88R2334 SGM-D

By: Slaton H.B. No. 5203

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the availability of paper ballots for a person voting by personal appearance.

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

SECTION 1. Section 51.005(a), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The authority responsible for procuring the election supplies for an election shall provide:

(1) for each election precinct, a number of ballots equal to at least the percentage of voters who voted in that precinct in the most recent corresponding election plus 25 percent of that number, except that the number of ballots provided may not exceed the total number of registered voters in the precinct; and

(2) unless the number of ballots provided to an election precinct is equal to the total number of registered voters in the precinct, the means to print additional paper ballots at each precinct polling place and early voting polling place.

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 125, Election Code, is amended by adding Section 125.0071 to read as follows:

Sec. 125.0071. PROVISION OF PAPER BALLOT TO CERTAIN VOTERS. (a) An election officer shall provide a paper ballot to a voter who requests a paper ballot.

(b) The secretary of state may prescribe procedures to implement this section.

SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply to an election ordered on or after the effective date of this Act. An election ordered before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the election was ordered, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2023.