By: Pea H.B. No. 3920
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the application for voter registration; providing
criminal penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 13.003, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(b) To be eligible for appointment as an agent to perform an
act under Subsection (a)(1), (3), (4), or (5), a person must:
(1) be the applicant's spouse, parent, or child; and
(2) be a qualified voter of the county or have
submitted a registration application and be otherwise eligible to
vote.
(c) Any person is eligible for appointment as an agent to
submit an application under Subsection (a)(2).
SECTION 2. Section 13.005(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person acts as an
agent for an applicant as described by Section 13.003(a)(1), (3),
(4), or (5) but is not eligible for appointment as an agent for
those acts under Section 13.003(b).
SECTION 3. Section 13.006(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person purports to
act as an agent in applying for registration or in signing a
registration application at a time when the person:
(1) is not an agent of the applicant under Section
13.003(a); and
(2) is not eligible for appointment under Section
13.003(b) or (c) as the agent of the person for whom the person
purports to act.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 13, Election Code, is
amended by adding Sections 13.008, 13.009, 13.010, 13.011, and
13.012 to read as follows:
Sec. 13.008. PERSONS WHO MAY REGISTER VOTERS. (a) To
encourage voter registration, a person may
(1) distribute voter registration application forms
throughout the county; and
(2) receive registration applications submitted to
the volunteer in person.
Sec. 13.009. HIGH SCHOOL VOLUNTEER REGISTRARS. A voter
registrar shall provide to each principal of a public or private
high school in the registrar's county or the principal's designee
voter registration application forms to be distributed to and
received in person from the school's students and employees.
Sec. 13.010. ISSUANCE OF RECEIPT. (a) On receipt of a
completed registration application, the person who receives the
application for delivery to the voter registrar shall prepare a
receipt in duplicate on a form furnished by the registrar.
(b) The receipt must contain:
(1) the name of the applicant and, if applicable, the
name of the applicant's agent; and
(2) the date the completed application is submitted to
the person.
(c) The person receiving the application shall sign the
receipt in the applicant's presence and shall give the original to
the applicant.
(d) The person receiving the application shall deliver the
duplicate receipt to the registrar with the registration
application. The registrar shall retain the receipt on file with
the application.
(e) The secretary of state may prescribe a procedure that is
an alternative to the procedure prescribed by this section that
will ensure the accountability of the registration applications.
Sec. 13.011. DELIVERY OF APPLICATION TO REGISTRAR. (a) A
person who receives a voter registration application from another
person shall deliver in person to the voter registrar each
completed application as provided by this section. The secretary
of state shall prescribe any procedures necessary to ensure the
proper and timely delivery of completed applications given to a
person who offers to deliver the application to the registrar on
behalf of the applicant.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a person who
offers to deliver the application to the registrar on behalf of the
applicant shall deliver the application to the registrar not later
than 5 p.m. of the fifth day after the date the person receives the
application.
(c) An application submitted after the 20th day and before
the 14th day before the date of an election in which any qualified
voter of the county is eligible to vote shall be delivered not later
than 5 p.m. of the 14th day before election day.
Sec. 13.012. FAILURE TO DELIVER APPLICATION. (a) A person
who receives a voter registration application from another person
commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly fails
to comply with Section 13.011.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an offense under
this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor
if the person's failure to comply is intentional.
SECTION 5. Section 20.037(c), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) An application form delivered by mail must be
accompanied by a notice informing the applicant that the
application may be submitted in person or by mail to the voter
registrar of the county in which the applicant resides [or in person
to a volunteer deputy registrar for delivery to the voter registrar
of the county in which the applicant resides].
SECTION 6. Section 20.122(c), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) The application forms must be accompanied by a notice
informing the licensees that the applications may be submitted in
person or by mail to the voter registrar of the county in which they
reside [or in person to a volunteer deputy registrar for delivery to
the voter registrar of the county in which they reside].
SECTION 7. Section 31.040(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The commissioners court or the administrator may
require any or all of the administrator's deputies[, other than
unpaid volunteer deputy registrars,] to give a bond similar to that
required of the administrator in an amount not exceeding the amount
of the administrator's bond.
SECTION 8. Section 31.161(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The joint elections commission or the joint elections
administrator may require any or all of the administrator's
deputies[, other than unpaid volunteer deputy registrars,] to give
a bond similar to that required of the administrator in an amount
not exceeding the amount of the administrator's bond.
SECTION 9. Subchapter B, Chapter 13, Election Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 10. The repeal by this Act of Sections 13.043,
13.044, and 13.046(g), Election Code, does not apply to an offense
committed under one of those sections before the effective date of
this Act. An offense committed under Section 13.043, 13.044, or
13.046(g), Election Code, is governed by the law in effect when the
offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 11. The changes in law made by this Act apply only
to a voter registration application submitted on or after the
effective date of this Act. The submission of a voter registration
application before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect when the application was submitted, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.