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