88R2334 SGM-D
By: Hall S.B. No. 396
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the availability of paper ballots for a person voting by
personal appearance.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.005(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The authority responsible for procuring the election
supplies for an election shall provide:
(1) for each election precinct, a number of ballots
equal to at least the percentage of voters who voted in that
precinct in the most recent corresponding election plus 25 percent
of that number, except that the number of ballots provided may not
exceed the total number of registered voters in the precinct; and
(2) unless the number of ballots provided to an
election precinct is equal to the total number of registered voters
in the precinct, the means to print additional paper ballots at each
precinct polling place and early voting polling place.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 125, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 125.0071 to read as follows:
Sec. 125.0071. PROVISION OF PAPER BALLOT TO CERTAIN VOTERS.
(a) An election officer shall provide a paper ballot to a voter who
requests a paper ballot.
(b) The secretary of state may prescribe procedures to
implement this section.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.