Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB5234 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Toth H.B. No. 5234
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to election integrity and security, including by
7	7	preventing fraud in the conduct of elections in this state;
8	8	authorizing a penalty, increasing a penalty.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
11	11	SECTION 1.01. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the
12	12	Election Accuracy, Transparency, and Accountability Act.
13	13	SECTION 1.02. Chapter 41 of the Texas Election Code is
14	14	amended to read as follows:
15	15	Sec. 41.002. GENERAL ELECTION FOR STATE AND COUNTY
16	16	OFFICERS. The general election for state and county officers shall
17	17	be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in
18	18	even-numbered years. Voting by personal appearance shall begin 8
19	19	calendar days in advance of election day culminating on election
20	20	day for a total of 9 consecutive days for voting by personal
21	21	appearance.
22	22	SECTION 1.03. Title 7 of the Election Code shall be amended
23	23	to repeal provisions permitting and governing early voting by
24	24	personal appearance.
25	25	SECTION 1.04. Chapter 42 of the Texas Election Code shall be
26	26	amended as follows:
27	27	Sec. 42.006. POPULATION REQUIREMENTS. (a) Except as
28	28	otherwise provided by this section, a county election precinct must
29	29	contain at least 100 but not more than 2,000 [5,000] registered
30	30	voters.
31	31	SECTION 1.05. Chapter 43 of the Texas Election Code shall be
32	32	amended as follows:
33	33	Sec. 43.001. ONE POLLING PLACE IN EACH PRECINCT. Each
34	34	election precinct established for an election shall be served by a
35	35	single polling place located within the boundary of the precinct or
36	36	adjoining precinct. More than one precinct may vote at the same
37	37	location provided the location is large enough to accommodate all
38	38	election activities as required by this code while keeping those
39	39	activities separate and distinct for each precinct.
40	40	Sec. 43.031. POLLING PLACE IN PUBLIC BUILDING. (a) In this
41	41	subchapter, "public building" means a building owned or controlled
42	42	by the state or a political subdivision.
43	43	(b) Each polling place shall be located inside a building.
44	44	The room where the election is conducted shall be used solely for
45	45	that purpose during the election and shall be capable of being
46	46	locked and secured from unauthorized access at any time an election
47	47	judge is not present.
48	48	(b-1) No voter may cast a vote from inside a motor vehicle
49	49	unless the voter meets the requirements of Section 64.009. A
50	50	violation of this section is a state-jail felony offense.
51	51	Sec. 43.031 (e) A polling place may not be located at the
52	52	residence or business location of a person who is:
53	53	(1) a candidate for an elective office, including an
54	54	office of a political party; or
55	55	(2) related within the third degree by consanguinity
56	56	or the second degree by affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
57	57	Government Code, to a candidate described by Subdivision (1).
58	58	(f) The polling place may not be located in a movable
59	59	structure.
60	60	SECTION 1.06. Chapter 51 of the Texas Election Code shall be
61	61	amended as follows:
62	62	Sec. 51.004. DISTRIBUTING SUPPLIES.
63	63	(b) The appropriate and sufficient amounts of supplies
64	64	including but not limited to ballots shall be distributed to each
65	65	presiding election judge not later than one hour before the polls
66	66	are required to be open for voting [and to the early voting clerk
67	67	before the beginning of early voting].
68	68	(c) In addition to any other penalty set forth in this code,
69	69	failure to comply with this section or Section 51.005 by an election
70	70	administrator or election officer whether or not intentional
71	71	impacting more than one precinct shall result in the removal of the
72	72	election administrator or election officer and the election shall
73	73	be reconducted.
74	74	Sec. 51.005. NUMBER OF BALLOTS. (a) The authority
75	75	responsible for procuring the election supplies for an election
76	76	shall provide for each election precinct a number of ballots equal
77	77	to at least the [percentage] number of registered voters [who
78	78	voted] in that precinct [in the most recent corresponding election]
79	79	plus 1 [25] percent of that number [except that the number of
80	80	ballots provided may not exceed the total number of registered
81	81	voters in the precinct].
82	82	Sec. 51.011. OBSTRUCTING DISTRIBUTION OF SUPPLIES. (a) A
83	83	person commits an offense if the person intentionally obstructs the
84	84	distribution of election supplies for an election.
85	85	(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony
86	86	[Class C misdemeanor].
