Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1013 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Toth H.B. No. 1013
2	2
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to election integrity and security, including by
9	9	preventing fraud in the conduct of elections in this state;
10	10	authorizing a penalty, increasing a penalty.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
13	13	SECTION 1.01. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the
14	14	Election Accuracy, Transparency, and Accountability Act.
15	15	SECTION 1.02. Chapter 41 of the Texas Election Code is
16	16	amended to read as follows:
17	17	Sec. 41.002. GENERAL ELECTION FOR STATE AND COUNTY
18	18	OFFICERS. The general election for state and county officers shall
19	19	be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in
20	20	even-numbered years. Voting by personal appearance shall begin 8
21	21	calendar days in advance of election day culminating on election
22	22	day for a total of 9 consecutive days for voting by personal
23	23	appearance.
24	24	SECTION 1.03. Title 7 of the Election Code shall be amended
25	25	to repeal provisions permitting and governing early voting by
26	26	personal appearance.
27	27	SECTION 1.04. Chapter 42 of the Texas Election Code shall be
28	28	amended as follows:
29	29	Sec. 42.006. POPULATION REQUIREMENTS. (a) Except as
30	30	otherwise provided by this section, a county election precinct must
31	31	contain at least 100 but not more than 2,000 [5,000] registered
32	32	voters.
33	33	SECTION 1.05. Chapter 43 of the Texas Election Code shall be
34	34	amended as follows:
35	35	Sec. 43.001. ONE POLLING PLACE IN EACH PRECINCT. Each
36	36	election precinct established for an election shall be served by a
37	37	single polling place located within the boundary of the precinct or
38	38	adjoining precinct. More than one precinct may vote at the same
39	39	location provided the location is large enough to accommodate all
40	40	election activities as required by this code while keeping those
41	41	activities separate and distinct for each precinct.
42	42	Sec. 43.031. POLLING PLACE IN PUBLIC BUILDING. (a) In this
43	43	subchapter, "public building" means a building owned or controlled
44	44	by the state or a political subdivision.
45	45	(b) Each polling place shall be located inside a building.
46	46	The room where the election is conducted shall be used solely for
47	47	that purpose during the election and shall be capable of being
48	48	locked and secured from unauthorized access at any time an election
49	49	judge is not present.
50	50	(b-1) No voter may cast a vote from inside a motor vehicle
51	51	unless the voter meets the requirements of Section 64.009. A
52	52	violation of this section is a state-jail felony offense.
53	53	Sec. 43.031 (e) A polling place may not be located at the
54	54	residence or business location of a person who is:
55	55	(1) a candidate for an elective office, including an
56	56	office of a political party; or
57	57	(2) related within the third degree by consanguinity
58	58	or the second degree by affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
59	59	Government Code, to a candidate described by Subdivision (1).
60	60	(f) The polling place may not be located in a movable
61	61	structure.
62	62	SECTION 1.06. Chapter 51 of the Texas Election Code shall be
63	63	amended as follows:
64	64	Sec. 51.004. DISTRIBUTING SUPPLIES.
65	65	(b) The appropriate and sufficient amounts of supplies
66	66	including but not limited to ballots shall be distributed to each
67	67	presiding election judge not later than one hour before the polls
68	68	are required to be open for voting [and to the early voting clerk
69	69	before the beginning of early voting].
70	70	(c) In addition to any other penalty set forth in this code,
71	71	failure to comply with this section or Section 51.005 by an election
72	72	administrator or election officer whether or not intentional
73	73	impacting more than one precinct shall result in the removal of the
74	74	election administrator or election officer and the election shall
75	75	be reconducted.
76	76	Sec. 51.005. NUMBER OF BALLOTS. (a) The authority
77	77	responsible for procuring the election supplies for an election
78	78	shall provide for each election precinct a number of ballots equal
79	79	to at least the [percentage] number of registered voters [who
80	80	voted] in that precinct [in the most recent corresponding election]
81	81	plus 1 [25] percent of that number [except that the number of
82	82	ballots provided may not exceed the total number of registered
83	83	voters in the precinct].
84	84	Sec. 51.011. OBSTRUCTING DISTRIBUTION OF SUPPLIES. (a) A
85	85	person commits an offense if the person intentionally obstructs the
86	86	distribution of election supplies for an election.
87	87	(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony
88	88	[Class C misdemeanor].
