Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB3636 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R15627 T
2	2	By: Hughes H.B. No. 3636
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the use of direct recording electronic voting machines.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Chapter 129, Election Code, is amended by adding
10	10	Sections 129.002 and 129.003 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 129.002. PAPER AUDIT TRAIL REQUIRED. (a) Except as
12	12	provided by Subsection (e), a voting system that consists of direct
13	13	recording electronic voting machines may not be used in an election
14	14	unless the system:
15	15	(1) has:
16	16	(A) been certified or otherwise approved by means
17	17	of qualification testing by a nationally recognized test
18	18	laboratory; and
19	19	(B) met or exceeded the minimum requirements
20	20	contained in "Performance and Test Standards for Punch Card, Mark
21	21	Sense, and Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems" or a
22	22	successor voluntary standards document developed and adopted by the
23	23	Federal Election Commission, the Election Assistance Commission,
24	24	or the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and
25	25	(2) creates a contemporaneous auditable paper record
26	26	copy of each electronic ballot that allows a voter to confirm the
27	27	choices the voter made through both a visual and a nonvisual method,
28	28	such as through an audio component, before the voter casts the
29	29	ballot.
30	30	(b) A voter must be allowed to privately and independently
31	31	view the paper record copy required under Subsection (a)(2) without
32	32	being allowed to handle the copy. Once the voter has confirmed that
33	33	the paper record copy corresponds to the vote the voter has
34	34	indicated electronically, the vote may be recorded electronically
35	35	and the paper record copy must be deposited in a secure storage
36	36	container. If the voter finds that the paper record copy does not
37	37	correspond to the voter's choices indicated electronically, the
38	38	system must:
39	39	(1) invalidate or otherwise spoil the paper record
40	40	copy;
41	41	(2) allow the voter to review the choices the voter
42	42	made electronically; and
43	43	(3) generate a new paper record copy for the voter to
44	44	review as provided by this subsection.
45	45	(c) The paper record copy must:
46	46	(1) indicate the voter's choice on each office or
47	47	measure for which the voter cast a vote and indicate the offices and
48	48	measures for which the voter did not cast a vote;
49	49	(2) be printed in the same language that the voter used
50	50	to cast the voter's electronic vote; and
51	51	(3) be designed to be read electronically.
52	52	(d) Except for a recount under Title 13, the electronic vote
53	53	is the official record of the ballot. For a recount of ballots cast
54	54	on a system involving direct recording electronic voting machines,
55	55	the paper record copy is the official record of the vote cast.
56	56	(e) A system involving direct recording electronic voting
57	57	machines that was acquired before January 1, 2008, may be used in an
58	58	election without meeting the requirements of this section only if:
59	59	(1) a voter has the option of casting a paper ballot
60	60	instead of using the machine;
61	61	(2) a permanent record of each ballot is created at the
62	62	time the ballot is cast or during the local canvass of the votes;
63	63	(3) the system is subject to parallel monitoring; and
64	64	(4) at least 46 days before the date the system is to
65	65	be used for voting, the authority responsible for holding the
66	66	election submits a technical security plan for the system to the
67	67	secretary of state.
68	68	(f) The record created under Subsection (e)(2) may be in a
69	69	paper format or be an electronically recorded image.
70	70	Sec. 129.003. REQUIREMENTS FOR SYSTEM USING DIRECT
71	71	RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES. (a) On request of the
72	72	secretary of state, the authority adopting a system that uses
73	73	direct recording electronic voting machines must provide:
74	74	(1) the source code for any software and firmware used
75	75	as part of the system;
76	76	(2) all documents relating to the federal
77	77	qualification process; and
78	78	(3) complete documentation of all hardware, software,
79	79	and firmware components, including detailed change logs, and
80	80	documentation regarding the development process.
81	81	(b) Not later than the 90th day before the date a system
82	82	using direct recording electronic voting machines will be used in
83	83	an election, the authority responsible for holding the election
84	84	shall submit to the secretary of state a physical security plan for
85	85	the system.
86	86	(c) Not later than the 46th day before the date a system
87	87	using direct recording electronic voting machines will be used in
88	88	an election, the authority responsible for holding the election
89	89	shall submit to the secretary of state:
90	90	(1) all changes or modifications to the system that
91	91	might impair the accuracy and efficiency of the system, unless the
92	92	secretary of state specifically provides otherwise;
93	93	(2) a training plan for election officers at each
94	94	polling place; and
95	95	(3) a communication plan explaining the manner in
96	96	which election officers at each polling place will communicate on
97	97	election day.
98	98	(d) A component of a system that uses direct recording
99	99	electronic voting machines may not:
100	100	(1) transmit or receive official election results
101	101	through an exterior communication network;
102	102	(2) permit wireless communication to be transmitted or
103	103	received; or
104	104	(3) be connected to the Internet.
105	105	(e) A provisional vote may not be cast on a direct recording
106	106	electronic voting machine.
107	107	(f) A disability access device must be connected to a direct
108	108	recording electronic voting machine before the machine is used for
109	109	voting.
110	110	(g) At each polling place at which a direct recording
111	111	electronic voting machine is used for voting, postings must
112	112	indicate the penalties for tampering with the machines in each
113	113	language used at that polling place for the ballot.
114	114	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect July 1, 2010.