82R1197 JRJ-D
By: Raymond H.B. No. 153
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to electioneering near certain privately owned polling
places.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 43.031, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as
follows:
(d) If a suitable public building is unavailable, the
polling place may be located in some other building, including a
building on a federal military base or facility with the permission
of the post or base commander, and any charge for its use is an
election expense. A polling place may not be located in a building
under this subsection unless electioneering is permitted on the
building's premises outside any [the] prescribed limits within
which electioneering is prohibited, except that a polling place may
be located in a building at which electioneering is not permitted if
it is the only building available for use as a polling place in the
election precinct.
(d-1) If the polling place is located in a building owned by
a private business, the owner of the business must notify the
authority holding the election whether electioneering will be
permitted within the area described by Section 61.003(a).
SECTION 2. Section 61.003, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a [A] person
commits an offense if, during the voting period and within 100 feet
of an outside door through which a voter may enter the building in
which a polling place is located, the person:
(1) loiters; or
(2) electioneers for or against any candidate,
measure, or political party.
(d) This section does not apply to a polling place located
in a building for which notice was provided under Section
43.031(d-1) that electioneering was permitted in the area described
by Subsection (a).
SECTION 3. Section 61.010(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person may not
wear a badge, insignia, emblem, or other similar communicative
device relating to a candidate, measure, or political party
appearing on the ballot, or to the conduct of the election, in the
polling place or within 100 feet of any outside door through which a
voter may enter the building in which the polling place is located.
This subsection does not apply to a polling place for which notice
was provided under Section 43.031(d-1) that electioneering was
permitted in the area described by Section 61.003(a).
SECTION 4. Section 62.010(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) If electioneering in the area described by Section
61.003(a) is prohibited, an [An] election officer shall place one
or more distance markers at the outer limits of the area within
which electioneering is prohibited.
SECTION 5. Section 85.036, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (b) to read
as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), during [During]
the time an early voting polling place is open for the conduct of
early voting, a person may not electioneer for or against any
candidate, measure, or political party in or within 100 feet of an
outside door through which a voter may enter the building or
structure in which the early voting polling place is located.
(b) This section does not apply to an early voting polling
place located in a building owned by a private business, if the
owner of the business notifies the early voting clerk that
electioneering is permitted within the area described by Subsection
(a).
(c) During the early voting period, the early voting clerk
shall keep continuously posted:
(1) at the entrance to the room or area, as applicable,
in which the early voting polling place is located, a sign on which
is printed in large letters "Early Voting Polling Place"; and
(2) unless electioneering near a polling place is
permitted under this section, at the outer limits of the area within
which electioneering is prohibited, a sign on which is printed in
large letters "Distance Marker. No electioneering between this
point and the entrance to the early voting polling place."
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.