85R10178 JRJ-D
By: Swanson H.B. No. 3686
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the acceptance of a voter at a polling place; creating
an offense; increasing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 63.001, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (i) to read as
follows:
(g) If the requirements for identification prescribed by
Subsection (b) are not met or the documentation presented by a voter
under Subsection (b) is not documentation listed under Section
63.0101 containing the voter's photograph, the voter may be
accepted for provisional voting only under Section 63.011. For a
voter who is not accepted for voting under this section, an election
officer [shall]:
(1) shall inform the voter of the voter's right to cast
a provisional ballot under Section 63.011; [and]
(2) shall provide the voter with written information,
in a form prescribed by the secretary of state, that:
(A) lists the requirements for identification;
(B) states the procedure for presenting
identification under Section 65.0541;
(C) includes a map showing the location where
identification must be presented; and
(D) includes notice that if all procedures are
followed and the voter is found to be eligible to vote and is voting
in the correct precinct, the voter's provisional ballot will be
accepted; and
(3) may, according to the policy of the county in which
the election officer serves, photograph the entire face of the
voter using secure equipment and software provided by the county
election board.
(i) A photograph of a voter obtained under Subsection (g)(3)
may not be used for the purposes of accepting a voter under
Subsection (b).
SECTION 2. Section 63.006(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) After the voter is accepted, an election officer shall[:
[(1)] indicate beside the voter's name on the poll list
that the voter was accepted under this section[; and
[(2) enter the voter's name on the registration
omissions list].
SECTION 3. Section 63.012, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 63.012. UNLAWFULLY ACCEPTING OR REFUSING TO ACCEPT
VOTER. (a) An election officer commits an offense if the officer
knowingly:
(1) permits an ineligible voter to vote other than as
provided by Section 63.011; [or]
(2) refuses to accept a person for voting whose
acceptance is required by this code; or
(3) permits an ineligible person to vote under Section
63.006.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an [An] offense
under this section is a Class A [B] misdemeanor.
(c) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under
Subsection (a)(3) that the election officer has committed three or
more offenses under Subsection (a)(3), the offense is a state jail
felony.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
63.012, Election Code, 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 at
the time of the offense, 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.