86R9110 ADM-D
By: Dean H.B. No. 1817
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to assistance provided to a person applying for an early
voting ballot or voting an early voting ballot by mail; increasing a
criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 84.003(c), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) An offense under this section is a state jail felony
[Class A misdemeanor].
SECTION 2. Sections 86.010(c) and (e), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(c) The person assisting the voter must sign a written oath
[prescribed by Section 64.034] that is part of the certificate on
the official carrier envelope. The text of the oath must read as
follows:
"I swear (or affirm) that I will not suggest, by word, sign,
or gesture, how the voter should vote; I will confine my assistance
to answering the voter's questions, to stating propositions on the
ballot, and to naming candidates and, if listed, their political
parties; I will prepare the voter's ballot as the voter directs; and
I am not the voter's employer, an agent of the voter's employer, or
an officer or agent of a labor union to which the voter belongs. I
understand that if I violate these requirements, I am committing a
criminal offense."
(e) A person who assists a voter to prepare a ballot to be
voted by mail shall enter the person's signature, printed name,
[and] residence address, and the manner in which the person
assisted the voter on the official carrier envelope of the voter.
SECTION 3. Section 86.013(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Spaces must appear on the reverse side of the official
carrier envelope for:
(1) indicating the identity and date of the election;
[and]
(2) entering the signature, printed name, and
residence address of a person other than the voter who deposits the
carrier envelope in the mail or with a common or contract carrier;
and
(3) indicating the manner of any assistance provided
by a person assisting the voter.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.