Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB5115 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R7783 MLH-D
2	2	By: Shaheen H.B. No. 5115
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the penalty for the crime of election fraud; increasing
10	10	a criminal penalty.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Sections 276.013(a) and (b), Election Code, are
13	13	amended to read as follows:
14	14	(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly or
15	15	intentionally makes any effort to:
16	16	(1) influence the independent exercise of the vote of
17	17	another in the presence of the ballot or during the voting process,
18	18	including by altering the ballot of another or by otherwise causing
19	19	a ballot to not reflect the intent of the voter;
20	20	(2) cause a voter to become registered, a ballot to be
21	21	obtained, or a vote to be cast under false pretenses;
22	22	(3) cause any false or intentionally misleading
23	23	statement, representation, or information to be provided:
24	24	(A) to an election official; or
25	25	(B) on an application for ballot by mail, carrier
26	26	envelope, or any other official election-related form or document;
27	27	(4) prevent a voter from casting a legal ballot in an
28	28	election in which the voter is eligible to vote;
29	29	(5) provide false information to a voter with the
30	30	intent of preventing the voter from voting in an election in which
31	31	the voter is eligible to vote;
32	32	(6) cause the ballot not to reflect the intent of the
33	33	voter;
34	34	(7) cause a ballot to be voted for another person that
35	35	the person knows to be deceased or otherwise knows not to be a
36	36	qualified or registered voter;
37	37	(8) cause or enable a vote to be cast more than once in
38	38	the same election; [or]
39	39	(9) discard or destroy a voter's completed ballot
40	40	without the voter's consent;
41	41	(10) count votes the person knows are invalid or alter
42	42	a report to include votes the person knows are invalid; or
43	43	(11) refuse to count votes the person knows are valid
44	44	or alter a report to exclude votes the person knows are valid.
45	45	(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
46	46	degree [Class A misdemeanor], unless:
47	47	(1) the person committed the offense while acting in
48	48	the person's capacity as an elected official, in which case the
49	49	offense is a [state jail] felony of the first degree; or
50	50	(2) the person is convicted of an attempt, in which
51	51	case the offense is a felony of the third degree [Class B
52	52	misdemeanor].
53	53	SECTION 2. The following provisions of the Election Code
54	54	are repealed:
55	55	(1) Section 276.013(c); and
56	56	(2) Section 276.014.
57	57	SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
58	58	an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
59	59	offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
60	60	by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former
61	61	law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
62	62	section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this
63	63	Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
64	64	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.