87	87	Sec. 51.013. IDENTIFICATION OF PRINTERS FOR PRIMARY
88	88	ELECTION OR GENERAL ELECTION FOR STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS. Amend
89	89	to add (e), (f)and (g):
90	90	(e) Ballot printing services shall be procured from
91	91	printers located within the state of Texas.
92	92	(f) Chain of custody procedures including securing batches
93	93	with uniquely numbered seals that are logged, shall be followed
94	94	including documentation of such procedures by the printer from the
95	95	time the ballots come off the press until they are delivered
96	96	securely to the county elections officer. Failure of printer to
97	97	follow chain of custody procedures and/or produce required
98	98	documentation at the time of delivery of ballots shall result in
99	99	termination of all present and future contracts.
100	100	(g) Chain of custody procedures including securing batches
101	101	with uniquely numbered seals that are logged, shall be followed
102	102	including documentation of such procedures by the printer from the
103	103	time the ballots come off the press until they are delivered
104	104	securely to the county elections officer. Failure of printer to
105	105	follow chain of custody procedures and/or produce required
106	106	documentation at the time of delivery of ballots shall result in
107	107	termination of all present and future contracts.
108	108	SECTION 1.07. Chapter 52 of the Texas Election Code shall be
109	109	Amended to read as follows:
110	110	Sec. 52.0064. ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY RESPONSIBLE CLERK IN
111	111	EVENT OF MISPRINT or BALLOT PRINTING ERROR.
112	112	(a) In the event of a misprint or other error in printing one
113	113	or more ballots, such ballots must be marked "VOID" in large letters
114	114	across the front of the ballots. (b) Such void ballots must be
115	115	accounted for by ballot number, placed in locked containers with
116	116	numbered seals marked "VOID MISPRINTED BALLOTS" and placed in a
117	117	secure, locked location and retained as election records. Such
118	118	void ballots numbers shall be recorded as void numbers and no voided
119	119	ballot numbers may be used for any re-printed ballots. Strict chain
120	120	of custody procedures shall be followed.
121	121	[Sec.A52.0064.DESTRUCTION OF INCORRECT BALLOTS. (a) If new
122	122	ballots are prepared to make a correction on the ballot, the
123	123	authority responsible for having the official ballot prepared shall
124	124	destroy the incorrect ballots in the presence of: (1)the sheriff,
125	125	in an election ordered by the governor or a primary election; or
126	126	(2)the authority responsible for ordering the election, in any
127	127	other election. (b)The authority responsible for having the
128	128	official ballot prepared shall post in the authority 's office a
129	129	notice of the date, hour, and place of the destruction of the
130	130	incorrect ballots. The notice must remain posted continuously for
131	131	the 72 hours preceding the scheduled time of the destruction.
132	132	(c)Any interested person is entitled to be present at the
133	133	destruction of incorrect ballots. (d) The authority responsible for
134	134	having the official ballot prepared shall prepare a record of the
135	135	incorrect ballots that are destroyed. The authority shall preserve
136	136	the record for the period for preserving the precinct election
137	137	records.]
138	138	Sec. 52.061. PRINTING ON BALLOT. (a) The ballot shall be
139	139	designed for hand marking and shall be printed in black ink, on
140	140	secure, auditable, counterfeit resistant, non-encrypted paper, on
141	141	white or light-colored paper, but the ballot may not be the same
142	142	color as sample ballots. No ballot may contain any QR or bar code
143	143	or any other code not readable by the human eye nor may a ballot
144	144	contain any open or encrypted of tracking, tracing or identifying a
145	145	voter's ballot.
146	146	(c) The voting precinct number and polling location shall be
147	147	pre-printed on all pages of the ballot.
148	148	(d) Failure of the Election Administrator comply with this
149	149	section shall be a Class A misdemeanor.
150	150	Sec. 52.062. NUMBERING OF BALLOTS. The ballots prepared by
151	151	each authority responsible for having the official ballot prepared
152	152	shall be numbered sequentially and in accordance with this code,
153	153	with no gap in numbering, on the front and back of each ballot,
154	154	consecutively beginning with the number "1." No ballot in the state
155	155	shall have a duplicative number.
156	156	SECTION 1.08. Chapter 61 of the Texas Election Code shall be
157	157	amended as follows:
158	158	Sec. 61.002. CLOSING POLLING PLACE FOR VOTING.
159	159	(c) Immediately after closing the polls for voting on
160	160	[election day] the final day of voting, the presiding election
161	161	judge or alternate election judge shall follow the hand counting
162	162	procedures set forth in Chapter 61.0021 of the code. [print the tape
163	163	to show the number of votes cast for each candidate or ballot
164	164	measure for each voting machine.
