| 1 | 1 | | 85R12927 ADM-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Klick H.B. No. 3386 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to consistency in election practices and procedures; |
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| 8 | 8 | | increasing the penalty for unlawful participation in a political |
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| 9 | 9 | | party's proceedings. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 66.058(a), Election Code, is amended to |
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| 12 | 12 | | read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (a) Except as otherwise provided by this code, the precinct |
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| 14 | 14 | | election records shall be preserved by the authority to whom they |
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| 15 | 15 | | are distributed[: |
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| 16 | 16 | | [(1) in an election involving a federal office,] for |
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| 17 | 17 | | at least 36 [22] months after election day [in accordance with |
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| 18 | 18 | | federal law; or |
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| 19 | 19 | | [(2) in an election not involving a federal office, |
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| 20 | 20 | | for at least six months after election day]. |
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| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 2. Section 127.152(c), Election Code, is amended to |
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| 22 | 22 | | read as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | (c) The general custodian of election records shall |
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| 24 | 24 | | preserve the test materials for the period for preserving the |
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| 25 | 25 | | precinct election records [at least one year after election day or |
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| 26 | 26 | | for at least 22 months after election day for an election involving |
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| 27 | 27 | | a federal office]. |
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| 28 | 28 | | SECTION 3. Section 129.023(f), Election Code, is amended to |
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| 29 | 29 | | read as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | (f) On completing the testing: |
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| 31 | 31 | | (1) the testing board shall witness and document all |
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| 32 | 32 | | steps taken to reset, seal, and secure any equipment or test |
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| 33 | 33 | | materials, as appropriate; and |
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| 34 | 34 | | (2) the general custodian for election records shall |
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| 35 | 35 | | preserve a copy of the system's software at a secure location that |
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| 36 | 36 | | is outside the administrator's and programming entity's control for |
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| 37 | 37 | | the period for preserving the precinct election records [until at |
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| 38 | 38 | | least 22 months after election day]. |
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| 39 | 39 | | SECTION 4. Section 162.014(b), Election Code, is amended to |
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| 40 | 40 | | read as follows: |
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| 41 | 41 | | (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second |
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| 42 | 42 | | degree unless the person is convicted of an attempt. In that case, |
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| 43 | 43 | | the offense is a state jail felony [Class C misdemeanor]. |
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| 44 | 44 | | SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act to Section |
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| 45 | 45 | | 162.014, Election Code, applies only to an offense committed on or |
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| 46 | 46 | | after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before |
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| 47 | 47 | | the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when |
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| 48 | 48 | | the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect |
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| 49 | 49 | | for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was |
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| 50 | 50 | | committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of |
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| 51 | 51 | | the offense occurred before that date. |
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| 52 | 52 | | SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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