85R849 SRS-D
By: Taylor of Collin S.B. No. 375
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing a voter in a party primary notice of party
conventions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.003(b)(1), Election Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(1) "Electioneering" includes the posting, use, or
distribution of political signs or literature. The term does not
include the distribution of a notice of a party convention
authorized under Section 172.1114.
SECTION 2. Section 162.004(c), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) If a voter is accepted to vote without presenting a
registration certificate, the presiding judge shall issue the voter
an affiliation certificate. The certificate is not required to be
issued to a voter in a runoff primary unless the voter requests it.
An affiliation certificate issued under this subsection may be
combined with the notice provided under Section 172.1114.
SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 172, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 172.1114 to read as follows:
Sec. 172.1114. DISTRIBUTION OF NOTICE OF CONVENTIONS. (a)
A political party may prepare a notice not larger than letter-sized
for distribution to each voter participating in the party's primary
election at the time the voter is accepted for voting by personal
appearance.
(b) The notice may include:
(1) information describing the party's convention
process;
(2) information detailing the time and place of the
party's first level convention process;
(3) contact information for the county and state
political parties; and
(4) website links for information and registration for
party conventions.
(c) The state chair of a political party shall prescribe a
form for a notice approved by the secretary of state that may be
used in any county.
(d) A county chair of a political party that elects to
distribute a notice prepared under this section shall supply a
notice to the authority conducting the election not later than the
45th day before the date early voting by personal appearance
begins.
(e) The secretary of state shall prescribe procedures and
adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.