| 1 | 1 | | 88R6179 MPF-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Toth H.B. No. 4198 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to conduct constituting the criminal offense of illegal |
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| 8 | 8 | | voting; increasing a criminal penalty. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Sections 64.012(a) and (b), Election Code, are |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly or |
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| 13 | 13 | | intentionally: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) votes or attempts to vote in an election in which |
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| 15 | 15 | | the person knows of a particular circumstance that makes the person |
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| 16 | 16 | | [is] not eligible to vote; |
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| 17 | 17 | | (2) votes or attempts to vote more than once in an |
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| 18 | 18 | | election; |
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| 19 | 19 | | (3) votes or attempts to vote a ballot belonging to |
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| 20 | 20 | | another person, or by impersonating another person; |
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| 21 | 21 | | (4) marks or attempts to mark any portion of another |
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| 22 | 22 | | person's ballot without the consent of that person, or without |
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| 23 | 23 | | specific direction from that person how to mark the ballot; or |
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| 24 | 24 | | (5) votes or attempts to vote in an election in this |
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| 25 | 25 | | state after voting in another state in an election in which a |
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| 26 | 26 | | federal office appears on the ballot and the election day for both |
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| 27 | 27 | | states is the same day. |
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| 28 | 28 | | (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second |
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| 29 | 29 | | degree unless the person is convicted of an attempt. In that case, |
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| 30 | 30 | | the offense is a state jail felony [Class A misdemeanor]. |
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| 31 | 31 | | SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 32 | 32 | | an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
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| 33 | 33 | | offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed |
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| 34 | 34 | | by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former |
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| 35 | 35 | | law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this |
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| 36 | 36 | | section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this |
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| 37 | 37 | | Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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| 38 | 38 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 39 | 39 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 40 | 40 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 41 | 41 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 42 | 42 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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