H.R. No. 123
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The right to vote is sacred, and the exercise of that
right represents a cornerstone of our democracy; and
WHEREAS, The offense of illegal voting has long existed in
this state, and when first codified, stated that if "any person,
knowing himself not to be a qualified voter" nonetheless voted, the
person would be subject to a fine; and
WHEREAS, The offense has changed over the decades until its
eventual recodification in Section 64.012(a)(1), Election Code,
which states that a person commits the offense if the person "votes
or attempts to vote in an election in which the person knows the
person is not eligible to vote"; and
WHEREAS, The offense is punishable by incarceration, fine, or
both; and
WHEREAS, A person's knowledge of the person's own
ineligibility has always been an element of the offense; and
WHEREAS, It is a fundamental principle of criminal law in
this state that persons should only be convicted of an offense when
all required elements of the offense are shown to have been
satisfied; and
WHEREAS, Instances where a person knows that the person is
ineligible to vote in an election but nonetheless votes or attempts
to vote should be prosecuted; and
WHEREAS, Cases of genuine mistake, where the person votes or
attempts to vote under the honest belief that the person is eligible
to vote, should not establish the required element of knowledge of
one's own ineligibility; and
WHEREAS, In such cases, the ineligible person's vote should
not be allowed, and any vote erroneously cast by an ineligible
person should not be counted, but a person should not be criminally
incarcerated for making an innocent mistake; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas
Legislature, 2nd Called Session, hereby strongly believes that no
Texan should be prosecuted for the offense of illegal voting if the
person voted or attempted to vote based on a mistaken, honest belief
that the person was in fact eligible to vote; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas House of Representatives encourages
the careful exercise of discretion at all levels of government when
investigating and prosecuting cases of alleged illegal voting.
Burrows
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 123 was adopted by the House on August
31, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 119, Nays 4, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House