| 1 | 1 | | 86R4731 GRM-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Israel H.B. No. 1600 |
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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 procedures for submitting a ballot to be voted by mail; |
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| 8 | 8 | | creating an exception to the application of a criminal offense. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 86.006, Election Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | amending Subsections (a-1) and (f) to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a-1) The secretary of state shall prescribe a procedure for |
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| 13 | 13 | | the delivery of [The voter may deliver] a marked ballot in person |
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| 14 | 14 | | during the early voting period and on election day. The procedure |
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| 15 | 15 | | must provide: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (1) for a person to deliver the marked ballot to: |
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| 17 | 17 | | (A) during the early voting period or while the |
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| 18 | 18 | | polls are open on election day, the early voting clerk's office; |
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| 19 | 19 | | (B) during the early voting period, an election |
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| 20 | 20 | | officer at an early voting polling place where the voter who marked |
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| 21 | 21 | | the ballot is eligible to cast a ballot; or |
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| 22 | 22 | | (C) [only] while the polls are open on election |
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| 23 | 23 | | day, an election officer at a polling place where the voter who |
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| 24 | 24 | | marked the ballot is eligible to cast a ballot; |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2) for an election officer to accept a marked ballot |
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| 26 | 26 | | delivered in person before accepting others offering to vote at the |
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| 27 | 27 | | polling place who arrived before the person delivering the ballot; |
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| 28 | 28 | | (3) for the submission of a form prescribed by the |
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| 29 | 29 | | secretary of state that includes the following information: |
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| 30 | 30 | | (A) the name, address, and signature of the voter |
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| 31 | 31 | | who marked the ballot; and |
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| 32 | 32 | | (B) the name and address of the person delivering |
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| 33 | 33 | | the ballot; |
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| 34 | 34 | | (4) a requirement that for each election a person may |
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| 35 | 35 | | only deliver the person's own ballot and the ballot of one other |
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| 36 | 36 | | voter; and |
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| 37 | 37 | | (5) that a person[. A voter] who delivers the person's |
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| 38 | 38 | | own [a] marked ballot in person must present the documentation |
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| 39 | 39 | | required under Section 63.001 [an acceptable form of identification |
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| 40 | 40 | | described by Section 63.0101]. |
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| 41 | 41 | | (f) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly |
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| 42 | 42 | | possesses an official ballot or official carrier envelope provided |
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| 43 | 43 | | under this code to another. Unless the person possessed the ballot |
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| 44 | 44 | | or carrier envelope with intent to defraud the voter or the election |
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| 45 | 45 | | authority, this subsection does not apply to a person who, on the |
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| 46 | 46 | | date of the offense, was: |
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| 47 | 47 | | (1) related to the voter within the second degree by |
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| 48 | 48 | | affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as determined under |
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| 49 | 49 | | Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code; |
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| 50 | 50 | | (2) physically living in the same dwelling as the |
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| 51 | 51 | | voter; |
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| 52 | 52 | | (3) an early voting clerk or a deputy early voting |
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| 53 | 53 | | clerk; |
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| 54 | 54 | | (4) a person who possesses a ballot or carrier |
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| 55 | 55 | | envelope solely for the purpose of lawfully assisting a voter who |
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| 56 | 56 | | was eligible for assistance under Section 86.010 and complied fully |
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| 57 | 57 | | with: |
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| 58 | 58 | | (A) Section 86.010; and |
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| 59 | 59 | | (B) Section 86.0051, if assistance was provided |
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| 60 | 60 | | in order to deposit the envelope in the mail or with a common or |
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| 61 | 61 | | contract carrier; |
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| 62 | 62 | | (5) an employee of the United States Postal Service |
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| 63 | 63 | | working in the normal course of the employee's authorized duties; |
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| 64 | 64 | | [or] |
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| 65 | 65 | | (6) a common or contract carrier working in the normal |
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| 66 | 66 | | course of the carrier's authorized duties if the official ballot is |
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| 67 | 67 | | sealed in an official carrier envelope that is accompanied by an |
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| 68 | 68 | | individual delivery receipt for that particular carrier envelope; |
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| 69 | 69 | | or |
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| 70 | 70 | | (7) a person delivering the ballot of one other voter |
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| 71 | 71 | | under Subsection (a-1). |
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| 72 | 72 | | SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 73 | 73 | | an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
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| 74 | 74 | | offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed |
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| 75 | 75 | | by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the |
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| 76 | 76 | | former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
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| 77 | 77 | | this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
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| 78 | 78 | | this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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| 79 | 79 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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