Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3775 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	~~89R23194 TSS~~-D
	1	+	89R13833 AB-D
2	2		By: Paul H.B. No. 3775
3		-	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3775:
4		-	By: Shaheen C.S.H.B. No. 3775
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6	4
7	5
8	6
9	7		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
10	8		AN ACT
11	9		relating to processing early voting ballots voted by mail.
12	10		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	11		SECTION 1. Section 87.0241(b), Election Code, is amended to
14	12		read as follows:
15	13		(b) The board may not open a ballot envelope of an accepted
16	14		voter or count early voting ballots until:
17		-	(1) the polls open on election day; [or]
	15	+	(1) the polls open on election day; or
18	16		(2) in an election conducted by an authority of a
19		-	county with a population of at least 100,000 but less than 1 million
20		-	[or more], or conducted jointly with such a county or conducted with
21		-	such a county through a contract for election services, the end of
22		-	the period for early voting by personal appearance; or
23		-	(3) in an election conducted by an authority of a
24		-	county with a population of 1 million or more, or conducted jointly
	17	+	county with a population of 100,000 or more, or conducted jointly
25	18		with such a county or conducted with such a county through a
26		-	contract for election services, ~~7 a.m. on~~ the ~~sixth day before~~
27		-	~~election day~~.
	19	+	contract for election services, the end of the period for early
	20	+	voting by personal appearance.
28	21		SECTION 2. Section 87.042, Election Code, is amended by
29	22		amending Subsections (a) and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read
30	23		as follows:
31	24		(a) The early voting ballot board shall open each carrier
32	25		envelope containing an accepted ballot without defacing the
33	26		certificate on the carrier envelope and remove without opening the
34	27		ballot envelope from the carrier envelope.
35	28		(d) An accepted ballot that was not returned in the official
36	29		ballot envelope shall be treated as an accepted ballot that was
37	30		returned in the ballot envelope and may be placed in an empty
38	31		envelope.
39	32		(e) The board shall maintain chain of custody paperwork that
40	33		accounts for the correct number of accepted ballots and envelopes
41	34		placed into the ballot box or container as required by Subsection
42	35		(b) or (c) or Section 87.044(b), as applicable. When the container
43	36		is sealed, the paperwork must be signed by:
44	37		(1) the presiding judge;
45	38		(2) a member of the board who is a member of a
46	39		different political party from the presiding judge; and
47	40		(3) at least one poll watcher, if present during the
48	41		session.
49	42		SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
50	43		an election held on or after the effective date of this Act. An
51	44		election held before the effective date of this Act is governed by
52	45		the law in effect when the election was held, and that law is
53	46		continued in effect for that purpose.
54	47		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.