Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB108 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		By: Hall S.B. No. 108
2		-
3		-
	2	+	(In the Senate - Filed November 12, 2024; February 3, 2025,
	3	+	read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
	4	+	March 24, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 10,
	5	+	Nays 0; March 24, 2025, sent to printer.)
	6	+	Click here to see the committee vote
4	7
5	8
6	9		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	10		AN ACT
8	11		relating to the appointment of election clerks.
9	12		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	13		SECTION 1. Section 32.001, Election Code, is amended by
11	14		amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
12	15		follows:
13	16		(b) The alternate presiding judge shall serve as presiding
14	17		judge for an election if the regularly appointed presiding judge is
15	18		not present at a polling location or otherwise cannot serve.
16	19		(c) A person may not prevent an alternate presiding judge
17	20		from freely occupying or observing the area in which voters are
18	21		being accepted for voting.
19	22		SECTION 2. The heading to Section 32.031, Election Code, is
20	23		amended to read as follows:
21	24		Sec. 32.031. JUDGES [PRESIDING JUDGE] TO APPOINT CLERKS.
22	25		SECTION 3. Section 32.031(a), Election Code, is amended to
23	26		read as follows:
24	27		(a) The presiding judge and alternate presiding judge for
25	28		each election precinct shall each appoint [the] election clerks to
26	29		assist the judges [judge] in the conduct of an election at the
27	30		polling place served by the judges [judge].
28	31		SECTION 4. Section 32.033, Election Code, is amended to
29	32		read as follows:
30	33		Sec. 32.033. NUMBER OF CLERKS. (a) The authority that
31	34		appoints the election judges shall prescribe the maximum number of
32	35		clerks that each presiding judge and alternate presiding judge may
33	36		appoint for each election. The authority may prescribe different
34	37		maximums for different types of elections.
35	38		(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the presiding
36	39		judge shall appoint at least one clerk and the alternate presiding
37	40		judge shall appoint at least one clerk [two clerks] for each
38	41		precinct in each election. The presiding judge and alternate
39	42		presiding judge may each appoint as many additional clerks, within
40	43		the prescribed limit, as are necessary for the proper conduct of the
41	44		election.
42	45		(c) In each election ordered by the governor or a county
43	46		authority in which the regular county election precincts are
44	47		required to be used, the presiding judge and alternate presiding
45	48		judge shall each appoint clerks for each precinct in the number,
46	49		within the prescribed limit, the judges consider [judge considers]
47	50		necessary for the proper conduct of the election.
48	51		SECTION 5. Section 32.034, Election Code, is amended by
49	52		amending Subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) and adding Subsection
50	53		(c-1) to read as follows:
51	54		(b) The county chair of a political party whose candidate
52	55		for governor received the highest or second highest number of votes
53	56		in the county in the most recent gubernatorial general election
54	57		may, not later than the 30th [25th] day before a general election or
55	58		the 10th day before a special election to which Subsection (a)
56	59		applies, submit to a presiding judge and alternate presiding judge
57	60		a list containing the names of at least two persons who are eligible
58	61		for appointment as a clerk. If a timely list is submitted, the
59	62		presiding judge shall appoint at least one clerk from the list and
60	63		the alternate presiding judge shall appoint at least one clerk from
61	64		the list[, except as provided by Subsection (c)].
62	65		(c) If only one additional clerk is to be appointed, the
63	66		presiding judge shall make the appointment from the list submitted
64	67		by the county chair of the party whose candidate for governor
65	68		received the second highest number of votes in the county in the
66	69		most recent gubernatorial election [for an election in which the
67	70		alternate presiding judge will serve as a clerk, the clerk shall be
68	71		appointed from the list of a political party with which neither the
69	72		presiding judge nor the alternate judge is affiliated or aligned,
70	73		if such a list is submitted. If two such lists are submitted, the
71	74		presiding judge shall decide from which list the appointment will
72	75		be made]. If such a list is not submitted, the presiding judge is
73	76		not required to make an appointment from any list.
74	77		(c-1) The presiding judge and alternate presiding judge
75	78		shall each appoint the same number of clerks to the extent possible
76	79		given the total number of clerks to be appointed.
77	80		(d) The presiding judge and the alternate presiding judge
78	81		shall make an appointment under this section not later than the
79	82		fifth day after the date the judges receive [judge receives] the
80	83		list and shall deliver written notification of the appointment to
81	84		the appropriate county chair.
82	85		(e) If a presiding judge and an alternate presiding judge
83	86		have [has] not been appointed at the time the county chair of a
84	87		political party is required to submit a list of names for the
85	88		appointment of a clerk under this section, a [the] list of names
86	89		shall be submitted by the county clerk to the county chair of the
87	90		political party that failed to timely submit a list of names [whose
88	91		candidate for governor received the most votes in the precinct in
89	92		the most recent gubernatorial election and to the commissioners
90	93		court]. The county chair, or the commissioners court in a county
91	94		without a county chair, shall appoint clerks from the list in the
92	95		same manner provided for a presiding judge and an alternate
93	96		presiding judge to appoint clerks by this section.
94		-	SECTION 6. Section 127.006(a), Election Code, is amended to
95		-	read as follows:
96		-	(a) The manager, the presiding judge, and the alternate
97		-	presiding judge may appoint clerks to serve at the central counting
98		-	station in the same manner described by Section 32.034 for the
99		-	appointment of precinct election clerks.
100		-	SECTION 7. Section 32.032, Election Code, is repealed.
101		-	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
	97	+	SECTION 6. Section 32.032, Election Code, is repealed.
	98	+	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
	99	+	* * * * *