81R8033 ATP-D
By: Bohac H.B. No. 3063
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a pilot program authorizing counties to use direct
recording electronic voting machines that produce paper records.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 129, Election Code, is amended by adding
Section 129.002 to read as follows:
Sec. 129.002. VOTER-VERIFIED PERMANENT PAPER RECORD PILOT
PROGRAM. (a) The secretary of state shall implement a program to
allow a county to require a voting system that uses direct recording
electronic voting machines to produce a voter-verified permanent
paper record suitable for a manual audit.
(b) The system must allow a voter:
(1) to inspect and verify the paper record before the
voter's ballot is recorded electronically; and
(2) an opportunity to make changes to the voter's
electronic ballot after reviewing the paper record.
(c) If the voter makes changes as allowed under Subsection
(b)(2), the system must invalidate the paper record that the voter
reviewed and generate a new paper record corresponding to the
changed vote. The new paper record must be reviewed by the voter in
the manner provided by Subsection (b).
(d) If the voter verifies that the paper record is correct,
the system shall record the voter's electronic vote and preserve
the paper records at the polling place in the same manner as paper
ballots are preserved to ensure that the paper records may be used
in a manual audit or recount.
(e) The commissioners court of a county that desires to
participate in the pilot program authorized by this section shall
submit an application to the secretary of state not later than the
180th day before the date of the election in which the county wishes
to use a voting system involving direct recording electronic voting
machines that produce a voter-verified permanent paper record. The
secretary of state shall approve the application of a county that
demonstrates that it has the capability to fulfill the requirements
of this section.
(f) 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
that produce voter-verified permanent paper records, the paper
record is the official record of the vote cast. The paper record
may be used for a manual audit of the system and shall be preserved
in the same manner as other paper records in an election.
(g) Not later than January 1, 2011, the secretary of state
shall submit a report to the legislature on the effectiveness of
voting systems involving direct recording electronic voting
machines that produce a voter-verified permanent paper record. The
report must include a detailed account of any recount conducted in a
county using such a voting system. This subsection expires
September 1, 2011.
(h) Before July 1, 2010, a county may not prohibit the use of
a voting system that:
(1) uses direct recording electronic machines;
(2) was approved by the secretary of state; and
(3) was used in an election held before September 1,
2009.
(i) Subsection (h) and this subsection expire July 1, 2010.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.