87R2862 BRG-D
By: Crockett H.B. No. 2584
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to temporary branch polling places.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 85.062(e), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) In an election covered by Subsection (d), a temporary
branch polling place that is [located in a] movable [structure] may
be established only with the approval of the county clerk. If a
movable temporary branch polling place is established [in a movable
structure] on the request of a political party, each other
political party whose nominee for governor in the most recent
gubernatorial general election received more than 10 percent of the
total number of votes received by all candidates for governor in the
election is entitled to establishment of such a polling place. The
election officers serving a polling place covered by this
subsection must be affiliated or aligned with different political
parties to the extent possible. The secretary of state, after
consulting the state chair of each affected political party, shall
prescribe the procedures necessary to implement this subsection.
SECTION 2. Section 85.064, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(b) Early voting by personal appearance at each temporary
branch polling place established under Section 85.062(d) shall be
conducted on the days that voting is required to be conducted at the
main early voting polling place under Section 85.005 and remain
open for at least:
(1) eight hours each day; or
(2) three hours each day if the city or county clerk
does not serve as the early voting clerk for the territory holding
the election and the territory has fewer than 1,000 registered
voters.
(c) Early voting by personal appearance at a temporary
branch polling place other than a temporary branch polling place
established under Section 85.062(d) may be conducted on any one or
more days and during any hours of the period for early voting by
personal appearance, as determined by the authority establishing
the branch.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.