87S20152 BRG-F
By: Swanson H.B. No. 131
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to availability of cast ballots under the public
information law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to instill confidence
in the elections of this state and protect the secrecy of the ballot
by ensuring the public's right to audit the results of the public's
elections by accessing copies of cast ballots that have been
anonymized.
SECTION 2. Section 1.012, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c-1), (c-2), and (c-3) to read as follows:
(c-1) Except as provided by Subsections (c-2) and (c-3) and
notwithstanding any other law, including Section 66.058, a cast
ballot is public information under Chapter 552, Government Code.
(c-2) Any information on a ballot subject to a request for
public information that could be used to identify an individual is
confidential and shall be withheld and redacted from the ballot.
(c-3) If a ballot cast in a precinct containing five or
fewer registered voters on election day is responsive to a request
for public information, the governmental body, as that term is
defined under Section 552.003, Government Code, that produces the
ballot shall take reasonable measures to ensure that production of
the ballot does not have the effect of disclosing the ballot
selections of any voter in that precinct. Reasonable measures to
prevent disclosure of ballot selections under this subsection may
include redacting precinct identifying information, modifying the
request for public information to include portions of ballots from
additional precincts, and aggregating responsive records from
multiple precincts.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect December 1, 2021.