.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 1.010, Election Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) If the office, agency, or other authority maintains an Internet website, the forms shall be made available on that authority's Internet website.

SECTION 2. Section 3.003(c), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) Not later than the 36th day before election day, a copy of the proclamation ordering an election shall be posted on the Internet websites of the governor and of the secretary of state and shall be mailed to the county judge of each county wholly or partly in the territory covered by the election.

SECTION 3. Section 12.004(b), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The registrar may keep the office open for voter registration activities at times other than regular office hours. The registrar shall post notice of the irregular days and hours the office will be open. The notice must remain posted continuously at each entrance to the registrar's office and on the registrar's Internet website, if the registrar maintains a website, for the period beginning not later than the third day before the day the office is to be open during irregular hours and ending after the last time specified in the notice for the office to be open.

SECTION 4. Section 12.005, Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 12.005. BRANCH OFFICES. The registrar may establish one or more branch offices in the county to conduct voter registration activities for the convenience of persons desiring to register. A branch office may be temporary or permanent. The hours of a branch office must be posted on the registrar's Internet website, if the registrar maintains a website.

SECTION 5. Section 12.032(b), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The county clerk shall deliver a certified copy of the order to the secretary of state and shall post the order on the county's Internet website, if the county maintains a website, not later than the third day after the date the order is adopted.

SECTION 6. Section 12.034(b), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) Not later than the third day after the date the rescission order is adopted, the county clerk shall deliver a certified copy of the order to the secretary of state and shall post the order on the county's Internet website, if the county maintains a website.

SECTION 7. Section 18.008(c), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) If the list is recorded electronically [on magnetic tape], the copy shall be furnished electronically [in the form of a tape or printout], as requested.

SECTION 8. Section 19.001, Election Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) The secretary of state shall promptly post each statement on the secretary of state's Internet website.

SECTION 9. Section 31.002, Election Code, is amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:

(e) The secretary of state shall post each form described by Subsection (a) on the secretary of state's Internet website.

SECTION 10. Section 32.012, Election Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c) If the county maintains an Internet website, the appointment list shall be posted on that website.

SECTION 11. Section 32.114, Election Code, is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:

(c) The county clerk shall:

(1) post a notice of the time and place of each session on the county's Internet website, if the county maintains an Internet website, in the same location that the county clerk provides information on elections held in the county [and may post the notice on the bulletin board used for posting notice of meetings of the commissioners court] and shall include on the notice a statement that the program is open to the public;

(1-a) post notice of the time and place of each session on the bulletin board used for posting notice of meetings of the commissioners court, if the county does not maintain an Internet website, and shall include on the notice a statement that the program is open to the public;

(2) notify each presiding judge appointed by the commissioners court of the time and place of each session and of the duty of each election judge to complete the training program;

(3) notify the county chair of each political party in the county of the time and place of each session; and

(4) notify the voter registrar of the date, hour, and place of each session.

(c-1) If the county maintains an Internet website, the county clerk may post the notice required under Subsection (c)(1) on the bulletin board used for posting notice of meetings of the commissioners court.

SECTION 12. Section 42.035(c), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) If no newspaper is published in the county, the commissioners court shall post the notice as required by Subsection (a)(2) and at the county courthouse on the bulletin board used for posting notice of meetings of the commissioners court. The notice must remain posted continuously for three consecutive weeks.

SECTION 13. Section 52.094(c), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) The authority conducting the drawing shall post in the authority's office, and on the authority's Internet website if the authority maintains a website, a notice of the date, hour, and place of the drawing. The notice must remain posted continuously for 72 hours immediately preceding the scheduled time of the drawing.

SECTION 14. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.