Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB1565 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Miller of Fort Bend H.B. No. 1565
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to electors for president and vice president.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. Section 192.003, Election Code, is amended to
9	9	read as follows:
10	10	Sec. 192.003. METHOD OF BECOMING ELECTOR CANDIDATE. To
11	11	become a presidential elector candidate, a person must be nominated
12	12	as a political party's elector candidate in accordance with party
13	13	rules or named as an elector candidate by an independent or write-in
14	14	candidate for president, and execute the pledge required by Section
15	15	192.0031.
16	16	SECTION 2. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election
17	17	Code is amended by adding Section 192.0031, Election Code, to read
18	18	as follows:
19	19	Sec. 192.0031. PLEDGE. Each elector candidate of a
20	20	political party shall execute the following pledge: "If selected
21	21	for the position of elector, I agree to serve and to mark my ballots
22	22	for President and Vice President for the nominees for those offices
23	23	of the party that nominated me." Each elector candidate of an
24	24	independent or write-in presidential candidate shall execute the
25	25	following pledge: "If selected for the position of elector as a
26	26	nominee of an independent or write-in presidential candidate, I
27	27	agree to serve and to mark my ballots for that candidate and for
28	28	that candidate's vice-presidential running mate." The executed
29	29	pledges must accompany the submission of the corresponding names to
30	30	the Secretary of State.
31	31	SECTION 3. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election
32	32	Code is amended by adding Section 192.0051, Election Code, to read
33	33	as follows:
34	34	Sec. 192.0051. CERTIFICATION OF ELECTORS. In submitting
35	35	this state's certificate of ascertainment as required by 3 U.S.C.
36	36	Section 6, the Governor shall certify this state's electors and
37	37	state in the certificate that:
38	38	(1) the electors will serve as electors unless a
39	39	vacancy occurs in the office of elector before the end of the
40	40	meeting at which elector votes are cast, in which case a substitute
41	41	elector will fill the vacancy; and
42	42	(2) if a substitute elector is appointed to fill a
43	43	vacancy, the Governor will submit an amended certificate of
44	44	ascertainment stating the names on the final list of this state's
45	45	electors.
46	46	SECTION 4. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election
47	47	Code is amended by adding Section 192.0061, Election Code, to read
48	48	as follows:
49	49	Sec. 192.0061. ELECTOR VOTING. (a) At the time designated
50	50	for elector voting and after all vacant positions have been filled
51	51	under Section 6, the chair of electors shall provide each elector
52	52	with a presidential and a vice- presidential ballot. The elector
53	53	shall mark the elector's presidential and vice-presidential
54	54	ballots with the elector's votes for the offices of President and
55	55	Vice President, respectively, along with the elector's signature
56	56	and the elector's legibly printed name.
57	57	(b) Each elector shall present both completed ballots to the
58	58	chair of electors, who shall examine the ballots and accept as cast
59	59	all ballots of electors whose votes are consistent with their
60	60	pledges executed under Section 192.0031 or Section 192.007(c). The
61	61	chair of electors may not accept and may not count either an
62	62	elector's presidential or vice- presidential ballot if the elector
63	63	has not marked both ballots or has marked a ballot in violation of
64	64	the elector's pledge.
65	65	(c) An elector who refuses to present a ballot, presents an
66	66	unmarked ballot, or presents a ballot marked in violation of the
67	67	elector's pledge executed under Section 192.0031 or Section
68	68	192.007(c) vacates the office of elector, creating a vacant
69	69	position to be filled under Section 192.007.
70	70	(d) The chair of electors shall distribute ballots to and
71	71	collect ballots from a substitute elector and repeat the process
72	72	under this section of examining ballots, declaring and filling
73	73	vacant positions as required, and recording appropriately
74	74	completed ballots from the substituted electors, until all of this
75	75	state's electoral votes have been cast and recorded.
76	76	SECTION 5. Section 192.007, Election Code, is amended to
77	77	read as follows:
78	78	Sec. 192.007. REPLACEMENT AFTER ELECTION. (a) The electors
79	79	meeting to vote for president and vice-president may appoint a
80	80	replacement elector by a majority vote of the qualified electors
81	81	present if:
82	82	(1) the vacancy occurred before presidential election
83	83	day and a replacement was not chosen under Section 192.004;
84	84	(2) on or after presidential election day, an elector
85	85	is declared ineligible or dies; or
86	86	(3) the vacancy is declared under Section 192.006(c).
87	87	(b) The chair of the electors shall notify the secretary of
88	88	state of the name and residence address of a replacement elector
89	89	immediately on the replacement's appointment.
90	90	(c) To qualify as a replacement elector under subsection
91	91	(a), an individual who has not executed the pledge required under
92	92	Section 192.0031 shall execute the following pledge: "I agree to
93	93	serve and to mark my ballots for President and Vice President
94	94	consistent with the pledge of the individual to whose elector
95	95	position I have succeeded."
96	96	SECTION 6. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election
97	97	Code is amended by adding Section 192.0071, Election Code, to read
98	98	as follows:
99	99	Sec. 192.0071. ELECTOR REPLACEMENT; ASSOCIATED
100	100	CERTIFICATES. (a) After the vote of this state's electors is
101	101	completed, if the final list of electors differs from any list that
102	102	the Governor previously included on a certificate of ascertainment
103	103	prepared and transmitted under 3 U.S.C. Section 6, the Secretary of
104	104	State immediately shall prepare an amended certificate of
105	105	ascertainment and transmit it to the Governor for the [Governor's
106	106	signature.
107	107	(b) The Governor immediately shall deliver the signed
108	108	amended certificate of ascertainment to the Secretary of State and
109	109	a signed duplicate original of the amended certificate of
110	110	ascertainment to all individuals entitled to receive this state's
111	111	certificate of ascertainment, indicating that the amended
112	112	certificate of ascertainment is to be substituted for the
113	113	certificate of ascertainment previously submitted.
114	114	(c) The Secretary of State shall prepare a certificate of
115	115	vote. The electors on the final list shall sign the certificate. The
116	116	Secretary of State shall process and transmit the signed
117	117	certificate with the amended certificate of ascertainment under 3
118	118	U.S.C. Sections 9, 10, and 11.
119	119	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.