By: Bettencourt, et al. S.B. No. 507
(In the Senate - Filed November 25, 2024; February 3, 2025,
read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
March 24, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9,
Nays 0; March 24, 2025, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to election supplies and the conduct of elections;
creating criminal offenses; increasing criminal penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.005, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (d) to
read as follows:
(a) The authority responsible for procuring the election
supplies for an election shall provide for each election precinct a
number of ballots equal to at least the percentage of voters who
voted in that precinct in the most recent corresponding election
plus 25 percent of that number.
(a-1) The[, except that the] number of ballots provided may
not exceed the total number of registered voters in the precinct
unless the county participates in the countywide polling place
program under Section 43.007.
(d) The authority responsible for procuring the election
supplies for an election commits an offense if the authority
intentionally fails to provide an election precinct with the
required number of ballots under this section. An offense under
this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
SECTION 2. Section 51.008, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) The authority responsible for procuring the election
supplies for an election commits an offense if the authority
intentionally fails to promptly supplement the distributed ballots
upon request by a polling place. An offense under this subsection
is a Class A misdemeanor.
SECTION 3. Section 51.010(c), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) An offense under this section is a Class A [C]
misdemeanor.
SECTION 4. Section 51.011(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony
[Class C misdemeanor].
SECTION 5. Section 61.007(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony
[Class A misdemeanor].
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
51.010, 51.011, and 61.007, Election Code, apply 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 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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