By: Bettencourt  S.B. No. 1911
         (In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2023; March 20, 2023, read
  first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  April 5, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 2; April 5, 2023,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1911 By:  Hughes
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to election supplies and the conduct of elections;
  creating criminal offenses; increasing criminal penalties.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 51.005, Election Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (d) to
  read as follows:
         (a)  The authority responsible for procuring the election
  supplies for an election shall provide 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.
         (a-1)  The[, except that the] number of ballots provided may
  not exceed the total number of registered voters in the precinct
  unless the county participates in the countywide polling place
  program under Section 43.007.
         (d)  The authority responsible for procuring the election
  supplies for an election commits an offense if the authority
  intentionally fails to provide an election precinct with the
  required number of ballots under this section. An offense under
  this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
         SECTION 2.  Section 51.008, Election Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  The authority responsible for procuring the election
  supplies for an election commits an offense if the authority
  intentionally fails to promptly supplement the distributed ballots
  upon request by a polling place. An offense under this subsection
  is a Class A misdemeanor.
         SECTION 3.  Section 51.010(c), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (c)  An offense under this section is a Class A [C]
  misdemeanor.
         SECTION 4.  Section 51.011(b), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  An offense under this section is a state jail felony
  [Class C misdemeanor].
         SECTION 5.  Section 61.007(b), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  An offense under this section is a state jail felony
  [Class A misdemeanor].
         SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
  51.010, 51.011, and 61.007, Election Code, apply only to an offense
  committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense
  committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
  law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former
  law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
  section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this
  Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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