85R6388 ADM-D
By: Laubenberg H.B. No. 3425
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to aid provided to certain voters; providing a criminal
penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 86.0051, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (a-1) and (d-1) and amending Subsections (d) and
(e) to read as follows:
(a-1) A person commits an offense if the person deposits in
the mail or with a common or contract carrier more than two carrier
envelopes containing ballots voted by other persons in an election.
It is not a defense to an offense under this subsection that the
voter voluntarily gave another person possession of the voter's
carrier envelope.
(d) An offense under Subsection (a) or (c) [this section] is
a Class B misdemeanor, unless the person is convicted of an offense
under Section 64.036 for providing unlawful assistance to the same
voter in connection with the same ballot, in which event the offense
is a state jail felony.
(d-1) An offense under Subsection (a-1) is a state jail
felony.
(e) Subsections (a), (a-1), and (c) do not apply if the
person is related to the applicant within the second degree by
affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as determined under
Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code, or is registered to
vote at the same address as the applicant.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.