By: Miller of Fort Bend H.B. No. 1565
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to electors for president and vice president.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 192.003, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 192.003. METHOD OF BECOMING ELECTOR CANDIDATE. To
become a presidential elector candidate, a person must be nominated
as a political party's elector candidate in accordance with party
rules or named as an elector candidate by an independent or write-in
candidate for president, and execute the pledge required by Section
192.0031.
SECTION 2. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election
Code is amended by adding Section 192.0031, Election Code, to read
as follows:
Sec. 192.0031. PLEDGE. Each elector candidate of a
political party shall execute the following pledge: "If selected
for the position of elector, I agree to serve and to mark my ballots
for President and Vice President for the nominees for those offices
of the party that nominated me." Each elector candidate of an
independent or write-in presidential candidate shall execute the
following pledge: "If selected for the position of elector as a
nominee of an independent or write-in presidential candidate, I
agree to serve and to mark my ballots for that candidate and for
that candidate's vice-presidential running mate." The executed
pledges must accompany the submission of the corresponding names to
the Secretary of State.
SECTION 3. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election
Code is amended by adding Section 192.0051, Election Code, to read
as follows:
Sec. 192.0051. CERTIFICATION OF ELECTORS. In submitting
this state's certificate of ascertainment as required by 3 U.S.C.
Section 6, the Governor shall certify this state's electors and
state in the certificate that:
(1) the electors will serve as electors unless a
vacancy occurs in the office of elector before the end of the
meeting at which elector votes are cast, in which case a substitute
elector will fill the vacancy; and
(2) if a substitute elector is appointed to fill a
vacancy, the Governor will submit an amended certificate of
ascertainment stating the names on the final list of this state's
electors.
SECTION 4. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election
Code is amended by adding Section 192.0061, Election Code, to read
as follows:
Sec. 192.0061. ELECTOR VOTING. (a) At the time designated
for elector voting and after all vacant positions have been filled
under Section 6, the chair of electors shall provide each elector
with a presidential and a vice- presidential ballot. The elector
shall mark the elector's presidential and vice-presidential
ballots with the elector's votes for the offices of President and
Vice President, respectively, along with the elector's signature
and the elector's legibly printed name.
(b) Each elector shall present both completed ballots to the
chair of electors, who shall examine the ballots and accept as cast
all ballots of electors whose votes are consistent with their
pledges executed under Section 192.0031 or Section 192.007(c). The
chair of electors may not accept and may not count either an
elector's presidential or vice- presidential ballot if the elector
has not marked both ballots or has marked a ballot in violation of
the elector's pledge.
(c) An elector who refuses to present a ballot, presents an
unmarked ballot, or presents a ballot marked in violation of the
elector's pledge executed under Section 192.0031 or Section
192.007(c) vacates the office of elector, creating a vacant
position to be filled under Section 192.007.
(d) The chair of electors shall distribute ballots to and
collect ballots from a substitute elector and repeat the process
under this section of examining ballots, declaring and filling
vacant positions as required, and recording appropriately
completed ballots from the substituted electors, until all of this
state's electoral votes have been cast and recorded.
SECTION 5. Section 192.007, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 192.007. REPLACEMENT AFTER ELECTION. (a) The electors
meeting to vote for president and vice-president may appoint a
replacement elector by a majority vote of the qualified electors
present if:
(1) the vacancy occurred before presidential election
day and a replacement was not chosen under Section 192.004;
(2) on or after presidential election day, an elector
is declared ineligible or dies; or
(3) the vacancy is declared under Section 192.006(c).
(b) The chair of the electors shall notify the secretary of
state of the name and residence address of a replacement elector
immediately on the replacement's appointment.
(c) To qualify as a replacement elector under subsection
(a), an individual who has not executed the pledge required under
Section 192.0031 shall execute the following pledge: "I agree to
serve and to mark my ballots for President and Vice President
consistent with the pledge of the individual to whose elector
position I have succeeded."
SECTION 6. Title 11, Chapter 192, Subchapter A, Election
Code is amended by adding Section 192.0071, Election Code, to read
as follows:
Sec. 192.0071. ELECTOR REPLACEMENT; ASSOCIATED
CERTIFICATES. (a) After the vote of this state's electors is
completed, if the final list of electors differs from any list that
the Governor previously included on a certificate of ascertainment
prepared and transmitted under 3 U.S.C. Section 6, the Secretary of
State immediately shall prepare an amended certificate of
ascertainment and transmit it to the Governor for the [Governor's
signature.
(b) The Governor immediately shall deliver the signed
amended certificate of ascertainment to the Secretary of State and
a signed duplicate original of the amended certificate of
ascertainment to all individuals entitled to receive this state's
certificate of ascertainment, indicating that the amended
certificate of ascertainment is to be substituted for the
certificate of ascertainment previously submitted.
(c) The Secretary of State shall prepare a certificate of
vote. The electors on the final list shall sign the certificate. The
Secretary of State shall process and transmit the signed
certificate with the amended certificate of ascertainment under 3
U.S.C. Sections 9, 10, and 11.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.