By: Swanson H.B. No. 2860
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to maintaining certain voter registration information and
reviewing ballots voted by mail; creating criminal offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 18, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 18.0045 to read as follows:
Sec. 18.0045. RECORD OF VOTERS REMOVED FROM LIST. (a) The
registrar shall retain the voter registration application of any
person whose name is removed from a list of registered voters
prepared under this subchapter.
(b) If voter registration information was recorded on an
optional storage method under Section 13.104, the information may
be substituted for the retained registration application under
Subsection (a).
(c) All information and records held by the registrar under
this section, other than information described as confidential
under Section 13.004, are open records for the purposes of Chapter
552, Government Code.
(d) A registrar commits an offense if the registrar
knowingly fails to comply with a requirement under this section. An
offense under this section is a state jail felony.
(e) The registrar may use funds dedicated under Chapter 19
for the purpose of defraying costs associated with complying with
this section.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 18, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 18.0085 to read as follows:
Sec. 18.0085. DATABASE OF LISTS AVAILABLE ON COUNTY
WEBSITE. (a) The registrar shall make a copy of any list prepared
under this subchapter available on the county's publicly accessible
Internet website in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable
database format.
(b) The registrar may use funds dedicated under Chapter 19
for the purpose of defraying costs associated with developing and
maintaining the database prescribed by this section.
(c) A registrar commits an offense if the registrar
knowingly fails to comply with the requirements under Subsection
(a). An offense under this section is a state jail felony.
SECTION 3. Sections 87.027(i) and (j), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(i) The signature verification committee shall compare the
signature on each carrier envelope certificate, except those signed
for a voter by a witness, with the signature on the voter's ballot
application to determine whether the signatures are those of the
voter. The committee shall [may] also compare the signatures with
any known signature of the voter on file with the county clerk or
voter registrar to determine whether the signatures are those of
the voter. The committee shall also compare the information
provided by the voter under Section 84.002(a)(1-a) on the voter's
ballot application with the information provided by the voter under
Section 86.002(g) and any known copies of the information on file
with the county clerk or voter registrar. Except as provided by
Subsection (l), a determination under this subsection that the
signatures or provided information are not those of the voter must
be made by a majority vote of the committee's membership. The
committee shall place the jacket envelopes, carrier envelopes, and
applications of voters whose signatures or provided information are
not those of the voter in separate containers from those of voters
whose signatures or provided information are those of the voter.
The committee chair shall deliver the sorted materials to the early
voting ballot board at the time specified by the board's presiding
judge.
(j) If a signature verification committee is not appointed,
the early voting ballot board shall follow the same procedure for
accepting the early voting ballots voted by mail as in an election
without a signature verification committee, except that the board
may not determine whether a voter's signatures on the carrier
envelope certificate and ballot application are those of the same
person if the committee has determined that the signatures are
those of the same person. If the committee has determined that the
signatures or provided information are not those of the same
person, the board may make a determination that the signatures or
provided information are those of the same person by a majority vote
of the board's membership.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 87, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 87.0272 to read as follows:
Sec. 87.0272. INAPPROPRIATE ACTION BY SIGNATURE
VERIFICATION COMMITTEE. (a) A chair of a signature verification
committee or a chair's designee commits an offense if the chair or
chair's designee knowingly fails to perform a requirement under
Section 87.027(i).
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.
(c) The secretary of state may withhold all or part of any
funds distributed by the secretary of state under Chapter 19 from a
county that violates the requirements established under Section
87.027(i).
SECTION 5. Section 87.041(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A ballot may be accepted only if:
(1) the carrier envelope certificate is properly
executed;
(2) neither the voter's signature on the ballot
application nor the signature on the carrier envelope certificate
is determined to have been executed by a person other than the
voter, unless signed by a witness;
(3) the voter's ballot application states a legal
ground for early voting by mail;
(4) the voter is registered to vote, if registration
is required by law;
(5) the address to which the ballot was mailed to the
voter, as indicated by the application, was outside the voter's
county of residence, if the ground for early voting is absence from
the county of residence;
(6) for a voter to whom a statement of residence form
was required to be sent under Section 86.002(a), the statement of
residence is returned in the carrier envelope and indicates that
the voter satisfies the residence requirements prescribed by
Section 63.0011;
(7) the address to which the ballot was mailed to the
voter is an address that is otherwise required by Sections 84.002
and 86.003; [and]
(8) the information required under Section 86.002(g)
provided by the voter identifies the same voter identified on the
voter's application for voter registration under Section
13.002(c)(8); and
(9) the information provided by the voter under
Section 84.002(a)(1-a) on the voter's ballot application is
determined to be the same as the voter's information provided by the
voter under Section 86.002(g) and any known copies of the
information on file with the county clerk or voter registrar.
SECTION 6. Subchapter C, Chapter 87, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 87.0412 to read as follows:
Sec. 87.0412. INAPPROPRIATE ACTION BY BOARD. (a) The
presiding judge of the early voting ballot board or a judge's
designee commits an offense if the presiding judge or designee
knowingly fails to perform a requirement under Section 87.041(b).
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.
(c) The secretary of state may withhold all or part of any
funds distributed by the secretary of state under Chapter 19 from a
county that violates the requirements established under Section
87.041(b).
SECTION 7. Section 87.126, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-2) to read as follows:
(a-2) An early voting clerk who maintains only electronic
records of applications for a ballot to be voted by mail, jacket
envelopes, carrier envelopes, or ballots commits an offense if the
clerk knowingly fails to record the front and back of each
application, envelope, or ballot recorded, and provide the records
to the early voting ballot board, the signature verification
committee, or both. An offense under this subsection is a state
jail felony.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an election ordered on or after the effective date of this Act. An
election ordered before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect when the election was ordered, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.