| 1 | 1 | | 82R6930 DRH-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: White, et al. H.B. No. 1502 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to allowing military voters on active duty overseas to |
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| 8 | 8 | | receive and cast a ballot electronically. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 101, Election Code, is amended by adding |
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| 11 | 11 | | Section 101.0072 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 101.0072. ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF BALLOTS TO AND |
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| 13 | 13 | | FROM OVERSEAS MILITARY PERSONNEL. (a) The secretary of state shall |
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| 14 | 14 | | prescribe procedures to allow the electronic transmission of |
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| 15 | 15 | | balloting materials to, and the electronic transmission of a voted |
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| 16 | 16 | | ballot by, a member of the armed forces of the United States who is |
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| 17 | 17 | | on active duty overseas for the general primary election, a runoff |
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| 18 | 18 | | primary election, or the general election for state and county |
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| 19 | 19 | | officers. |
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| 20 | 20 | | (b) The procedures must: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) require that the early voting clerk of a county |
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| 22 | 22 | | send balloting materials to an e-mail address in a form and manner |
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| 23 | 23 | | prescribed by the secretary of state if the voter: |
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| 24 | 24 | | (A) is an FPCA registrant and is eligible for |
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| 25 | 25 | | early voting by mail under Sections 101.001(1) and (2)(A); |
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| 26 | 26 | | (B) provides a current address that is located |
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| 27 | 27 | | outside the United States and is voting from outside the United |
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| 28 | 28 | | States; |
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| 29 | 29 | | (C) provides an e-mail address that contains the |
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| 30 | 30 | | voter's name and the suffix ".mil"; and |
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| 31 | 31 | | (D) requests that balloting materials be sent by |
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| 32 | 32 | | electronic transmission; |
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| 33 | 33 | | (2) provide for the verification of the voter; |
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| 34 | 34 | | (3) provide for the security of the transmission; and |
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| 35 | 35 | | (4) require the early voting clerk to maintain a |
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| 36 | 36 | | record of each ballot received under this section. |
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| 37 | 37 | | (c) An e-mail address provided under this section is |
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| 38 | 38 | | confidential and does not constitute public information for |
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| 39 | 39 | | purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code. The early voting clerk |
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| 40 | 40 | | shall ensure that an e-mail address provided under this section is |
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| 41 | 41 | | excluded from disclosure. |
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| 42 | 42 | | (d) If a voter returns both a voted ballot mailed to the |
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| 43 | 43 | | voter under Section 101.007(a) and a voted ballot transmitted |
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| 44 | 44 | | electronically under this section, only the ballot that was |
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| 45 | 45 | | transmitted electronically may be counted. |
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| 46 | 46 | | (e) The secretary of state may adopt rules as necessary to |
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| 47 | 47 | | implement this section. |
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| 48 | 48 | | SECTION 2. Section 105.001, Election Code, is repealed. |
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| 49 | 49 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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