165	165	Each election judge or alternate election judge present shall sign
166	166	a tape printed under this section]]
167	167	Sec. 61.0021 OF COUNTING ELECTION.
168	168	(a) All elections shall be conducted with full transparency
169	169	and video recorded without interruption. These video recordings
170	170	shall be made freely available to all interested parties and
171	171	publicly posted so that they can be access by every citizen without
172	172	cost or additional request. The video recordings must clearly
173	173	capture the ballot selections on each ballot counted and the
174	174	tabulation result associated with that ballot.
175	175	(a-1) If technically feasible, the hand counting procedure
176	176	may be live streamed.
177	177	(b) The election materials including ballots, ballot boxes,
178	178	and envelopes used for provisional ballots at a polling place shall
179	179	be in plain view of at least one election officer from the time the
180	180	polls open for voting until the precinct returns have been
181	181	certified. The election materials must also have constant video
182	182	recording from the time the polls open for voting until the precinct
183	183	returns have been certified while ensuring no individual voter is
184	184	identifiably recorded.
185	185	(c) All counting shall be done by hand at the precinct prior
186	186	to transporting the ballots to any other location.
187	187	(d) Counting shall be performed by bi-partisan teams. Each
188	188	team shall be assigned a reasonable number of ballots in batches and
189	189	the video recording will memorialize and confirm the count. Prior
190	190	to beginning the count, the video recording will begin by recording
191	191	a caption page. This page will define the time, date, team members,
192	192	supervisor members and a sample ballot. The video will conclude
193	193	showing the same caption page except that the caption page shall be
194	194	signed by the team members and the raw totals shall be listed by
195	195	race. This video recording shall be securely made so that it cannot
196	196	be altered in any way. A sufficient number of counting teams shall
197	197	be assembled so as to complete the count within approximately three
198	198	hours of the closing of the polls. These teams shall be supervised
199	199	by an appropriate number of supervisory teams composed of equal
200	200	numbers of the major political parties. At the conclusion of each
201	201	count, members of the counting team, supervisors and any poll
202	202	watchers present shall sign that the count has been completed and
203	203	report the totals they determined from that count.
204	204	(e) The public shall be provided with access to the video
205	205	recordings at the earliest time possible. Before the election may
206	206	be certified, the public shall be provided 30 days to examine the
207	207	video recordings for errors. Should a voter registered in the
208	208	county determine that the count was in error, such registered voter
209	209	shall notify the supervisor of elections of the error, identifying
210	210	the video that is in error along with the time location in the video
211	211	where the count was made incorrectly. The registered voter
212	212	reporting the error is not required to not make the report public.
213	213	The canvassing authority shall review the video recording in
214	214	question to make a determination whether the count was in error.
215	215	Poll watchers shall be permitted to be present during the review of
216	216	the video recording in question. If the error is confirmed, the
217	217	official results shall be corrected. Should the canvassing
218	218	authority fail to diligently correct the error prior to certifying
219	219	the election, or if there is a dispute as to whether an error
220	220	exists, two or more voters registered in the county are permitted to
221	221	file a suit and, if they are found to be correct, the plaintiffs
222	222	shall recoup their attorney's fees and costs of court associated
223	223	with the suit. In addition, members of the canvassing authority who
224	224	failed to correct the error shall be subject to recall and removal
225	225	from their elected office upon petition of 10 registered voters of
226	226	the jurisdiction, which recall shall be decided in a special
227	227	election to occur within 45 days after the filing of the petition.
228	228	During the interim, the members of the canvassing authority who are
229	229	the subject of the recall shall be suspended from their duties until
230	230	the recall results are determined.
231	231	(f) The court or jury shall make any required final
232	232	determination of an error in the count utilizing the video
233	233	recording of that team's count and may take testimony as required to
234	234	assist in their fact finding.
235	235	(g) At the conclusion of the counting process, the caption
236	236	pages of each team shall be compiled to determine the election
237	237	results. The tallies from the caption pages shall be recorded on a
238	238	final tally sheet and added by two members of a bi-partisan team.
239	239	Poll watchers may also verify the totals. Bi-partisan team members
240	240	shall sign the final tally sheet, certifying its accuracy.
241	241	(h) Mail in ballots shall be transported unopened to the
242	242	precinct in which the person would have voted in person. They shall
243	243	be opened at the precinct and counted with the ballots that were
244	244	voted in person.
