| 1 | 1 | | 85R13305 GRM-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Swanson H.B. No. 3643 |
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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 the assistance of voters; increasing a penalty. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Section 64.034, Election Code, is amended to |
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| 10 | 10 | | read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | Sec. 64.034. OATH. A person selected to provide assistance |
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| 12 | 12 | | to a voter must take the following oath, administered by an election |
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| 13 | 13 | | officer at the polling place, before providing assistance: |
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| 14 | 14 | | "I swear (or affirm) that I will not suggest, by word, sign, |
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| 15 | 15 | | or gesture, how the voter should vote; I will confine my assistance |
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| 16 | 16 | | to answering the voter's questions, to stating propositions on the |
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| 17 | 17 | | ballot, and to naming candidates and, if listed, their political |
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| 18 | 18 | | parties; I will prepare the voter's ballot as the voter directs; I |
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| 19 | 19 | | did not pressure or intimidate the voter in choosing me to provide |
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| 20 | 20 | | assistance; and I am not the voter's employer, an agent of the |
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| 21 | 21 | | voter's employer, or an officer or agent of a labor union to which |
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| 22 | 22 | | the voter belongs." |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 2. Section 37.02, Penal Code, is amended by |
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| 24 | 24 | | amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as |
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| 25 | 25 | | follows: |
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| 26 | 26 | | (b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor |
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| 27 | 27 | | except as provided by Subsection (c). |
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| 28 | 28 | | (c) The punishment for an offense under this section is a |
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| 29 | 29 | | state jail felony if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the |
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| 30 | 30 | | offense was a violation of Section 64.034, Election Code, and was |
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| 31 | 31 | | committed three or more times in a single election. |
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| 32 | 32 | | SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 33 | 33 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 34 | 34 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 35 | 35 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 36 | 36 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 37 | 37 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 38 | 38 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 39 | 39 | | before that date. |
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| 40 | 40 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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