By: Sparks, Hagenbuch, Kolkhorst S.B. No. 618
(In the Senate - Filed December 13, 2024; February 3, 2025,
read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
April 1, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 1, 2025,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 618 By: Hall
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the unlawful altering of election procedures; providing
a civil penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 276.019, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 276.019. UNLAWFUL ALTERING OF ELECTION PROCEDURES;
CIVIL PENALTY. (a) A public official or election official may not
create, alter, modify, waive, or suspend any election standard,
practice, or procedure mandated by law or rule in a manner not
expressly authorized by this code.
(b) After the secretary of state receives or discovers
information indicating that a public official or election official
has violated Subsection (a), the secretary of state shall
investigate the standard, practice, or procedure appearing to have
violated Subsection (a). If the secretary of state determines that
a violation of Subsection (a) has occurred, the secretary of state
shall send to the public official or election official determined
to have violated that subsection:
(1) notification of the secretary of state's
determination;
(2) a demand that the official immediately cease the
implementation or enforcement of the standard, practice, or
procedure determined to have violated Subsection (a); and
(3) instructions for the specific actions necessary
for compliance with Subsection (a).
(c) If, more than two days after receiving notification
under Subsection (b), a public official or election official does
not comply with Subsection (a) as instructed under Subsection
(b)(3), the secretary of state shall:
(1) notify the attorney general that the official may
be subject to a civil penalty under Subsection (d); and
(2) forward to the attorney general any documents or
information received, discovered, or created during the secretary
of state's investigation under Subsection (b).
(d) A public official or election official is liable to this
state for a civil penalty for each day that the official fails or
refuses to take an affirmative action to comply with Subsection (a)
in an amount not to exceed:
(1) $1,000 per day for each day after the second day
and on or before the seventh day after receiving a notice under
Subsection (b); or
(2) $5,000 per day for each day after the seventh day
after receiving a notice under Subsection (b).
(e) The attorney general may bring an action to recover a
civil penalty imposed under Subsection (d).
(f) A civil penalty collected by the attorney general under
this section shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit
of the general revenue fund.
(g) A repeated violation of Subsection (a) by a public
official or election official, other than an elected official, is
grounds for removal of the official by the appointing political
subdivision.
(h) Except as provided by Subsection (i), the secretary of
state shall produce a monthly report containing information on each
reported violation of Subsection (a). The report shall only
include:
(1) the county where the violation allegedly took
place;
(2) the specific election standard, practice, or
procedure mandated by law or rule alleged to have been created,
altered, modified, waived, or suspended in a manner not expressly
authorized by this code;
(3) the date or dates of the alleged violation; and
(4) the resolution of the secretary of state's
investigation including the resolution of any further proceedings
or actions.
(h-1) The secretary of state shall update the information
required under Subsection (h)(4) as necessary.
(i) Documents or information received, discovered, or
created during the secretary of state's investigation under
Subsection (b) are confidential and not subject to disclosure under
Chapter 552, Government Code, unless the secretary of state or
attorney general has determined that a complaint submitted to the
secretary of state under this section does not rise to the level of
criminal conduct, or will not be further investigated or the
subject of any further proceedings or actions.
(j) A public official, election official, or registered
voter reporting an alleged violation of Subsection (a) by the
secretary of state or any personnel working in the secretary of
state's elections division, shall send a notice containing the
details of the alleged violation to the secretary of state. The
notice must:
(1) include the nature of the alleged violation; and
(2) demand that the secretary of state cease all acts
or omissions that constitute the alleged violation and take
whatever action necessary to correct the violation.
(j-1) The secretary of state shall include information on
each notice received under Subsection (j) in the manner provided by
Subsection (h).
(j-2) The secretary of state shall promptly notify the
complainant in writing of all corrective action taken in response
to the alleged violation of Subsection (a) or a clear explanation to
the complainant on the secretary of state's compliance with
Subsection (a).
(k) Except as provided by Subsection (l), if the secretary
of state has not complied with the demand or demonstrated
compliance in their response to a notice provided under Subsection
(j) after the second business day after the date the secretary
receives the notice, the complainant may bring an action against
the secretary for damages incurred by the failure to comply and for
appropriate equitable relief.
(l) A complainant may immediately bring an action under
Subsection (k) if election security is at immediate risk.
(m) A complainant may bring an action under Subsection (k)
in a district court located in a county impacted by the secretary of
state's failure to comply with the demand that is the subject of the
action or in the complainant's county of residence.
(n) A complaint is not required to demonstrate direct or
concrete injury to obtain relief in an action brought under
Subsection (k).
(o) A prevailing claimant in an action brought under
Subsection (k) is entitled to:
(1) compensatory damages;
(2) a restraining order;
(3) injunctive relief;
(4) mandamus relief; and
(5) court costs and reasonable attorney's fees
incurred in bringing the action.
(p) The secretary of state may not assert official immunity
as a defense to an action brought under Subsection (k).
(q) A district court shall expedite an action brought under
Subsection (k) if the court determines that the expedition is
necessitated by the public interest.
(r) This section supersedes any other provisions of this
code or a law outside this code to the extent of any conflict.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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