H.B. No. 1151
AN ACT
relating to the deadline for returning a ballot voted by mail.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 86.007, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (d), (e), and (f) and adding Subsection
(d-1) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a marked ballot
voted by mail must arrive at the address on the carrier envelope:
(1) before the time the polls are required to close on
election day; or
(2) not later than 5 p.m. on the day after election
day, if the carrier envelope was placed for delivery by mail or
common or contract carrier before election day and bears a
cancellation mark of a common or contract carrier or a courier
indicating a time not later than 7 p.m. at the location of the
election on election day.
(d) A marked ballot voted by mail that arrives after the
time prescribed by Subsection (a) shall be counted if:
(1) the ballot was cast from an address outside the
United States;
(2) the carrier envelope was placed for delivery
before the time the ballot is required to arrive under Subsection
(a)(1) [(a)]; and
(3) the ballot arrives at the address on the carrier
envelope not later than the fifth day after the date of the
election.
(d-1) If the deadline for the arrival of a ballot voted by
mail[, except that if that date] falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or
legal state or national holiday, then the deadline is extended to
the next regular business day.
(e) A delivery under Subsection (a)(2) or (d) [(d)(2)] is
timely, except as otherwise provided by this title, if the carrier
envelope or, if applicable, the envelope containing the carrier
envelope:
(1) is properly addressed with postage or handling
charges prepaid; and
(2) [is sent from an address outside the United
States; and
[(3)] bears a cancellation mark of a recognized postal
service or a receipt mark of a common or contract carrier or a
courier indicating a time before the deadline.
(f) The [If the] envelope must [does not] bear the
cancellation mark or receipt mark as required by Subsection (e)(2)
[(e)(3), a delivery under Subsection (d)(1) is presumed] to be
timely [if the other requirements] under this section [are met].
[Section 1.006 does not apply to Subsection (d)(3).]
SECTION 2. Section 87.125(a-1), Election Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), for an election held
on the date of the general election for state and county officers,
the early voting ballot board shall convene to count ballots voted
by mail described by Sections [Section] 86.007(d) and (d-1) not
later than the 13th day after the date of the election.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1151 was passed by the House on May
12, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1151 was passed by the Senate on May
23, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor