Texas 2021 - 87th 2nd C.S.

Texas House Bill HR123 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	H.R. No. 123
	1	+	By: Burrows H.R. No. 123
2	2
3	3
4	4		R E S O L U T I O N
5		-	WHEREAS, The right to vote is sacred, and the exercise of that
	5	+	WHEREAS, The right to vote is sacred and the exercise of that
6	6		right represents a cornerstone of our democracy; and
7	7		WHEREAS, The offense of illegal voting has long existed in
8	8		this state, and when first codified, stated that if "any person,
9	9		knowing himself not to be a qualified voter" nonetheless voted, the
10	10		person would be subject to a fine; and
11	11		WHEREAS, The offense has changed over the decades until its
12	12		eventual recodification in Section 64.012(a)(1), Election Code,
13	13		which states that a person commits the offense if the person "votes
14	14		or attempts to vote in an election in which the person knows the
15	15		person is not eligible to vote"; and
16	16		WHEREAS, The offense is punishable by incarceration, fine, or
17		-	both; and
18		-	WHEREAS, A person's knowledge of ~~the person's~~ own
19		-	~~ineligibility has~~ always been an element of the offense; and
	17	+	both, and
	18	+	WHEREAS, A person's knowledge of their own ineligibility has
	19	+	always been an element of the offense; and
20	20		WHEREAS, It is a fundamental principle of criminal law in
21	21		this state that persons should only be convicted of an offense when
22	22		all required elements of the offense are shown to have been
23	23		satisfied; and
24	24		WHEREAS, Instances where a person knows that the person is
25		-	ineligible to vote in an election but nonetheless votes or ~~attempts~~
26		-	to vote should be prosecuted; and
	25	+	ineligible to vote in an election, but nonetheless votes or
	26	+	attempts to vote should be prosecuted; and
27	27		WHEREAS, Cases of genuine mistake, where the person votes or
28	28		attempts to vote under the honest belief that the person is eligible
29	29		to vote, should not establish the required element of knowledge of
30	30		one's own ineligibility; and
31	31		WHEREAS, In such cases, the ineligible person's vote should
32	32		not be allowed, and any vote erroneously cast by an ineligible
33	33		person should not be counted, but a person should not be criminally
34	34		incarcerated for making an innocent mistake; now, therefore, be it
35	35		RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas
36	36		Legislature, 2nd Called Session, hereby strongly believes that no
37	37		Texan should be prosecuted for the offense of illegal voting if the
38	38		person voted or attempted to vote based on a mistaken, honest belief
39	39		that the person was in fact eligible to vote; and, be it further
40	40		RESOLVED, That the Texas House of Representatives encourages
41	41		the careful exercise of discretion at all levels of government when
42	42		investigating and prosecuting cases of alleged illegal voting.
43		-	Burrows
44		-	______________________________
45		-	Speaker of the House
46		-	I certify that H.R. No. 123 was adopted by the House on August
47		-	31, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 119, Nays 4, 1 present, not
48		-	voting.
49		-	______________________________
50		-	Chief Clerk of the House