89	89	Sec. 51.013. IDENTIFICATION OF PRINTERS FOR PRIMARY
90	90	ELECTION OR GENERAL ELECTION FOR STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS. Amend
91	91	to add (e), (f)and (g):
92	92	(e) Ballot printing services shall be procured from
93	93	printers located within the state of Texas.
94	94	(f) Chain of custody procedures including securing batches
95	95	with uniquely numbered seals that are logged, shall be followed
96	96	including documentation of such procedures by the printer from the
97	97	time the ballots come off the press until they are delivered
98	98	securely to the county elections officer. Failure of printer to
99	99	follow chain of custody procedures and/or produce required
100	100	documentation at the time of delivery of ballots shall result in
101	101	termination of all present and future contracts.
102	102	(g) Chain of custody procedures including securing batches
103	103	with uniquely numbered seals that are logged, shall be followed
104	104	including documentation of such procedures by the printer from the
105	105	time the ballots come off the press until they are delivered
106	106	securely to the county elections officer. Failure of printer to
107	107	follow chain of custody procedures and/or produce required
108	108	documentation at the time of delivery of ballots shall result in
109	109	termination of all present and future contracts.
110	110	SECTION 1.07. Chapter 52 of the Texas Election Code shall be
111	111	Amended to read as follows:
112	112	Sec. 52.0064. ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY RESPONSIBLE CLERK IN
113	113	EVENT OF MISPRINT or BALLOT PRINTING ERROR.
114	114	(a) In the event of a misprint or other error in printing one
115	115	or more ballots, such ballots must be marked "VOID" in large letters
116	116	across the front of the ballots. (b) Such void ballots must be
117	117	accounted for by ballot number, placed in locked containers with
118	118	numbered seals marked "VOID MISPRINTED BALLOTS" and placed in a
119	119	secure, locked location and retained as election records. Such
120	120	void ballots numbers shall be recorded as void numbers and no voided
121	121	ballot numbers may be used for any re-printed ballots. Strict chain
122	122	of custody procedures shall be followed.
123	123	[Sec.A52.0064.DESTRUCTION OF INCORRECT BALLOTS. (a) If new
124	124	ballots are prepared to make a correction on the ballot, the
125	125	authority responsible for having the official ballot prepared shall
126	126	destroy the incorrect ballots in the presence of: (1)the sheriff,
127	127	in an election ordered by the governor or a primary election; or
128	128	(2)the authority responsible for ordering the election, in any
129	129	other election. (b)The authority responsible for having the
130	130	official ballot prepared shall post in the authority 's office a
131	131	notice of the date, hour, and place of the destruction of the
132	132	incorrect ballots. The notice must remain posted continuously for
133	133	the 72 hours preceding the scheduled time of the destruction.
134	134	(c)Any interested person is entitled to be present at the
135	135	destruction of incorrect ballots. (d) The authority responsible for
136	136	having the official ballot prepared shall prepare a record of the
137	137	incorrect ballots that are destroyed. The authority shall preserve
138	138	the record for the period for preserving the precinct election
139	139	records.]
140	140	Sec. 52.061. PRINTING ON BALLOT. (a) The ballot shall be
141	141	designed for hand marking and shall be printed in black ink, on
142	142	secure, auditable, counterfeit resistant, non-encrypted paper, on
143	143	white or light-colored paper, but the ballot may not be the same
144	144	color as sample ballots. No ballot may contain any QR or bar code or
145	145	any other code not readable by the human eye nor may a ballot
146	146	contain any open or encrypted of tracking, tracing or identifying a
147	147	voter's ballot.
148	148	(c) The voting precinct number and polling location shall be
149	149	pre-printed on all pages of the ballot.
150	150	(d) Failure of the Election Administrator comply with this
151	151	section shall be a Class A misdemeanor.
152	152	Sec. 52.062. NUMBERING OF BALLOTS. The ballots prepared by
153	153	each authority responsible for having the official ballot prepared
154	154	shall be numbered sequentially and in accordance with this code,
155	155	with no gap in numbering, on the front and back of each ballot,
156	156	consecutively beginning with the number "1." No ballot in the state
157	157	shall have a duplicative number.
158	158	SECTION 1.08. Chapter 61 of the Texas Election Code shall be
159	159	amended as follows:
160	160	Sec. 61.002. CLOSING POLLING PLACE FOR VOTING.
161	161	(c) Immediately after closing the polls for voting on
162	162	[election day] the final day of voting, the presiding election
163	163	judge or alternate election judge shall follow the hand counting
164	164	procedures set forth in Chapter 61.0021 of the code. [print the tape
165	165	to show the number of votes cast for each candidate or ballot
166	166	measure for each voting machine.