245	245	(i) At no time will the supervisor of elections, any
246	246	election staff, nor any other party restore, clean-up, define,
247	247	enhance, or alter a voter's submitted ballot in any way. A
248	248	violation under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
249	249	(j) The results of the hand count shall be posted on the door
250	250	of the precinct for a minimum period of three days. All precinct
251	251	results shall be posted by precinct, on the county website and the
252	252	secretary of state's website. The presiding judge shall ensure the
253	253	results are correctly posted both on the county's website and on the
254	254	secretary of state's website.
255	255	Sec. 61.005. SECURITY OF BALLOTS, BALLOT BOXES, AND
256	256	ENVELOPES. (a) From the time a presiding judge receives the
257	257	[official] ballots and other election materials [for an election]
258	258	until the closing of the polls on the final day of voting and
259	259	delivery of such voting materials to the official delivery
260	260	location,[precinct returns for that election have been certified,]
261	261	the presiding judge shall take the precautions necessary to prevent
262	262	access to such election materials, the ballots, ballot boxes, and
263	263	envelopes used for provisional ballots, ensure that the room where
264	264	the election is being conducted is locked and completely secured
265	265	from unauthorized access at any time the judge or an alternate judge
266	266	is not present, that the ballots both voted and unvoted are secured
267	267	in a box or cabinet that is secured with a uniquely numbered seal.
268	268	The numbers of such seals shall be logged on the reconciliation
269	269	reports by the judge or alternate judge. [in a manner not
270	270	authorized by law.]
271	271	(b) The ballots, ballot boxes, and envelopes used for provisional
272	272	ballots at a polling place shall be in plain view of at least one
273	273	election officer or secured as set forth in (a) above from the time
274	274	the polls open for voting until the precinct returns have been
275	275	certified.
276	276	(2) A presiding election judge commits an offense if the
277	277	judge fails to prevent another person from handling a ballot box
278	278	containing voters' marked ballots or an envelope containing a
279	279	voter's provisional ballot in an unauthorized manner or from making
280	280	an unauthorized entry into the ballot box or envelope. An offense
281	281	under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor. If the offense is
282	282	committed knowingly, it shall be a third-degree felony.
283	283	(c)(1) At any time the judge suspects a security incident or
284	284	breach of the equipment, the ballot box, the unvoted ballots or of
285	285	any other election materials, or in the event a numbered seal does
286	286	not match the number of the seal recorded by the judge the night
287	287	before, the judge shall immediately segregate and secure the
288	288	affected box or materials, and shall contact both the county
289	289	sheriff and the county election officer and report the facts. If
290	290	necessary, the county election officer shall deliver additional
291	291	election materials, as needed to the precinct, within 1 hour of the
292	292	initial report in order that voting may continue. The judge shall
293	293	guard against unnecessary handling of breached election materials
294	294	and shall preserve any evidence that may assist in any
295	295	investigation. The county election officer and the sheriff shall
296	296	conduct a full investigation to determine what occurred and the
297	297	cause. The county election officer shall ensure that only legally
298	298	cast ballots are counted. If the breach was on a voting day prior to
299	299	election day, the county shall post an overnight guard at the
300	300	polling location for the remainder of the voting period to ensure no
301	301	further breach occurs.
302	302	(c)(2) At the appropriate time and as needed, the judge
303	303	shall provide an affidavit of facts. The county election officer
304	304	shall make a full report to the county party chairs and the
305	305	secretary of state within 24 hours of receiving the report.
306	306	Sec. 61.007. UNLAWFULLY REVEALING INFORMATION BEFORE POLLS
307	307	CLOSE. (c) Beginning at 9:30 a.m. on each day of voting and at each
308	308	subsequent two-hour interval through [5:30 p.m.] the closing of the
309	309	polls, the presiding judge shall post written notice of the total
310	310	cumulative number of voters who have voted in the precinct and the
311	311	number of voters who have voted that day. The notice shall be
312	312	posted at an outside door through which a voter may enter the
313	313	building in which the polling place is located.
314	314	Sec. 61.014. USE OF CERTAIN DEVICES. (a) A person may not
315	315	use a wireless communication device within 100 feet of a voting
316	316	station.
317	317	(b) A person may not use any mechanical or electronic means
318	318	of recording images or sound within 100 feet of the entrance to a
319	319	voting station.
320	320	(c) The presiding judge may require a person who violates
321	321	this section to turn off the device or to leave the polling place.
