87R3936 SGM-F
By: Thompson of Harris H.B. No. 1573
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of a movable structure as a polling place in a
county participating in the countywide polling place program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 43.007, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (q) to read as follows:
(q) A movable structure may be designated for use as a
polling place by the commissioner's court of a county that
participates in the program.
SECTION 2. Sections 43.031(b) and (c), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this code, each [Each]
polling place shall be located inside a building.
(c) A [The] building selected for use as a polling place
shall be a public building if practicable. The entity that owns or
controls a public building shall make the building available for
use as a polling place in any election that covers territory in
which the building is located. If more than one authority requests
the use of the building for the same day and simultaneous use is
impracticable, the entity that owns or controls the building shall
determine which authority may use the building.
SECTION 3. Section 61.003(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if, during the voting period
and within 100 feet of an entrance to [outside door through which a
voter may enter] the building or structure in which a polling place
is located, the person:
(1) loiters; or
(2) electioneers for or against any candidate,
measure, or political party.
SECTION 4. Section 61.007(c), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Beginning at 9:30 a.m. and at each subsequent two-hour
interval through 5:30 p.m., the presiding judge shall post written
notice of the total number of voters who have voted in the precinct.
The notice shall be posted [at an] outside [door through which a
voter may enter the building in which] the polling place [is
located].
SECTION 5. Section 62.004, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 62.004. ARRANGING VOTING STATIONS. The voting
stations shall be arranged so that:
(1) the voting area is in view of the election
officers, watchers, and persons waiting to vote but is separated
from the persons waiting to vote;
(2) unauthorized access to the voting area [through
any entrance other than one designated by the presiding judge] is
prevented; and
(3) the voting area is adequately lighted.
SECTION 6. Section 64.001(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) After a voter is accepted for voting, the voter shall
select a ballot[, go to a voting station,] and then prepare the
ballot at a voting station.
SECTION 7. Section 85.036(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) During the time an early voting polling place is open
for the conduct of early voting, a person may not electioneer for or
against any candidate, measure, or political party in or within 100
feet of an entrance to [outside door through which a voter may
enter] the building or structure in which the early voting polling
place is located.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.