By: Smith H.B. No. 4782
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to electioneering conducted near a polling place.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 61, Election Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 61.003. ELECTIONEERING AND LOITERING NEAR POLLING
PLACE. (a) A person commits an offense if, during the voting
period and within 100 feet of an outside door through which a voter
may enter the building in which a polling place is located, the
person:
(1) loiters; or
(2) electioneers for or against any candidate,
measure, or political party. ; or
(3) conducts exit polling.
(a-1) The entity that owns or controls a public building
being used as a polling place may not, at any time during the voting
period, prohibit electioneering on the building's premises outside
of the area described in Subsection (a), but may enact reasonable
regulations concerning the time, place, and manner of
electioneering.
(b) In this section:
(1) "Electioneering" includes the posting, use, or
distribution of political signs or literature. The term does not
include the distribution of a notice of a party convention
authorized under Section 172.1114.
(2) "Conducts exit polling" means any person or
persons seeking to communicate with voters exiting the voting
site.
(2) (3) "Voting period" means the period beginning
when the polls open for voting and ending when the polls close or
the last voter has voted, whichever is later.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.