H.B. No. 2449
AN ACT
relating to the procedures for voting ballots by mail.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 86.006, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g-1) to read as follows:
(g-1) When ballots or carrier envelopes are obtained in
violation of this section pursuant to one scheme or continuing
course of conduct, whether from the same or several sources, the
conduct may be considered as one offense and the number of ballots
or carrier envelopes aggregated in determining the grade of the
offense.
SECTION 2. Section 86.014(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A copy of an application for a ballot to be voted by mail
is not available for public inspection, except to the voter seeking
to verify that the information pertaining to the voter is accurate,
until the first business day after [may be obtained from the early
voting clerk:
[(1) 72 hours after the time a ballot is mailed to the
voter; or
[(2) 48 hours after the time a ballot is mailed to the
voter if the mailing occurs on the fourth day before] election day.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2449 was passed by the House on May
13, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 112, Nays 16, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2449 on May 26, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 1,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2449 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays
3.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor