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Texas Senate Bill SB47

Texas 2021 - 87th 3rd C.S.

Texas Senate Bill SB47 Compare Versions

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1-By: Bettencourt, et al. S.B. No. 47
1+By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 47
2+ (In the Senate - Filed October 1, 2021; October 1, 2021,
3+ read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
4+ October 4, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 7,
5+ Nays 2; October 4, 2021, sent to printer.)
6+Click here to see the committee vote
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49 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
510 AN ACT
611 relating to processes to address election irregularities;
712 providing a civil penalty.
813 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
914 SECTION 1. Title 16, Election Code, is amended by adding
10- Chapters 280, 281, and 282 to read as follows:
15+ Chapters 280 and 281 to read as follows:
1116 CHAPTER 280. REQUEST TO ADDRESS ELECTION IRREGULARITY
1217 Sec. 280.001. REQUEST FOR EXPLANATION. (a) A person
1318 described by Subsection (f) may issue a written request to the
1419 county clerk or other authority conducting an election for an
1520 explanation and supporting documentation for:
1621 (1) an action taken by an election officer that
1722 appears to violate this code;
1823 (2) irregularities in results in a precinct or at a
1924 polling place or early voting polling place; or
2025 (3) inadequacy or irregularity of documentation
2126 required to be maintained under this code.
2227 (b) Not later than the 20th day after the date a request is
2328 received under Subsection (a), the county clerk or other authority
2429 shall provide the requested explanation and any supporting
2530 documentation.
2631 (c) A requestor who is not satisfied with the explanation
2732 and supporting documentation provided under Subsection (b) may
2833 issue a request for further explanation and supporting
2934 documentation to the county clerk or other authority.
3035 (d) Not later than the 10th day after the date a request is
3136 received under Subsection (c), the county clerk or other authority
3237 shall provide the requested explanation and any supporting
3338 documentation.
3439 (e) A requestor who is not satisfied with the explanation
3540 and supporting documentation provided under Subsection (d) may
3641 issue a request to the secretary of state for an audit of the issue
3742 described by Subsection (a), as provided by Section 280.002.
3843 (f) A person may make a request under this section if the
3944 person participated in the relevant election as:
4045 (1) a candidate;
4146 (2) a county chair or state chair of a political party;
4247 (3) a presiding judge;
4348 (4) an alternate presiding judge; or
4449 (5) the head of a specific-purpose political committee
4550 that supports or opposes a ballot measure.
4651 Sec. 280.002. AUDIT BY SECRETARY OF STATE. (a) A person to
4752 whom Section 280.001(e) applies may submit a request for an audit to
4853 the secretary of state for investigation. A request for an audit
4954 must include copies of:
5055 (1) the requests made by the person to the county clerk
5156 or other authority conducting the election under Sections
5257 280.001(a) and (c); and
5358 (2) the explanations and any supporting documentation
5459 provided by the county clerk or other authority to the person under
5560 Sections 280.001(b) and (d).
5661 (b) Not later than the 30th day after the date the secretary
5762 of state receives a request for an audit under this section, the
5863 secretary must determine whether the information submitted under
5964 Subsection (a) sufficiently explains the irregularity identified
6065 under Section 280.001(a). If the information is insufficient, the
6166 secretary shall immediately begin an audit of the identified
6267 irregularity at the expense of the county or other authority
6368 conducting the election.
6469 (c) The county clerk or other authority conducting the
6570 election shall cooperate with the office of the secretary of state
6671 and may not interfere with or obstruct the audit.
6772 (d) On conclusion of the audit, the secretary of state shall
6873 provide notice of the findings of the audit to the person who
6974 submitted the request for the audit and the county clerk or other
7075 authority conducting the election.
7176 (e) The secretary of state may, in the secretary's
7277 discretion, make a determination that a violation of this code has
7378 occurred solely on the basis of evidence submitted under Subsection
7479 (a) without conducting an audit. The secretary shall send notice of
7580 the determination to the person who submitted the request for the
7681 audit and to the county clerk or other authority conducting the
7782 election.
7883 Sec. 280.003. FINDING OF VIOLATION. (a) In addition to the
7984 notice required under Section 280.002(d), the secretary of state
8085 shall provide special notice to the county clerk or other authority
8186 conducting an election detailing any violation of this code found
8287 by the secretary under Section 280.002.
8388 (b) If the county clerk or other authority conducting an
8489 election does not remedy a violation detailed in a notice under
8590 Subsection (a) by the 30th day after the date the clerk or other
8691 authority receives the notice, the secretary of state shall assess
8792 a civil penalty of $500 for each violation not remedied and, if
8893 possible, remedy the violation on behalf of the county clerk or
8994 other authority. The remedy provided under this subsection is in
9095 addition to any other remedy available under law for a violation of
9196 this code.
9297 (c) If the secretary of state is not able to remedy the
9398 violation on behalf of the county clerk or other authority, the
9499 secretary of state shall assess an additional penalty under
95100 Subsection (b) for each day the county clerk or other authority does
96101 not remedy the violation until the violation is remedied.
97102 (d) The secretary of state shall maintain a record of county
98103 clerks or other authorities that conduct elections who have been
99104 assessed a civil penalty under Subsection (b). The secretary of
100105 state shall publish the record on the secretary of state's Internet
101106 website.
102107 (e) The attorney general may bring an action under this
103108 section to recover a civil penalty that has not been paid.
104109 (f) A civil penalty collected under this section shall be
105110 deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the general revenue
106111 fund.
107112 CHAPTER 281. AUDIT OF 2020 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS
108113 Sec. 281.001. AUDIT OF RESULTS OF 2020 GENERAL ELECTION FOR
109114 STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS. (a) In this section, "committee" means
110115 an election review advisory committee.
111116 (b) A state or county chair of a political party that made
112117 nominations by primary election for the last general election for
113118 state and county officers may request an audit of the results of the
114119 2020 general election for state and county officers by submitting a
115120 written request to a county clerk. A county chair may only request
116121 an audit from the county clerk of the county served by the county
117122 chair.
118123 (c) A county clerk who receives a request under this section
119124 shall appoint an election review advisory committee to conduct an
120125 audit under this chapter. The county clerk shall supervise the
121126 committee.
122127 (d) The county clerk shall appoint members of the committee
123128 from lists of names of persons eligible for appointment submitted
124129 to the county clerk by the party chair of each political party that
125130 made nominations by primary election for the last general election
126131 for state and county officers. The county clerk shall determine the
127132 number of members necessary to conduct the audit and appoint an
128133 equal number of members from each list.
129134 (e) The committee members must be qualified voters of the
130135 county.
131- (f) An audit under this section shall include a manual
132- review of the following:
136+ (f) An audit under this section shall include:
133137 (1) all ballots voted by any method in a precinct or
134138 polling place in which the number of ballots cast exceeded the total
135139 number of voters accepted for voting in the precinct or at the
136140 polling place; and
137141 (2) in addition to any ballots required to be included
138142 under Subdivision (1):
139143 (A) a random selection of ballots voted by mail,
140144 totaling 20 percent of all ballots voted by mail in the election and
141145 including both the original ballot and any duplicate made of the
142146 ballot, and an equivalent number of carrier envelopes and the
143147 associated application for a ballot to be voted by mail;
144148 (B) a random selection of ballots voted by mail
145149 that were rejected, totaling 20 percent of all ballots voted by mail
146150 in the election that were rejected;
147151 (C) ballots voted on election day from randomly
148152 selected polling places in the county, including the greater of:
149153 (i) three polling places; or
150154 (ii) 20 percent of election day polling
151155 places in the county; and
152156 (D) the greater of 1,000 voted ballots or 10
153157 percent of all ballots voted at early voting polling places from a
154158 number of polling places equal to:
155159 (i) the greater of three randomly selected
156160 early voting polling places or 20 percent of early voting polling
157161 places; or
158162 (ii) if the county has fewer than three
159163 early voting polling places, all early voting polling places in the
160164 county.
161165 (g) An audit under this section shall be limited to not
162166 fewer than three and not more than five contested races or ballot
163167 measures. If there are more than five contested races or ballot
164168 measures identified in the request under Subsection (b), the county
165169 clerk shall randomly select five races or measures for audit. The
166170 contested races must include at least one of each of the following
167171 types of races, regardless of whether the type was identified in the
168172 request under Subsection (b):
169173 (1) a federal office;
170174 (2) a statewide office; and
171175 (3) a county office.
172176 (h) The committee shall begin the audit not later than the
173177 20th day after the date the county clerk receives the request under
174178 Subsection (b). The committee shall have access to precinct
175179 election records in the custody of the county clerk for the purpose
176180 of an audit under Subsection (f).
177181 (i) Before the committee begins the audit, the secretary of
178182 state shall determine an acceptable margin of error appropriate for
179183 the county based on mathematical and statistical analyses
180184 appropriate to the voting system used by the county.
181185 (j) The committee shall observe any random selection made by
182186 the county clerk under this section.
183187 (k) If, for any contested race or ballot measure in the
184188 audit, the results of the audit differ from canvassed results from
185189 the 2020 general election for state and county officers by an amount
186190 outside the margin of error determined under Subsection (i) for the
187191 county, the committee shall conduct another audit. An audit under
188192 this subsection shall be conducted in the same manner as the initial
189193 audit.
190194 (l) If, for any contested race or ballot measure in the
191195 audit under Subsection (k), the results of the audit differ from
192196 canvassed results from the 2020 general election for state and
193197 county officers by an amount outside the margin of error determined
194198 under Subsection (i) for the county, the committee shall conduct a
195199 final audit. An audit under this subsection shall be conducted in
196200 the same manner as the initial audit, except that:
197201 (1) for a contested race or ballot measure under
198202 Subsection (g), the audit shall include the entire county; and
199203 (2) for any other contested race, the audit shall
200204 include the entire district.
201205 (m) The committee shall provide the full results of the
202206 audit to:
203207 (1) the county clerk;
204208 (2) the secretary of state; and
205209 (3) the county chair of each political party in the
206210 county.
207211 (n) The secretary of state shall issue a notice of the
208212 results of the audit to:
209213 (1) the governor;
210214 (2) the lieutenant governor;
211215 (3) the speaker of the house of representatives; and
212216 (4) each member of the legislature.
213217 (o) The notice under Subsection (n) must include an
214218 indication whether the result of the audit:
215219 (1) confirmed the final canvass of the 2020 general
216220 election for state and county officers;
217221 (2) differed from the final canvass of the 2020
218222 general election for state and county officers, but by an amount
219223 within the margin of error determined under Subsection (i) for the
220224 county; or
221225 (3) differed from the final canvass of the 2020
222226 general election for state and county officers by an amount outside
223227 the margin of error determined under Subsection (i) for the county.
224228 (p) If the notice under Subsection (n) indicates a
225229 difference greater than the margin of error determined under
226230 Subsection (i) for the county, the secretary of state shall prepare
227231 a report to accompany the notice. The report must include:
228232 (1) an analysis of the difference from the results of
229233 the final canvass of the 2020 general election for state and county
230234 officers;
231235 (2) the likely causes of the difference from the
232236 results of the final canvass of the 2020 general election for state
233237 and county officers; and
234238 (3) recommended measures to avoid similar differences
235239 in future elections.
236240 (q) A notice under Subsection (n) and any accompanying
237241 report shall be posted on:
238242 (1) the secretary of state's Internet website; and
239243 (2) the county's Internet website, if the county
240244 maintains an Internet website.
241245 (r) This chapter expires on September 1, 2024.
242- CHAPTER 282. JOINT COMMITTEE FOR OVERSIGHT
243- Sec. 282.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "joint
244- committee" means the joint committee established under this
245- chapter.
246- Sec. 282.002. JOINT COMMITTEE FOR OVERSIGHT ESTABLISHED.
247- (a) A joint committee is established to monitor compliance with
248- Chapter 280 and, until its expiration, Chapter 281.
249- (b) The joint committee is composed of 10 members, appointed
250- as follows:
251- (1) five senators appointed by the lieutenant
252- governor; and
253- (2) five representatives appointed by the speaker of
254- the house of representatives.
255- (c) The lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of
256- representatives shall designate one member appointed under
257- Subsection (b)(1) and one member appointed under Subsection (b)(2)
258- to serve as co-chairs of the joint committee.
259- (d) A quorum of the joint committee is established if at
260- least five members are present.
261- Sec. 282.003. JOINT COMMITTEE DUTIES. (a) The secretary of
262- state shall, on a quarterly basis and on request of the joint
263- committee, report to the joint committee any actions taken by the
264- secretary under Chapter 280.
265- (b) The election review advisory committee established
266- under Chapter 281 shall, on a quarterly basis and on request of the
267- joint committee, report to the joint committee any actions taken by
268- the election review advisory committee. This subsection expires on
269- September 1, 2024.
270- (c) The joint committee shall, as necessary, produce a
271- report that details:
272- (1) all actions reported to the committee;
273- (2) any findings made by the committee; and
274- (3) recommendations for legislative action.
275246 SECTION 2. A person may make a request under Section
276247 280.001, Election Code, as added by this Act, only for an election
277248 held on or after the effective date of this Act.
278249 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
279250 last day of the legislative session.
251+ * * * * *