167	167	Each election judge or alternate election judge present shall sign
168	168	a tape printed under this section]]
169	169	Sec. 61.0021 OF COUNTING ELECTION.
170	170	(a) All elections shall be conducted with full transparency
171	171	and video recorded without interruption. These video recordings
172	172	shall be made freely available to all interested parties and
173	173	publicly posted so that they can be access by every citizen without
174	174	cost or additional request. The video recordings must clearly
175	175	capture the ballot selections on each ballot counted and the
176	176	tabulation result associated with that ballot.
177	177	(a-1) If technically feasible, the hand counting procedure
178	178	may be live streamed.
179	179	(b) The election materials including ballots, ballot boxes,
180	180	and envelopes used for provisional ballots at a polling place shall
181	181	be in plain view of at least one election officer from the time the
182	182	polls open for voting until the precinct returns have been
183	183	certified. The election materials must also have constant video
184	184	recording from the time the polls open for voting until the precinct
185	185	returns have been certified while ensuring no individual voter is
186	186	identifiably recorded.
187	187	(c) All counting shall be done by hand at the precinct prior
188	188	to transporting the ballots to any other location.
189	189	(d) Counting shall be performed by bi-partisan teams. Each
190	190	team shall be assigned a reasonable number of ballots in batches and
191	191	the video recording will memorialize and confirm the count. Prior
192	192	to beginning the count, the video recording will begin by recording
193	193	a caption page. This page will define the time, date, team members,
194	194	supervisor members and a sample ballot. The video will conclude
195	195	showing the same caption page except that the caption page shall be
196	196	signed by the team members and the raw totals shall be listed by
197	197	race. This video recording shall be securely made so that it cannot
198	198	be altered in any way. A sufficient number of counting teams shall
199	199	be assembled so as to complete the count within approximately three
200	200	hours of the closing of the polls. These teams shall be supervised
201	201	by an appropriate number of supervisory teams composed of equal
202	202	numbers of the major political parties. At the conclusion of each
203	203	count, members of the counting team, supervisors and any poll
204	204	watchers present shall sign that the count has been completed and
205	205	report the totals they determined from that count.
206	206	(e) The public shall be provided with access to the video
207	207	recordings at the earliest time possible. Before the election may
208	208	be certified, the public shall be provided 30 days to examine the
209	209	video recordings for errors. Should a voter registered in the
210	210	county determine that the count was in error, such registered voter
211	211	shall notify the supervisor of elections of the error, identifying
212	212	the video that is in error along with the time location in the video
213	213	where the count was made incorrectly. The registered voter
214	214	reporting the error is not required to not make the report public.
215	215	The canvassing authority shall review the video recording in
216	216	question to make a determination whether the count was in error.
217	217	Poll watchers shall be permitted to be present during the review of
218	218	the video recording in question. If the error is confirmed, the
219	219	official results shall be corrected. Should the canvassing
220	220	authority fail to diligently correct the error prior to certifying
221	221	the election, or if there is a dispute as to whether an error
222	222	exists, two or more voters registered in the county are permitted to
223	223	file a suit and, if they are found to be correct, the plaintiffs
224	224	shall recoup their attorney's fees and costs of court associated
225	225	with the suit. In addition, members of the canvassing authority who
226	226	failed to correct the error shall be subject to recall and removal
227	227	from their elected office upon petition of 10 registered voters of
228	228	the jurisdiction, which recall shall be decided in a special
229	229	election to occur within 45 days after the filing of the petition.
230	230	During the interim, the members of the canvassing authority who are
231	231	the subject of the recall shall be suspended from their duties until
232	232	the recall results are determined.
233	233	(f) The court or jury shall make any required final
234	234	determination of an error in the count utilizing the video
235	235	recording of that team's count and may take testimony as required to
236	236	assist in their fact finding.
237	237	(g) At the conclusion of the counting process, the caption
238	238	pages of each team shall be compiled to determine the election
239	239	results. The tallies from the caption pages shall be recorded on a
240	240	final tally sheet and added by two members of a bi-partisan team.
241	241	Poll watchers may also verify the totals. Bi-partisan team members
242	242	shall sign the final tally sheet, certifying its accuracy.
243	243	(h) Mail in ballots shall be transported unopened to the
244	244	precinct in which the person would have voted in person. They shall
245	245	be opened at the precinct and counted with the ballots that were
246	246	voted in person.
