Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4842 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R15849 MPF-D
2	2	By: Swanson H.B. No. 4842
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the conduct and administration of elections.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 1.012, Election Code, is amended by
12	12	adding Subsections (i) and (j) to read as follows:
13	13	(i) Notwithstanding Chapter 552, Government Code, any
14	14	information on a ballot that relates to the specific polling place
15	15	at which the voter cast the ballot is confidential and not subject
16	16	to disclosure under that chapter.
17	17	(j) A county election official may withhold information
18	18	described by Subsection (i) without requesting a decision from the
19	19	attorney general under Subchapter G, Chapter 552, Government Code.
20	20	SECTION 2. Section 32.053(b), Election Code, is amended to
21	21	read as follows:
22	22	(b) This section does not apply to[:
23	23	[(1)] a county clerk[; or
24	24	[(2) a precinct chair declared elected under Section
25	25	171.0221].
26	26	SECTION 3. Sections 42.0051(a) and (c), Election Code, are
27	27	amended to read as follows:
28	28	(a) Notwithstanding Section 43.005, a commissioner's court
29	29	may combine county election precincts for a general or special
30	30	election [This section applies only to a county with a population of
31	31	less than 1.2 million that does not participate in the countywide
32	32	polling place program described by Section 43.007].
33	33	(c) A combined precinct under this section may not contain
34	34	less than 2,000 registered voters or more than 5,000 [10,000]
35	35	registered voters.
36	36	SECTION 4. Section 43.007(a), Election Code, is amended to
37	37	read as follows:
38	38	(a) The secretary of state shall implement a program to
39	39	allow each commissioners court participating in the program to
40	40	[eliminate county election precinct polling places and] establish
41	41	countywide polling places at each county election precinct for:
42	42	(1) any election required to be conducted by the
43	43	county;
44	44	(2) any election held as part of a joint election
45	45	agreement with a county under Chapter 271;
46	46	(3) any election held under contract for election
47	47	services with a county under Subchapter D, Chapter 31;
48	48	(4) each primary election and runoff primary election
49	49	if:
50	50	(A) the county chair or county executive
51	51	committee of each political party participating in a joint primary
52	52	election under Section 172.126 agrees to the use of countywide
53	53	polling places; or
54	54	(B) the county chair or county executive
55	55	committee of each political party required to nominate candidates
56	56	by primary election agrees to use the same countywide polling
57	57	places; and
58	58	(5) each election of a political subdivision located
59	59	in the county that is held jointly with an election described by
60	60	Subdivision (3) or (4).
61	61	SECTION 5. Section 65.014(c), Election Code, is amended to
62	62	read as follows:
63	63	(c) The returns shall be prepared as an original and three
64	64	copies, and on completing the returns, the presiding judge shall:
65	65	(1) complete a reconciliation of the number of voters
66	66	and the number of votes cast; and
67	67	(2) sign each return [one] to certify its accuracy.
68	68	SECTION 6. Section 129.023(c), Election Code, is amended to
69	69	read as follows:
70	70	(c) The general custodian of election records shall adopt
71	71	procedures for testing that:
72	72	(1) direct the testing board to cast votes;
73	73	(2) verify that each contest position, as well as each
74	74	precinct and ballot style, on the ballot can be voted and is
75	75	accurately counted;
76	76	(3) include overvotes and undervotes for each race, if
77	77	applicable to the system being tested;
78	78	(4) include write-in votes, when applicable to the
79	79	election;
80	80	(5) include provisional votes, if applicable to the
81	81	system being tested;
82	82	(6) calculate the expected results from the test
83	83	ballots;
84	84	(7) ensure that each voting machine has any public
85	85	counter reset to zero and presented to the testing board for
86	86	verification before testing;
87	87	(8) require that, for each feature of the system that
88	88	allows disabled voters to cast a ballot, at least one vote be cast
89	89	and verified by a two-person testing board team using that feature;
90	90	[and]
91	91	(9) require that, when all votes are cast, the general
92	92	custodian of election records and the testing board observe the
93	93	tabulation of all ballots and compare the actual results to the
94	94	expected results; and
95	95	(10) verify that, for an election in which a poll list
96	96	in the form of an electronic device is used, the precinct and ballot
97	97	style associated with each voter on the poll list matches the
98	98	precinct and ballot style provided to the voter.
