86R7127 SRS-F
By: González of Dallas H.B. No. 1462
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the deadline for returning a ballot voted by mail.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 86.007(a) and (e), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A [Except as provided by Subsection (d), a] marked
ballot voted by mail must arrive at the address on the carrier
envelope:
(1) before the time the polls are required to close on
election day; or
(2) not later than the fifth day after the date of the
election [5 p.m. on the day after election day], if the carrier
envelope was placed for delivery by mail or common or contract
carrier before election day and bears a cancellation mark of a
common or contract carrier or a courier indicating a time not later
than 7 p.m. at the location of the election on election day.
(e) A delivery under Subsection (a)(2) [or (d)] is timely,
except as otherwise provided by this title, if the carrier envelope
or, if applicable, the envelope containing the carrier envelope:
(1) is properly addressed with postage or handling
charges prepaid; and
(2) bears a cancellation mark of a recognized postal
service or a receipt mark of a common or contract carrier or a
courier indicating a time before the deadline.
SECTION 2. Sections 87.125(a) and (a-1), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The early voting ballot board shall convene to count
ballots voted by mail that arrive at the address on the carrier
envelope after 5 p.m. on the day after election day and are timely
under Section 86.007 [described by Section 86.007(d)] at the time
set by the presiding judge of the board on the ninth day after the
date of an election or on an earlier day if the early voting clerk
certifies that all ballots voted by mail [mailed from outside the
United States] have been received.
(a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), for an election held
on the date of the general election for state and county officers,
the early voting ballot board shall convene to count ballots voted
by mail that arrive at the address on the carrier envelope after 5
p.m. on the day after election day and are timely under Section
86.007 [described by Sections 86.007(d) and (d-1)] not later than
the 13th day after the date of the election.
SECTION 3. Sections 86.007(d) and (g), Election Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.