Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3774 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R13834 LRM-F
2	2	By: Paul H.B. No. 3774
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the operation of a signature verification committee.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 86.011(d), Election Code, is amended to
12	12	read as follows:
13	13	(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, if
14	14	the clerk receives a timely carrier envelope that does not fully
15	15	comply with the applicable requirements prescribed by this title,
16	16	[the clerk may deliver the carrier envelope in person or by mail to
17	17	the voter and may receive, before the deadline, the corrected
18	18	carrier envelope from the voter, or] the clerk may notify the voter
19	19	of the defect by telephone or e-mail and advise the voter that the
20	20	voter may come to the clerk's office in person to correct the
21	21	defect, [or] cancel the voter's application to vote by mail and vote
22	22	on election day, or cure the defect as instructed on a corrective
23	23	action form and return the form by mail. If the procedures
24	24	authorized by this subsection are used, they must be applied
25	25	uniformly to all carrier envelopes covered by this subsection. A
26	26	poll watcher is entitled to observe the procedures under this
27	27	subsection. The secretary of state may prescribe any other
28	28	procedures necessary to implement this subsection including
29	29	requirements for posting notice of any deliveries.
30	30	SECTION 2. Section 87.0271(a), Election Code, is amended to
31	31	read as follows:
32	32	(a) This section applies to an early voting ballot voted by
33	33	mail:
34	34	(1) for which the voter did not sign the carrier
35	35	envelope certificate;
36	36	(2) for which it cannot immediately be determined
37	37	whether the signature on the carrier envelope certificate or
38	38	signature sheet, as applicable, is that of the voter;
39	39	(3) [missing any required statement of residence;
40	40	[(4)] missing information or a required signature
41	41	sheet [containing incorrect information required under Section
42	42	84.002(a)(1-a) or Section 86.002]; or
43	43	(4) [(5)] containing incomplete information with
44	44	respect to a witness.
45	45	SECTION 3. Sections 87.0222(a) and (a-1), Election Code,
46	46	are amended to read as follows:
47	47	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), not later than
48	48	the 11th [ninth] day before election day, the jacket envelopes
49	49	containing early voting ballots voted by mail shall be delivered to
50	50	the board.
51	51	(a-1) Any jacket envelopes of early voting ballots voted by
52	52	mail returned after delivery of the ballots under Subsection (a)
53	53	may be delivered to the presiding judge of the early voting ballot
54	54	board between the end of the 11th [ninth] day before election day
55	55	and the closing of the polls on election day, or as soon after
56	56	closing as practicable, at the time or times specified by the
57	57	presiding judge.
58	58	SECTION 4. Section 87.027, Election Code, is amended by
59	59	amending Subsections (a-1), (c), (d), (f), and (i) and adding
60	60	Subsections (e-1), (f-1), and (i-1) to read as follows:
61	61	(a-1) A signature verification committee shall be appointed
62	62	in the general election for state and county officers on submission
63	63	to the early voting clerk of a written request for the committee by
64	64	at least 15 registered voters of the county. The secretary of state
65	65	shall prescribe the form for a request submitted under this
66	66	subsection. The request must be submitted not later than the
67	67	preceding October 1, and a request submitted by mail is considered
68	68	to be submitted at the time of its receipt by the clerk.
69	69	(c) Not later than the fifth day after the date the early
70	70	voting clerk issues the order calling for the appointment of a
71	71	signature verification committee, or not later than October 15 for
72	72	a committee required under Subsection (a-1), the appropriate
73	73	authority shall appoint the members of the committee and designate
74	74	one of the appointees as chair, subject to Subsection (d). The
75	75	authority shall fill a vacancy on the committee by appointment as
76	76	soon as possible after the vacancy occurs, subject to Subsection
77	77	(d). The early voting clerk shall post notice of the name [and
78	78	residence address] of each appointee. The notice must remain
79	79	posted continuously for the period beginning the day after the date
80	80	of the appointment and ending on the last day of the committee's
81	81	operation in the election.
82	82	(d) The early voting clerk shall determine an odd [the]
83	83	number of members who are to compose the signature verification
84	84	committee and shall state that number in the order calling for the
85	85	committee's appointment. A committee must consist of not fewer
86	86	than five members. In an election in which party alignment is
87	87	indicated on the ballot, each county chair of a political party with
88	88	a nominee or aligned candidate on the ballot shall submit to the
89	89	appointing authority a list of names of persons eligible to serve on
90	90	the signature verification committee in order of the county chair's
91	91	preference. The authority shall appoint at least two persons from
92	92	each list in the order of preference indicated on each list to serve
93	93	as members of the committee. The same number of members must be
94	94	appointed from each list. The authority shall appoint as chair of
95	95	the committee the highest-ranked person on the list provided by the
96	96	political party whose nominee for governor received the most votes
97	97	in the county in the most recent gubernatorial general election.
98	98	The authority shall appoint as vice chair of the committee the
99	99	highest-ranked person on the list provided by the political party
100	100	whose nominee for governor received the second most votes in the
101	101	county in the most recent gubernatorial general election. The vice
102	102	chair shall be counted as a member unless the chair is not present.