247	247	(i) At no time will the supervisor of elections, any
248	248	election staff, nor any other party restore, clean-up, define,
249	249	enhance, or alter a voter's submitted ballot in any way. A
250	250	violation under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
251	251	(j) The results of the hand count shall be posted on the door
252	252	of the precinct for a minimum period of three days. All precinct
253	253	results shall be posted by precinct, on the county website and the
254	254	secretary of state's website. The presiding judge shall ensure the
255	255	results are correctly posted both on the county's website and on the
256	256	secretary of state's website.
257	257	Sec. 61.005. SECURITY OF BALLOTS, BALLOT BOXES, AND
258	258	ENVELOPES. (a) From the time a presiding judge receives the
259	259	[official] ballots and other election materials [for an election]
260	260	until the closing of the polls on the final day of voting and
261	261	delivery of such voting materials to the official delivery
262	262	location,[precinct returns for that election have been certified,]
263	263	the presiding judge shall take the precautions necessary to prevent
264	264	access to such election materials, the ballots, ballot boxes, and
265	265	envelopes used for provisional ballots, ensure that the room where
266	266	the election is being conducted is locked and completely secured
267	267	from unauthorized access at any time the judge or an alternate judge
268	268	is not present, that the ballots both voted and unvoted are secured
269	269	in a box or cabinet that is secured with a uniquely numbered seal.
270	270	The numbers of such seals shall be logged on the reconciliation
271	271	reports by the judge or alternate judge. [in a manner not
272	272	authorized by law.]
273	273	(b) The ballots, ballot boxes, and envelopes used for
274	274	provisional ballots at a polling place shall be in plain view of at
275	275	least one election officer or secured as set forth in (a) above from
276	276	the time the polls open for voting until the precinct returns have
277	277	been certified.
278	278	(2) A presiding election judge commits an offense if
279	279	the judge fails to prevent another person from handling a ballot box
280	280	containing voters' marked ballots or an envelope containing a
281	281	voter's provisional ballot in an unauthorized manner or from making
282	282	an unauthorized entry into the ballot box or envelope. An offense
283	283	under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor. If the offense is
284	284	committed knowingly, it shall be a third-degree felony.
285	285	(c)(1) At any time the judge suspects a security incident or
286	286	breach of the equipment, the ballot box, the unvoted ballots or of
287	287	any other election materials, or in the event a numbered seal does
288	288	not match the number of the seal recorded by the judge the night
289	289	before, the judge shall immediately segregate and secure the
290	290	affected box or materials, and shall contact both the county
291	291	sheriff and the county election officer and report the facts. If
292	292	necessary, the county election officer shall deliver additional
293	293	election materials, as needed to the precinct, within 1 hour of the
294	294	initial report in order that voting may continue. The judge shall
295	295	guard against unnecessary handling of breached election materials
296	296	and shall preserve any evidence that may assist in any
297	297	investigation. The county election officer and the sheriff shall
298	298	conduct a full investigation to determine what occurred and the
299	299	cause. The county election officer shall ensure that only legally
300	300	cast ballots are counted. If the breach was on a voting day prior to
301	301	election day, the county shall post an overnight guard at the
302	302	polling location for the remainder of the voting period to ensure no
303	303	further breach occurs.
304	304	(c)(2) At the appropriate time and as needed, the judge
305	305	shall provide an affidavit of facts. The county election officer
306	306	shall make a full report to the county party chairs and the
307	307	secretary of state within 24 hours of receiving the report.
308	308	Sec. 61.007. UNLAWFULLY REVEALING INFORMATION BEFORE POLLS
309	309	CLOSE. (c) Beginning at 9:30 a.m. on each day of voting and at each
310	310	subsequent two-hour interval through [5:30 p.m.] the closing of the
311	311	polls, the presiding judge shall post written notice of the total
312	312	cumulative number of voters who have voted in the precinct and the
313	313	number of voters who have voted that day. The notice shall be
314	314	posted at an outside door through which a voter may enter the
315	315	building in which the polling place is located.
316	316	Sec. 61.014. USE OF CERTAIN DEVICES. (a) A person may not
317	317	use a wireless communication device within 100 feet of a voting
318	318	station.
319	319	(b) A person may not use any mechanical or electronic means
320	320	of recording images or sound within 100 feet of the entrance to a
321	321	voting station.
322	322	(c) The presiding judge may require a person who violates
323	323	this section to turn off the device or to leave the polling place.
