87R6731 ADM-D
By: Paul H.B. No. 2266
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appointment of election officers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 32.002, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c-1) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
follows:
(c-1) For purposes of this subsection, the county chair
shall provide a list of names of persons eligible for appointment as
election judges. Judges of countywide polling places established
under Section 43.007 must be appointed from the list of names of
persons submitted by the county chair in compliance with Subsection
(c) except that in appointing a person from the list the
commissioners court shall apportion the number of judges in direct
proportion to the percentage of precincts located in each county
commissioners precinct won by each party in the last gubernatorial
election, the commissioners court is not required to make the
appointments based on specific polling locations or precincts, a
presiding judge or alternate presiding judge is not required to
serve in a polling place located in the precinct in which the judge
resides, and more than one presiding judge or alternate presiding
judge may be selected from the same precinct to serve in polling
places not located in the precinct in which the judges reside. The
county chairs may submit, and the commissioners court may
preapprove, the appointment of more presiding judges or alternate
presiding judges than necessary to fill available positions. The
county clerk may select an individual whose appointment was
preapproved by the commissioners court to fill a vacancy in a
position that was held by an individual from the same political
party. [Other than a judge's party affiliation, nothing in this
subsection precludes a county clerk from placing an election
officer at a countywide polling place based on the need for services
at that location.]
(h) A person may not be appointed as presiding judge or
alternate presiding judge for a county election except as
explicitly provided by this section.
SECTION 2. Section 32.034, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) A person may not be appointed as a clerk for an election
described by Subsection (a) except as explicitly provided by this
section.
SECTION 3. Section 87.002, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) A person may not serve as a member of the board unless
appointed as explicitly provided by this section.
SECTION 4. Section 87.027(d), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The early voting clerk shall determine the number of
members who are to compose the signature verification committee and
shall state that number in the order calling for the committee's
appointment. A committee must consist of not fewer than five
members. In an election in which party alignment is indicated on the
ballot, each county chair of a political party with a nominee or
aligned candidate on the ballot shall submit to the appointing
authority a list of names of persons eligible to serve on the
signature verification committee. The authority shall appoint at
least two persons from each list to serve as members of the
committee. The same number of members must be appointed from each
list. The authority shall appoint the chair of the committee from
the list provided by the political party whose nominee for governor
received the most votes in the county in the most recent
gubernatorial general election. A vacancy on the committee shall be
filled by appointment from the original list or from a new list
submitted by the appropriate county chair. A person may not serve
on the committee unless appointed as explicitly provided by this
section.
SECTION 5. 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, 2021.