87S20192 ADM-F
By: Jetton H.B. No. 95
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to improvements to election integrity, including through a
partial count of auditable voting system ballots; creating a
criminal offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 121.003, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (14) to read as follows:
(14) "Auditable voting system" means a voting system
that:
(A) uses, creates, or displays a paper record
that may be read by the voter and that is deposited by the voter into
a secure ballot box; and
(B) is not capable of being connected to the
Internet or any other computer network or electronic device.
SECTION 2. Subchapter H, Chapter 127, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 127.2015 to read as follows:
Sec. 127.2015. PARTIAL COUNT OF AUDITABLE VOTING SYSTEM
BALLOTS BY GENERAL CUSTODIAN. (a) In this section, "ballot box"
means all ballot boxes used for the deposit of voters' marked
ballots at a polling place or early voting polling place, whether
one or multiple physical ballot boxes were used.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 127.201, not later than 24
hours after all ballots have been counted in an election, the
general custodian of election records in each county shall conduct
by hand a partial count of ballots cast for a selected number of
ballot boxes. Each ballot box selected must be from a polling place
in which an auditable voting system was used, and the number of
ballot boxes selected for the partial count shall be the greater of:
(1) two; or
(2) 10 percent of the number of ballot boxes used in
the election, rounded up to the nearest even number.
(c) Not later than 18 hours after the completion of the
initial counting or tabulation of election results and with not
less than six hours' notice given to each participant, the general
custodian of election records shall conduct a telephone conference
call with the following persons:
(1) the general custodian;
(2) the county chair of the political party who
received the most votes in the county in the most recently preceding
gubernatorial election, or the chair's designee;
(3) the county chair of the political party who
received the second most votes in the county in the most recently
preceding gubernatorial election, or the chair's designee;
(4) up to three additional persons selected by each
person participating under Subdivisions (2) and (3); and
(5) if a person described by Subdivision (2) or (3)
does not attend, a person appointed by the state chair of the
person's party to replace that person and up to three additional
persons appointed by the state chair to replace the persons
described by Subdivision (4).
(d) During the conference call under Subsection (c), the
general custodian of election records shall allow each party chair
or party chair's representative to select ballot boxes to be
subject to a partial count conducted under this section. The chairs
shall alternate selections, beginning with the chair of the party
that received the most votes in the county in the most recently
preceding gubernatorial election, until the number of ballot boxes
selected for the partial count has satisfied the requirement of
Subsection (b).
(e) If a party leader or representative fails to attend the
conference call as required under Subsection (c), the secretary of
state shall select ballot boxes for the partial count at random on
the party's behalf.
(f) The general custodian of election records shall
complete the partial count not later than 24 hours before the time
for conducting the canvass of the election.
(g) The general custodian of election records shall post a
notice of the date, hour, and place of the partial count in the
custodian's office and on the county's Internet website, if the
county maintains a website, at least 18 hours before beginning the
count and shall post the results of the count in the same manner
immediately after the conclusion of the count. The notice must
identify the ballot boxes chosen for the count.
(h) A watcher may be present at all stages of the partial
count if appointed by a candidate in the election from the moment a
ballot box is taken from its place of storage until the count is
completed and all ballot boxes examined in the count are returned to
the place of storage. A watcher must deliver a certificate of
appointment to the general custodian of election records at the
time the watcher reports for service. The certificate must be in
writing and must include:
(1) the printed name and signature of the watcher;
(2) the election subject to the partial count; and
(3) the printed name and signature of the candidate
making the appointment.
(i) The secretary of state may appoint personnel to assist
with the partial count, including applicable voting system
technicians or representatives and persons who have assisted with
the design and implementation of the count.
(j) If a partial count conducted under this section reveals
a disparity of more than 20 votes between the initial reported
outcome of an election at a polling place and the results determined
by the partial count, notwithstanding any other law, an automatic
recount under Chapter 216 must be conducted in the county for the
election in which the disparity is identified. The recount shall be
a manual recount by hand of paper records in accordance with
Subchapter A, Chapter 214. All candidates in the election and the
county chair of any political party in the county must be notified
by the general custodian of election records.
