Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2877 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	By: Hughes, Creighton S.B. No. 2877
	1	+	By: Hughes S.B. No. 2877
	2	+	(In the Senate - Filed March 14, 2025; April 7, 2025, read
	3	+	first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
	4	+	April 22, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9,
	5	+	Nays 1; April 22, 2025, sent to printer.)
	6	+	Click here to see the committee vote
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6	11		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	12		AN ACT
8	13		relating to the penalty for the crime of election fraud; increasing
9	14		a criminal penalty.
10	15		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	16		SECTION 1. Sections 276.013(a) and (b), Election Code, are
12	17		amended to read as follows:
13	18		(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly or
14	19		intentionally makes any effort to:
15	20		(1) influence the independent exercise of the vote of
16	21		another in the presence of the ballot or during the voting process,
17	22		including by altering the ballot of another or by otherwise causing
18	23		a ballot to not reflect the intent of the voter;
19	24		(2) cause a voter to become registered, a ballot to be
20	25		obtained, or a vote to be cast under false pretenses;
21	26		(3) cause any false or intentionally misleading
22	27		statement, representation, or information to be provided:
23	28		(A) to an election official; or
24	29		(B) on an application for ballot by mail, carrier
25	30		envelope, or any other official election-related form or document;
26	31		(4) prevent a voter from casting a legal ballot in an
27	32		election in which the voter is eligible to vote;
28	33		(5) provide false information to a voter with the
29	34		intent of preventing the voter from voting in an election in which
30	35		the voter is eligible to vote;
31	36		(6) cause the ballot not to reflect the intent of the
32	37		voter;
33	38		(7) cause a ballot to be voted for another person that
34	39		the person knows to be deceased or otherwise knows not to be a
35	40		qualified or registered voter;
36	41		(8) cause or enable a vote to be cast more than once in
37	42		the same election; [or]
38	43		(9) discard or destroy a voter's completed ballot
39	44		without the voter's consent;
40	45		(10) count votes the person knows are invalid or alter
41	46		a report to include votes the person knows are invalid; or
42	47		(11) refuse to count votes the person knows are valid
43	48		or alter a report to exclude votes the person knows are valid.
44	49		(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
45	50		degree [Class A misdemeanor], unless:
46	51		(1) the person committed the offense while acting in
47	52		the person's capacity as an elected official, in which case the
48	53		offense is a [state jail] felony of the first degree; or
49	54		(2) the person is convicted of an attempt, in which
50	55		case the offense is a felony of the third degree [Class B
51	56		misdemeanor].
52	57		SECTION 2. The following provisions of the Election Code
53	58		are repealed:
54	59		(1) Section 276.013(c); and
55	60		(2) Section 276.014.
56	61		SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
57	62		an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
58	63		offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
59	64		by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former
60	65		law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
61	66		section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this
62	67		Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
63	68		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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