BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 2681

By: Bettencourt

Elections

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under current law, a challenge to a voter's registration must be based on personal knowledge of the voter desiring to challenge the registration. The bill sponsor has informed the committee, however, that certain counties have been defining personal knowledge very narrowly for these purposes and inappropriately rejecting legitimate challenges to voter registrations. S.B. 2681 seeks to address this issue by expanding the grounds on which a third party may challenge a voter's registration.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 2681 amends the Election Code, with respect to the basis for a third-party challenge to a voter's registration and the sworn statement required from a voter desiring to challenge a registration that identifies the voter whose registration is being challenged, to include as an alternative basis to the statement of a specific qualification for registration that the challenged voter has not met based on the personal knowledge of the voter desiring to challenge the registration a statement of such a qualification that the challenged voter has not met based on a fact not subject to reasonable dispute because the fact is generally known or can be determined from a reliable source.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.