By: Turner of Harris, Wu H.B. No. 1958
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1958:
By: Morrison C.S.H.B. No. 1958
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to voting by voters unable to enter a polling place.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 64.009, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:
(e) The secretary of state shall adopt rules and procedures
to implement this section as follows:
(1) to inform and educate the public and provide
training for election officers regarding the availability of voting
under this section, eligibility requirements for voting under this
section, and the law regarding voting under this section;
(2) to develop recommended procedures for a voter who
is eligible to vote under this section to notify an election officer
of the need for assistance, including requiring an election officer
to develop a system to check outside the polling place for an
eligible voter;
(3) to require the posting of signs outside of a
polling place that indicate voting under this section is available,
where eligible voters should wait, how an eligible voter should
notify an election officer of the need for assistance, and a
telephone number of the officer who administers elections that an
eligible voter may call for assistance; and
(4) to require election officials to develop a
procedure for ensuring a voter who is eligible to vote under this
section is provided the opportunity to vote in the same order as if
the voter were voting inside the polling place.
(f) The secretary of state may withhold all or part of any
funds administered and distributed by the secretary of state,
including funds distributed under Chapter 19 or Section 31.009,
from a political subdivision that operates a polling place that
violates the requirements established under this section.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.