(k) The secretary of state may not waive any requirements of
this section.
(l) This section applies only to an election held after
August 31, 2022, in which an auditable voting system is used.
SECTION 3. Section 127.301, Election Code, as effective
September 1, 2021, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 127.301. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
applies to an election:
(1) that occurs after August 31, 2024 [2026];
(2) that contains a race or measure that is voted on
statewide; and
(3) in which an auditable voting system [described by
Section 129.003(a)] is used.
SECTION 4. Section 127.305(e), Election Code, as effective
September 1, 2021, is amended to read as follows:
(e) This section expires August 31, 2024 [2026].
SECTION 5. Sections 129.003(e) and (g), Election Code, as
effective September 1, 2021, are amended to read as follows:
(e) An authority that purchased a voting system other than
an auditable voting system after September 1, 2014, and before
September 1, 2021, may use available federal funding and, if
federal funding is not available, available state funding to
convert the purchased voting system into an auditable voting system
in accordance with the following schedule:
(1) if the voting system was converted into an
auditable voting system not later than the election taking place
November 8, 2022, the authority is eligible to have 100 percent of
the cost of conversion reimbursed under this section; and
(2) if the authority is not eligible for a 100 percent
reimbursement of cost under Subdivision (1) and the voting system
was converted into an auditable voting system not later than the
election taking place November 5, 2024 [3, 2026], the authority is
eligible to have 50 percent of the cost of conversion reimbursed
under this section.
(g) Subsections (b), (c), and (d) do not apply to an
election held before September 1, 2024 [2026].
SECTION 6. Subchapter A, Chapter 129, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 129.004 to read as follows:
Sec. 129.004. VIDEO SURVEILLANCE OF BALLOT BOXES. (a) In
this section, "chair" means a county chair of a political party that
received the greatest or second-greatest number of votes in the
chair's county at the most recent gubernatorial election.
(b) A chair may, at the party's expense, authorize the
installation and maintenance of temporary video surveillance
equipment:
(1) at any polling location used in the county for
early voting by personal appearance or for election day, for the
sole purpose of recording any activity involving interaction with a
ballot box; and
(2) at the central counting station in the county, for
the sole purpose of recording any activity involving interaction
with a ballot box.
(c) The secretary of state shall adopt rules as necessary to
administer this section. Rules adopted under this subsection must
require that:
(1) ballot boxes be protected from tampering at all
times;
(2) ballot boxes subject to surveillance under this
section be kept in surveilled areas except as necessary to
transport the boxes directly from one location to another in
accordance with this code;
(3) watchers be permitted to observe the
transportation of a ballot box from one location to another;
(4) video surveillance equipment installed under this
section be positioned so that the equipment does not record the face
of a voter or the content of a ballot; and
(5) persons be prevented from interfering with the
operation of surveillance equipment installed in accordance with
this section.
(d) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
or knowingly:
(1) interferes with the operation of video
surveillance equipment installed under this section; or
(2) prevents a watcher from observing activity the
watcher is entitled to observe under this section.
(e) An offense under Subsection (d) is a felony of the third
degree.
(f) The secretary of state may not waive any requirements of
this section.
(g) This section applies only to an election held after
August 31, 2022, and in which an auditable voting system is used.
SECTION 7. Sections 129.054(a) and (b), Election Code, as
effective September 1, 2021, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A voting system may not be connected to any external
communications network, including the Internet. Beginning
September 1, 2024 [2026], a voting system may not be capable of
being connected to any external or internal communications network,
including the Internet.
(b) A voting system may not have the capability of
permitting wireless communication unless the system uses
line-of-sight infrared technology that shields the transmitter and
receiver from external infrared transmissions and the system can
only accept transmissions generated by the system. Beginning
September 1, 2024 [2026], a voting system may not have the
capability of permitting wireless communication.
SECTION 8. Section 129.003(a), Election Code, as effective
September 1, 2021, is repealed.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
last day of the legislative session.