99	99	SECTION 7. Sections 171.022(a) and (b), Election Code, are
100	100	amended to read as follows:
101	101	(a) A county executive committee consists of:
102	102	(1) a county chair, who is the presiding officer,
103	103	elected at the general primary election by majority vote of the
104	104	qualified voters of the county who vote in the primary on that
105	105	office or appointed by the county executive committee as provided
106	106	by this subchapter; and
107	107	(2) a precinct chair from each county election
108	108	precinct, elected using hand-marked paper ballots at the political
109	109	party's convention or other party meeting and as otherwise provided
110	110	by party rule [at the general primary by majority vote of the
111	111	qualified voters of the precinct who vote in the primary on that
112	112	office, subject to Section 171.0221], or appointed by the county
113	113	executive committee as provided by this subchapter.
114	114	(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), if no candidate
115	115	for county chair receives a majority of the votes, a runoff to
116	116	determine the chair [office] is conducted in the same manner as a
117	117	runoff primary election to determine a nomination for public
118	118	office. The candidates to be in a runoff are determined in the same
119	119	manner as candidates in a runoff for a nomination.
120	120	SECTION 8. Section 171.0231, Election Code, is amended to
121	121	read as follows:
122	122	Sec. 171.0231. WRITE-IN CANDIDATE FOR COUNTY CHAIR [OR
123	123	PRECINCT CHAIR]. (a) Write-in candidates are not permitted for
124	124	county chair [or precinct chair] unless a county executive
125	125	committee authorizes write-in candidates.
126	126	(b) If the county executive committee authorizes write-in
127	127	candidates:
128	128	(1) a write-in vote for the office of county chair or
129	129	precinct chair may not be counted unless the name written in appears
130	130	on the list of write-in candidates;
131	131	(2) to be entitled to a place on the list of write-in
132	132	candidates, a candidate must make a declaration of write-in
133	133	candidacy;
134	134	(3) a declaration of write-in candidacy must be filed
135	135	with the authority with whom an application for a place on the
136	136	ballot is required to be filed for the office;
137	137	(4) a declaration of write-in candidacy must be filed
138	138	not later than 6 p.m. of the fifth day after the date of the filing
139	139	deadline for the general primary election;
140	140	(5) with the appropriate modifications and to the
141	141	extent practicable, Subchapter B, Chapter 146, applies to write-in
142	142	voting for the office of county chair [or precinct chair]; and
143	143	(6) the secretary of state shall prescribe any
144	144	procedures necessary to implement this subsection.
145	145	SECTION 9. Section 171.028(a), Election Code, is amended to
146	146	read as follows:
147	147	(a) Not later than the 30th day after the date the term of
148	148	office of a new county chair begins, the person formerly serving as
149	149	the county chair shall transfer to the new county chair:
150	150	(1) local party bank accounts over which the former
151	151	county chair has authority; and
152	152	(2) the following original records that are in the
153	153	possession of the former county chair:
154	154	(A) [precinct chair and] county chair canvass
155	155	results;
156	156	(B) candidate applications;
157	157	(C) paperwork related to the primary election;
158	158	and
159	159	(D) other documents concerning party affairs.
160	160	SECTION 10. Section 172.023(b), Election Code, is amended
161	161	to read as follows:
162	162	(b) An application[, other than an application for the
163	163	office of precinct chair,] may not be filed earlier than the 30th
164	164	day before the date of the regular filing deadline. [An application
165	165	for the office of precinct chair may not be filed earlier than the
166	166	90th day before the date of the regular filing deadline.]
167	167	SECTION 11. Section 172.061, Election Code, is amended to
168	168	read as follows:
169	169	Sec. 172.061. CANDIDATE FOR PARTY OFFICE. (a) Except for
170	170	Sections 172.058(b), 172.059(c), and 172.060(b), this subchapter
171	171	applies to a candidate for county chair [or precinct chair].
172	172	(b) If a runoff candidate for county chair [or precinct
173	173	chair] withdraws, the remaining candidate is considered to be
174	174	elected and the runoff election for that office is not held.
175	175	SECTION 12. Section 172.089, Election Code, is amended to
176	176	read as follows:
177	177	Sec. 172.089. ORDER OF PARTY OFFICES ON BALLOT. The party
178	178	office [offices] of county chair [and precinct chair] shall be
179	179	listed on the primary election ballot after the public offices
180	180	[with the office of county chair listed first].
181	181	SECTION 13. The following provisions of the Election Code
182	182	are repealed:
183	183	(1) Section 42.0051(a-1);
184	184	(2) Sections 43.007(f), (g), (h), (m), and (n);
185	185	(3) Section 124.065;
186	186	(4) Section 172.090; and
187	187	(5) Section 173.082(e).
188	188	SECTION 14. The changes in law made by this Act apply to an
189	189	election ordered on or after the effective date of this Act.
190	190	SECTION 15. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.