89R3548 AND-D
By: Johnson S.B. No. 892
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to voter registration.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 12, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 12.007 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.007. CERTAIN ELECTION OFFICERS ARE VOTER
REGISTRARS. An election officer serving a polling place for early
voting by personal appearance is a deputy voter registrar and has
the same authority as a regular deputy registrar.
SECTION 2. Section 13.001(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) To be eligible to apply for registration, a person must,
on the date the registration application is submitted to the
registrar, be at least 17 years [and 10 months] of age and satisfy
the requirements of Subsection (a) except for age.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 13, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 13.009 to read as follows:
Sec. 13.009. ELECTRONIC VOTER REGISTRATION. (a) The
secretary of state shall, in coordination with the Department of
Public Safety, implement a program to allow a person with an
unexpired driver's license or personal identification card issued
in this state to complete a voter registration application over the
Internet from a secure Internet website.
(b) The Internet website established under this section
must allow a person to submit:
(1) an initial application for registration; and
(2) an application to update a voter registration
record.
(c) When a person submits an application under this section,
the secretary of state shall compare the information provided by
the applicant against Department of Public Safety records.
(d) The completed online application and information from
the Department of Public Safety, including the applicant's digital
signature, shall be provided to:
(1) the county voter registration office for the
county where the applicant currently resides; and
(2) the secretary of state for the statewide
computerized voter registration list under Section 18.061.
(e) An application electronically submitted under this
section is considered for all purposes as an application submitted
by mail under this title. A digital signature given as provided by
secretary of state rule meets the signature requirement under
Section 13.002(b).
(f) The secretary of state shall adopt rules as necessary to
implement this section.
SECTION 4. Section 13.046, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as
follows:
(d) At least twice each school year, a high school deputy
registrar shall distribute an officially prescribed registration
application form to each student who is or will be 18 years of age or
older during that year, subject to rules prescribed by the
secretary of state. A high school deputy registrar shall annually
submit the number of registration application forms distributed
under this section and the number of students whose year of birth
was at least 18 years ago to the secretary of state.
(d-1) The secretary of state shall publish and maintain on
the agency's Internet website a list of high schools to which
Subsection (d) applies and indicate whether the school is in
compliance with that subsection.
SECTION 5. Chapter 62, Election Code, is amended by adding
Section 62.0015 to read as follows:
Sec. 62.0015. VOTER REGISTRARS MUST BE PRESENT. Two voter
registrars must be present at each polling place while the polls are
open.
SECTION 6. Chapter 63, Election Code, is amended by adding
Section 63.010 to read as follows:
Sec. 63.010. REGISTRATION AT POLLING PLACE. (a) A person
who would be eligible to vote in an election under Section 11.001,
but for the requirement to be a registered voter, shall be accepted
during voting by personal appearance for voting the ballot for the
precinct of the person's residence as shown by the identification
presented if, on the day the person offers to vote, the person:
(1) submits a voter registration application that
complies with Section 13.002 to an election officer at the polling
place; and
(2) presents as proof of residence a form of photo
identification described by Section 63.0101(a) that states the
person's current address.
(b) The election officer shall return the original proof of
residence to the voter.
(c) A person voting under this section shall vote a
provisional ballot in the manner provided by Section 63.011 except
that the person is not required to submit the affidavit under
Section 63.011(a).
(d) For each registration corresponding to a ballot cast
under this section, the voter registrar shall review the
application and determine whether the applicant is eligible for
registration as provided by Subchapter C, Chapter 13. A
registration approved under this subsection takes effect on the
date the vote was cast.
(e) The secretary of state may by rule:
(1) designate additional documents that a person may
offer to prove the person's residence to register and vote under
this section; and
(2) prescribe procedures to implement this section.
SECTION 7. Section 65.051(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The early voting ballot board shall verify and count
provisional ballots as provided by this subchapter not later than
the 10th [ninth] day after the date of an election.
SECTION 8. Section 67.003(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Each [Except as provided by Subsection (c), each] local
canvassing authority shall convene to conduct the local canvass at
the time set by the canvassing authority's presiding officer not
later than the 14th [11th] day after election day and not earlier
than the later of:
(1) the third day after election day;
(2) the date on which the early voting ballot board has
verified and counted all provisional ballots, if a provisional
ballot has been cast in the election; or
(3) the date on which all timely received ballots cast
from addresses outside of the United States are counted, if a ballot
to be voted by mail in the election was provided to a person outside
of the United States.
SECTION 9. Section 85.031(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) For each person entitled to vote an early voting ballot
by personal appearance or entitled to register at a polling place,
the early voting clerk shall follow the procedure for accepting or
registering a regular voter on election day, with the modifications
necessary for the conduct of early voting.
SECTION 10. Section 67.003(c), Election Code, is repealed.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.