324	324	(d) This section does not apply to:
325	325	(1) an election officer in conducting the officer's
326	326	official duties;
327	327	(2) the use of election equipment necessary for the
328	328	conduct of the election; or
329	329	(3) a person who is employed or serving as a watcher at
330	330	the location in which a polling place is located while the person is
331	331	acting in the course of the person's employment or service.
332	332	(e) Violation of this section shall be an offense that is a
333	333	Class C misdemeanor.
334	334	SECTION 1.09. Chapter 63, Election Code, is amended as
335	335	follows:
336	336	Sec. 63.003. POLL LIST. (a) A printed, physical poll list
337	337	containing the list of names of the voters duly registered in the
338	338	precinct as of the date that is 30 days in advance of election day
339	339	including their residence address, whether they applied for a
340	340	mail-in ballot, and space to indicate the information required in
341	341	65.003(e) shall be [maintained] kept by an election officer at the
342	342	precinct polling place. (a)(1) Each voter shall be required to
343	343	place their regular signature upon the poll list in the signature
344	344	space next to their name.
345	345	(c) An election officer shall enter each accepted voter's
346	346	name by hand on [the] a separate voter roster list after the voter
347	347	signs the poll book list [signature roster]. The voter roster form
348	348	shall provide space for the judge to indicate whether the voter's
349	349	name is a similar name to the registered name rather than the exact
350	350	name. The voter roster shall be kept in quadruplicate with the
351	351	original going in the box with the voted ballots, a copy retained by
352	352	the election judge, a copy retained by the alternate election
353	353	judge, and a copy submitted to the county clerk in the appropriate
354	354	closing envelope. The county clerk shall provide the list to the
355	355	ballot board upon request.
356	356	(d) If the poll list indicates a voter requested a mail-in
357	357	ballot, the election judge shall ensure that the process for
358	358	cancelling the mail in ballot is followed before allowing a voter to
359	359	vote. [The poll list may be in the form of an electronic device
360	360	approved by the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall
361	361	adopt rules governing the use of electronic poll lists.]
362	362	(e) The poll book shall include space for an election
363	363	officer to indicate whether a voter executed a Declaration of
364	364	Reasonable Impediment under Section 63.001(i).
365	365	Sec. 63.011. PROVISIONAL VOTING. (a) A person to whom
366	366	Section 63.001(g) or 63.009 applies may cast a provisional ballot
367	367	if the person executes an affidavit stating that the person:
368	368	(1) is a registered voter in the precinct in which the
369	369	person seeks to vote; and
370	370	(2) is eligible to vote in the election.
371	371	(a-1) A person to whom the [early voting] clerk was required
372	372	to provide a[n] [early] voting ballot by mail under Section 86.001
373	373	and who did not vote [early] by mail may cast a provisional ballot
374	374	on election day if the person executes an affidavit stating that the
375	375	person:
376	376	(1) is a registered voter in the precinct in which the
377	377	person seeks to vote; and
378	378	(2) did not vote [early] by mail.
379	379	SECTION 1.10. Chapter 276.019, Election Code is amended as
380	380	follows:
381	381	Sec. 276.019. UNLAWFUL ALTERING OF ELECTION PROCEDURES. A
382	382	public official or election official may not create, alter, modify,
383	383	waive, or suspend any election standard, practice, or procedure
384	384	mandated by law or rule in a manner not expressly authorized by this
385	385	code. (a) A violation of this section is subject to injunctive
386	386	relief or mandamus as provided by this code; and
387	387	(3) (b) a knowing or intentional first offense
388	388	under this section is a class A misdemeanor;
389	389	(4) (c) each offense thereafter is a state jail
390	390	felony.
391	391	SECTION 1.11. Title 7 of the Election Code shall be amended
392	392	to repeal provisions permitting and governing early voting by
393	393	personal appearance.
394	394	SECTION 1.12. The following provisions of the Election Code
395	395	are repealed:
396	396	(1) Section 31.014;
397	397	(2) Section 32.002(c-1);
398	398	(3) Section 32.032;
399	399	(4) Section 43.004(c);
400	400	(5) Section 43.007;
401	401	(6) Section 52.075;
402	402	(7) Section 61.002 (a) and (b);
403	403	(8) Section 63.0102;
404	404	(9) Section 63.002(d);
405	405	(10) Section 63.004;
406	406	(11) Section 63.0102(d);
407	407	(12) Section 64.009(f), (f-1), (g), and (h);
408	408	(13) Section 82.003;
409	409	(14) Section 84.0111(c);
410	410	(15) Chapter 85;
411	411	(16) Title 8
412	412	SECTION 1.13. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.