By: Martinez Fischer H.B. No. 111
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing for voter registration at a polling place
during early voting by personal appearance and related procedures.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 12, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 12.007 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.007. CERTAIN ELECTION OFFICERS ARE VOTER
REGISTRARS. An election officer serving a polling place for early
voting by personal appearance is a deputy voter registrar and has
the same authority as a regular deputy registrar.
SECTION 2. Section 65.051(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The early voting ballot board shall verify and count
provisional ballots as provided by this subchapter not later than
the 10th [seventh] day after the date of an election.
SECTION 3. Section 65.054, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), a [A]
provisional ballot may be accepted only if the board determines
that, from the information in the affidavit or contained in public
records, the person is eligible to vote in the election and has not
previously voted in that election.
(b-1) A provisional ballot cast under Section 85.0312 shall
be accepted if the voter registrar determines the applicant is
eligible for registration under Section 85.0312(d).
SECTION 4. Section 67.003, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 67.003. TIME FOR LOCAL CANVASS. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), each local canvassing authority shall
convene to conduct the local canvass at the time set by the
canvassing authority's presiding officer not earlier than the 11th
[eighth] day or later than the 14th [11th] day after election day.
(b) For an election held on the uniform election date in
May, the local canvass must occur not later than the 14th [11th] day
after election day and not earlier than the later of:
(1) the third day after election day;
(2) the date on which the early voting ballot board has
verified and counted all provisional ballots, if a provisional
ballot has been cast in the election; or
(3) the date on which all timely received ballots cast
from addresses outside of the United States are counted, if a ballot
to be voted by mail in the election was provided to a person outside
of the United States.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 85, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 85.0312 to read as follows:
Sec. 85.0312. REGISTRATION AT POLLING PLACE DURING EARLY
VOTING WITH PRESENTATION OF PHOTO IDENTIFICATION. (a) A person who
would be eligible to vote in an election under Section 11.001, but
for the requirement to be a registered voter, shall be accepted
during early voting by personal appearance for voting the ballot
for the precinct of the person's residence as shown by the
identification presented if, on the day the person offers to vote,
the person:
(1) submits a voter registration application that
complies with Section 13.002 to an election officer at the polling
place; and
(2) presents as proof of residence a photo
identification under Section 63.0101(a) that states the person's
current address on the day the person seeks to vote.
(b) The election officer shall return the original proof of
residence to the voter.
(c) A person voting under this section shall vote a
provisional ballot in the manner provided by Section 63.011 except
that the person is not required to submit the affidavit under
Section 63.011(a).
(d) For each registration corresponding to a ballot cast
under this section, the voter registrar shall review the
application and determine whether the applicant is eligible for
registration as provided by Subchapter C, Chapter 13. The
registrar shall inform the early voting ballot board of a
determination made under this subsection. A registration approved
under this subsection takes effect on the date the vote was cast.
(e) The secretary of state may by rule:
(1) designate additional documents that a person may
offer to prove the person's residence to register and vote under
this section; and
(2) prescribe procedures to implement this section.
(f) An authority holding an election that does not include a
statewide or federal election is not required to comply with this
section.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015
.