By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 1436
(In the Senate - Filed February 19, 2025; March 6, 2025,
read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
March 31, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9,
Nays 0; March 31, 2025, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to accepting an early voting ballot voted by mail;
creating a criminal offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 87, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 87.0412 to read as follows:
Sec. 87.0412. SUSPENSION OF ACCEPTING VOTER REQUIREMENTS
PROHIBITED. (a) A county clerk, elections administrator, early
voting clerk, or early voting ballot board may not suspend the
requirements under Section 87.041(b).
(b) A county clerk, elections administrator, or early
voting clerk who violates this section commits an offense. An
offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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