103	103	If the chair is not present, the vice chair acts as the chair until
104	104	the chair returns or a replacement is provided by the chair's
105	105	political party. A vacancy of any position on the committee shall
106	106	be filled by appointment from the original list or from a new list
107	107	submitted by the appropriate county chair.
108	108	(e-1) A person may not serve on a signature verification
109	109	committee and an early voting ballot board in the same election.
110	110	(f) The early voting clerk shall determine the place, day or
111	111	days, and hours of operation of the signature verification
112	112	committee and shall state that information in the order calling for
113	113	the committee's appointment. A committee may not begin operating
114	114	before the 20th day before election day and must convene not later
115	115	than the 12th day before election day.
116	116	(f-1) After the day the signature verification committee
117	117	begins operating, the early voting clerk may no longer send a voter
118	118	a notice of a defect and corrective action form under Section
119	119	86.011(d). The early voting clerk may, with instruction from the
120	120	committee chair, send a voter a notice of defect and corrective
121	121	action form under Section 87.0271 on behalf of the committee.
122	122	(i) The signature verification committee shall compare the
123	123	signature on each carrier envelope certificate, except those signed
124	124	for a voter by a witness, with the signature on the voter's ballot
125	125	application to determine whether the signatures are those of the
126	126	voter. The committee may also compare the signatures with any known
127	127	signature of the voter on file with the county clerk or voter
128	128	registrar to determine whether the signatures are those of the
129	129	voter. Except as provided by Subsection (l), a determination under
130	130	this subsection that the signatures are not those of the voter must
131	131	be made by a majority vote of the committee's membership, with the
132	132	chair only voting to resolve a tie. Both political parties must be
133	133	equally represented during the majority vote. If an unequal number
134	134	of members are present, it must be decided at the beginning of the
135	135	meeting which member shall abstain from participating so that an
136	136	equal number of members from both parties are voting. The committee
137	137	shall place the jacket envelopes, unopened carrier envelopes, and
138	138	applications of voters whose signatures are not those of the voter
139	139	in separate containers from those of voters whose signatures are
140	140	those of the voter. The committee chair shall deliver the sorted
141	141	materials to the early voting ballot board at the time specified by
142	142	the board's presiding judge.
143	143	(i-1) The signature verification committee may only open a
144	144	carrier envelope if the carrier envelope is attached to a federal
145	145	postcard application for the purpose of reviewing a signature
146	146	sheet.
147	147	SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 87, Election Code, is
148	148	amended by adding Section 87.0273 to read as follows:
149	149	Sec. 87.0273. SIGNATURE VERIFICATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS;
150	150	OATH AND IDENTIFICATION. (a) A member of the signature
151	151	verification committee shall repeat the following oath aloud:
152	152	"I swear (or affirm) that I will objectively work to be sure
153	153	to accept and count every eligible voter who provides the required
154	154	identification number and whose signature accompanying the ballot
155	155	appears to be that of the voter or the voter's witness. I
156	156	understand it is my duty to verify the voter's signature on the
157	157	ballot carrier envelope even when rebuttably presumed to be the
158	158	voter due to matching personal identification information. I will
159	159	not work alone when ballots are present and will work only in the
160	160	presence of a member of a political party different from my own. I
161	161	will faithfully perform my duties as an officer of the election and
162	162	guard the purity of the election."
163	163	(b) A member of the signature verification committee who
164	164	arrives after the oath is made shall repeat the oath aloud before
165	165	performing any duties as a member.
166	166	(c) Following administration of the oath, each member of the
167	167	signature verification committee shall be issued a form of
168	168	identification, prescribed by the secretary of state, to be
169	169	displayed by the member during the member's hours of service on the
170	170	board.
171	171	SECTION 6. Section 87.128(c), Election Code, is amended to
172	172	read as follows:
173	173	(c) Each member who takes notes under this section shall
174	174	sign and date the notes and deliver them to the presiding judge or
175	175	committee chair, as applicable, for delivery to the custodian of
176	176	election records. A member may request and receive a copy of their
177	177	notes at the time of delivery.
178	178	SECTION 7. Section 101.105, Election Code, is amended to
179	179	read as follows:
180	180	Sec. 101.105. BALLOTING MATERIALS TO BE SENT BY
181	181	E-MAIL. Balloting materials to be sent by e-mail under this
182	182	subchapter include:
183	183	(1) the appropriate ballot;
184	184	(2) ballot instructions, including instructions that
185	185	inform a voter that the ballot must be returned by mail to be
186	186	counted;
187	187	(3) instructions prescribed by the secretary of state
188	188	on:
189	189	(A) how to print a return envelope from the
190	190	federal Voting Assistance Program website; and
191	191	(B) how to create a carrier envelope if not using
192	192	an official [or] signature sheet for the ballot; [and]
193	193	(4) a list of certified write-in candidates, if
194	194	applicable; and
195	195	(5) an official signature sheet.
196	196	SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
197	197	an election ordered on or after the effective date of this Act.
198	198	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.