322	322	(d) This section does not apply to:
323	323	(1) an election officer in conducting the officer's
324	324	official duties;
325	325	(2) the use of election equipment necessary for the
326	326	conduct of the election; or
327	327	(3) a person who is employed or serving as a watcher at
328	328	the location in which a polling place is located while the person is
329	329	acting in the course of the person's employment or service.
330	330	(e) Violation of this section shall be an offense that is a
331	331	Class C misdemeanor.
332	332	SECTION 1.09. Chapter 63, Election Code, is amended as
333	333	follows:
334	334	Sec. 63.003. POLL LIST. (a) A printed, physical poll list
335	335	containing the list of names of the voters duly registered in the
336	336	precinct as of the date that is 30 days in advance of election day
337	337	including their residence address, whether they applied for a
338	338	mail-in ballot, and space to indicate the information required in
339	339	65.003(e) shall be [maintained] kept by an election officer at the
340	340	precinct polling place. (a)(1) Each voter shall be required to
341	341	place their regular signature upon the poll list in the signature
342	342	space next to their name.
343	343	(c) An election officer shall enter each accepted voter's
344	344	name by hand on [the] a separate voter roster list after the voter
345	345	signs the poll book list [signature roster]. The voter roster form
346	346	shall provide space for the judge to indicate whether the voter's
347	347	name is a similar name to the registered name rather than the exact
348	348	name. The voter roster shall be kept in quadruplicate with the
349	349	original going in the box with the voted ballots, a copy retained by
350	350	the election judge, a copy retained by the alternate election
351	351	judge, and a copy submitted to the county clerk in the appropriate
352	352	closing envelope. The county clerk shall provide the list to the
353	353	ballot board upon request.
354	354	(d) If the poll list indicates a voter requested a mail-in
355	355	ballot, the election judge shall ensure that the process for
356	356	cancelling the mail in ballot is followed before allowing a voter to
357	357	vote. [The poll list may be in the form of an electronic device
358	358	approved by the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall
359	359	adopt rules governing the use of electronic poll lists.]
360	360	(e) The poll book shall include space for an election
361	361	officer to indicate whether a voter executed a Declaration of
362	362	Reasonable Impediment under Section 63.001(i).
363	363	Sec. 63.011. PROVISIONAL VOTING. (a) A person to whom
364	364	Section 63.001(g) or 63.009 applies may cast a provisional ballot
365	365	if the person executes an affidavit stating that the person:
366	366	(1) is a registered voter in the precinct in which the
367	367	person seeks to vote; and
368	368	(2) is eligible to vote in the election.
369	369	(a-1) A person to whom the [early voting] clerk was required
370	370	to provide a[n] [early] voting ballot by mail under Section 86.001
371	371	and who did not vote [early] by mail may cast a provisional ballot
372	372	on election day if the person executes an affidavit stating that the
373	373	person:
374	374	(1) is a registered voter in the precinct in which the
375	375	person seeks to vote; and
376	376	(2) did not vote [early] by mail.
377	377	SECTION 1.10. Chapter 276.019, Election Code is amended as
378	378	follows:
379	379	Sec. 276.019. UNLAWFUL ALTERING OF ELECTION PROCEDURES. A
380	380	public official or election official may not create, alter, modify,
381	381	waive, or suspend any election standard, practice, or procedure
382	382	mandated by law or rule in a manner not expressly authorized by this
383	383	code. (a) A violation of this section is subject to injunctive
384	384	relief or mandamus as provided by this code; and
385	385	(3) (b) a knowing or intentional first offense
386	386	under this section is a class A misdemeanor;
387	387	(4) (c) each offense thereafter is a state jail
388	388	felony.
389	389	SECTION 1.11. Title 7 of the Election Code shall be amended
390	390	to repeal provisions permitting and governing early voting by
391	391	personal appearance.
392	392	SECTION 1.12. The following provisions of the Election Code
393	393	are repealed:
394	394	(1) Section 31.014;
395	395	(2) Section 32.002(c-1);
396	396	(3) Section 32.032;
397	397	(4) Section 43.004(c);
398	398	(5) Section 43.007;
399	399	(6) Section 52.075;
400	400	(7) Section 61.002 (a) and (b);
401	401	(8) Section 63.0102;
402	402	(9) Section 63.002(d);
403	403	(10) Section 63.004;
404	404	(11) Section 63.0102(d);
405	405	(12) Section 64.009(f), (f-1), (g), and (h);
406	406	(13) Section 82.003;
407	407	(14) Section 84.0111(c);
408	408	(15) Chapter 85;
409	409	(16) Title 8
410	410	SECTION 1.13. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.