By: Burkett, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Paxton) H.B. No. 148
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 29, 2013;
April 30, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 14, 2013, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 5, Nays 3; May 14, 2013, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to aid provided to certain voters; providing criminal
penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 86.0051, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (b-1) and (f) and amending Subsections (c), (d),
and (e) to read as follows:
(b-1) A person to whom Section 86.006(f)(4) applies may not
deposit in the mail or with a common or contract carrier more than
10 carrier envelopes containing ballots voted by other persons in
an election. This subsection does not apply to a carrier envelope
containing a ballot voted by a member of the armed forces of the
United States or the spouse or dependent of a member.
(c) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
violates Subsection (b) or (b-1) or knowingly directs a person to
engage in conduct that violates Subsection (b-1). It is not a
defense to an offense under this subsection that the voter
voluntarily gave another person possession of the voter's carrier
envelope.
(d) An offense under this section is a Class A [B]
misdemeanor, unless the person is convicted of an offense under
Section 64.036 for providing unlawful assistance to the same voter
in connection with the same ballot, in which event the offense is a
state jail felony.
(e) Subsections (a) and (c) do not apply if the person is
related to the applicant within the second degree by affinity or the
third degree by consanguinity, as determined under Subchapter B,
Chapter 573, Government Code[, or is registered to vote at the same
address as the applicant]. Subsection (c) does not apply to an
employee of a state licensed care facility or state-certified
facility not subject to state licensure where the voter resides who
is working in the normal course of the employee's authorized
duties.
(f) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for an
offense under this section that the person deposited carrier
envelopes containing ballots voted by another person if the voter
requested assistance from the person in depositing the envelope and
that assistance was provided in the course of the person's normal
duties as caretaker of the voter.
SECTION 2. Chapter 86, Election Code, is amended by adding
Section 86.0052 to read as follows:
Sec. 86.0052. COMPENSATION OF ANOTHER FOR COLLECTING
BALLOTING MATERIALS PROHIBITED. (a) A person commits an offense if
the person compensates another person to engage in conduct
prohibited by Section 86.0051(b-1).
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an offense under
this section is a misdemeanor punishable by:
(1) confinement in jail for a term of not more than one
year or less than 30 days; or
(2) confinement described by Subdivision (1) and a
fine not to exceed $4,000.
(c) An offense under this section is a state jail felony if
it is shown on the trial of an offense under this section that the
defendant was previously convicted two or more times under this
section.
SECTION 3. Section 86.006, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsection (j) to read as
follows:
(f) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
possesses an official ballot or official carrier envelope provided
under this code to another. Unless the person possessed the ballot
or carrier envelope with intent to defraud the voter or the election
authority, this subsection does not apply to a person who, on the
date of the offense, was:
(1) related to the voter within the second degree by
affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as determined under
Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code;
(2) registered to vote at the same address as the
voter;
(3) an early voting clerk or a deputy early voting
clerk;
(4) a person who possesses the carrier envelope in
order to deposit the envelope in the mail or with a common or
contract carrier and who provides the information required by
Section 86.0051(b) in accordance with that section;
(5) an employee of the United States Postal Service
working in the normal course of the employee's authorized duties;
[or]
(6) a common or contract carrier working in the normal
course of the carrier's authorized duties if the official ballot is
sealed in an official carrier envelope that is accompanied by an
individual delivery receipt for that particular carrier envelope;
or
(7) an employee of a state licensed care facility or
state-certified facility not subject to state licensure where the
voter resides who is working in the normal course of the employee's
authorized duties.
(j) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for an
offense under Subsection (f) that the person possessed an official
ballot or official carrier envelope provided to a voter, other than
the person, if the voter requested assistance from the person and
that assistance was provided in the course of the person's normal
duties as caretaker of the voter.
SECTION 4. Section 86.010(h), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(h) Subsection (f) does not apply if the person is related
to the applicant within the second degree by affinity or the third
degree by consanguinity, as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter
573, Government Code[, or is registered to vote at the same address
as the applicant].
SECTION 5. Section 86.013(d), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The following textual material, as prescribed by the
secretary of state, must be printed on the reverse side of the
official carrier envelope or on a separate sheet accompanying the
carrier envelope when it is provided:
(1) the prohibition prescribed by Section 86.006(b);
(2) the conditions for delivery by common or contract
carrier prescribed by Sections 81.005 and 86.006;
(3) the requirements for the legal execution and
delivery of the carrier envelope, including the limitation on
depositing carrier envelopes containing ballots voted by other
persons prescribed by Section 86.0051(b-1);
(4) the prohibition prescribed by Section 86.006(e);
and
(5) the offenses prescribed by Sections 86.006(f) and
86.010(f).
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 on the date 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 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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