BILL ANALYSIS S.B. 1070 By: Hughes Elections Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law requires Texas to work with other states to develop systems for comparing interstate voter information to make sure that voter rolls are being maintained and that duplicative or invalid voters are being removed. In complying with this requirement, Texas has for several years participated in the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC. However, some say that the costs associated with ERIC participation have outweighed the benefits. S.B. 1070 seeks to address this issue by amending current law relating to the interstate voter registration crosscheck program. CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS S.B. 1070 amends the Election Code to expand the scope of the interstate voter registration crosscheck program as follows: includes as a required component the identification of voters who have been convicted of a felony or who are registered to vote in more than one state, using the system developed by the secretary of state with the cooperation of other states and jurisdictions; and gives the secretary of state the option to identify and contract with the provider of a private sector data system, as an alternative to developing systems with other states and jurisdictions for identifying voters with certain characteristics, to identify voters whose addresses have changed, who are registered to vote in more than one state, who are deceased, or who are not eligible to vote for another reason, including a felony conviction. S.B. 1070 does the following with respect to a private sector data system: requires the system to have demonstrated an ability to work with registered voter identification and matching systems; caps the cost to begin operations with the system at $100,000 and the cost of continuing operations at one dollar for each voter identified for the bill's purposes; restricts the information that may be provided to the system by the secretary of state to information found in a voter roll that is necessary to identify voters for the bill's purposes; requires the secretary of state to record information related to the system and to submit a report on that information to the legislature not later than the first day of each quarter of the state's fiscal year; and prohibits a contract with a system from requiring any additional duty of the state not required by the bill's provisions. The bill requires any system to identify voters under the program to comply with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, in addition to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2023.
BILL ANALYSIS
# BILL ANALYSIS
S.B. 1070
By: Hughes
Elections
Committee Report (Unamended)
S.B. 1070
By: Hughes
Elections
Committee Report (Unamended)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law requires Texas to work with other states to develop systems for comparing interstate voter information to make sure that voter rolls are being maintained and that duplicative or invalid voters are being removed. In complying with this requirement, Texas has for several years participated in the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC. However, some say that the costs associated with ERIC participation have outweighed the benefits. S.B. 1070 seeks to address this issue by amending current law relating to the interstate voter registration crosscheck program.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS S.B. 1070 amends the Election Code to expand the scope of the interstate voter registration crosscheck program as follows: includes as a required component the identification of voters who have been convicted of a felony or who are registered to vote in more than one state, using the system developed by the secretary of state with the cooperation of other states and jurisdictions; and gives the secretary of state the option to identify and contract with the provider of a private sector data system, as an alternative to developing systems with other states and jurisdictions for identifying voters with certain characteristics, to identify voters whose addresses have changed, who are registered to vote in more than one state, who are deceased, or who are not eligible to vote for another reason, including a felony conviction. S.B. 1070 does the following with respect to a private sector data system: requires the system to have demonstrated an ability to work with registered voter identification and matching systems; caps the cost to begin operations with the system at $100,000 and the cost of continuing operations at one dollar for each voter identified for the bill's purposes; restricts the information that may be provided to the system by the secretary of state to information found in a voter roll that is necessary to identify voters for the bill's purposes; requires the secretary of state to record information related to the system and to submit a report on that information to the legislature not later than the first day of each quarter of the state's fiscal year; and prohibits a contract with a system from requiring any additional duty of the state not required by the bill's provisions. The bill requires any system to identify voters under the program to comply with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, in addition to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2023.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Current law requires Texas to work with other states to develop systems for comparing interstate voter information to make sure that voter rolls are being maintained and that duplicative or invalid voters are being removed. In complying with this requirement, Texas has for several years participated in the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC. However, some say that the costs associated with ERIC participation have outweighed the benefits. S.B. 1070 seeks to address this issue by amending current law relating to the interstate voter registration crosscheck program.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
S.B. 1070 amends the Election Code to expand the scope of the interstate voter registration crosscheck program as follows:
includes as a required component the identification of voters who have been convicted of a felony or who are registered to vote in more than one state, using the system developed by the secretary of state with the cooperation of other states and jurisdictions; and
gives the secretary of state the option to identify and contract with the provider of a private sector data system, as an alternative to developing systems with other states and jurisdictions for identifying voters with certain characteristics, to identify voters whose addresses have changed, who are registered to vote in more than one state, who are deceased, or who are not eligible to vote for another reason, including a felony conviction.
S.B. 1070 does the following with respect to a private sector data system:
requires the system to have demonstrated an ability to work with registered voter identification and matching systems;
caps the cost to begin operations with the system at $100,000 and the cost of continuing operations at one dollar for each voter identified for the bill's purposes;
restricts the information that may be provided to the system by the secretary of state to information found in a voter roll that is necessary to identify voters for the bill's purposes;
requires the secretary of state to record information related to the system and to submit a report on that information to the legislature not later than the first day of each quarter of the state's fiscal year; and
prohibits a contract with a system from requiring any additional duty of the state not required by the bill's provisions.
The bill requires any system to identify voters under the program to comply with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, in addition to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2023.