By: West S.R. No. 49
SENATE RESOLUTION
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 their 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 Senate of the State of Texas, 87th
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 Senate encourages the careful
exercise of discretion at all levels of government when
investigating and prosecuting cases of alleged illegal voting.