By: Hughes, Creighton  S.B. No. 1234
         (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2021; March 18, 2021, read
  first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  March 29, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
  Nays 0; March 29, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to a requirement that a voting system use a paper record or
  produce a paper receipt for verification purposes.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 129, Election Code, is
  amended by adding Section 129.003 to read as follows:
         Sec. 129.003.  PAPER AUDIT TRAIL REQUIRED. (a)  In this
  section, "auditable voting system" means a voting system that:
               (1)  uses a paper record; or
               (2)  produces a paper receipt by which a voter can
  verify that the voter's ballot will be counted accurately.
         (b)  Except as otherwise provided by this section, a voting
  system used in an election must be an auditable voting system.
         (c)  Except for a recount under Title 13, the electronic vote
  is the official record of the ballot. For a recount of ballots cast
  on a system involving direct recording electronic voting machines,
  the paper record or receipt copy is the official record of the vote
  cast.
         (d)  A paper record generated by an auditable voting system
  may be used only for the purposes described by this section and may
  not be retained by the voter.
         (e)  This section does not apply to an election held before
  March 1, 2024.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
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