HBA-GUM H.B. 3206 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3206 By: Danburg Elections 3/29/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, there are some discontinuities in the interpretations of certain election procedures. H.B. 3206 reconciles older law with newer law, specifically to implement 1997 changes in the Texas Election Code as well as to further implement the National Voter Registration Act. This bill also responds to specific problems or complaints voiced by election officers and voters, or to protect election authorities from future litigation based on previous lawsuits. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 2.025, Election Code, as follows: Sec. 2.025. RUNOFF ELECTION DAY. (a) Provides that exemptions to this subsection are provided by the code, rather than by Subsection (b). Moves the last day on which a runoff election may be held from the 30th to the 45th day after the date the final canvass of the main election is completed. (b) Provides that a runoff election held after the period prescribed by Subsection (a) may be prescribed by a home-rule city charter, rather than by this subsection. Makes conforming changes. (c) Applies this subsection to the section, rather than only to Subsection (b). SECTION 2. Amends Section 2.051(b), Election Code, to include other territorial units in addition to single-member districts. Provides that this subchapter applies if no at-large proposition or opposed at-large race is to appear on the ballot. Provides that this subchapter also applies to an unopposed at-large race regardless of whether an opposed race is to appear on the ballot in a particular territorial unit. Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes. SECTION 3. Amends Section 2.053(c), Election Code, to require a certificate of election to be issued at the same time as provided for a candidate elected at the election, and the candidate to qualify for the office in the same manner as provided for a candidate elected at the election. SECTION 4. Amends Section 13.072(c), Election Code, to delete Subsection (e) from the exemptions to this section. SECTION 5. Amends Section 13.073, Election Code, by adding Subsection (c), to authorize the registrar upon receiving a completed application, previously returned for incompleteness, under conditions specified under this subsection, to use the original date of submission of the incomplete application to determine the effective date of registration. SECTION 6. Amends Section 15.025, Election Code, as follows: Sec. 15.025. New title: EFFECTIVE DATE OF CERTAIN CHANGES IN REGISTRATION INFORMATION. Creates Subsection (a) from existing text. Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes. (b) Provides that a change in registration information covered by this section is effective for early voting if it will be effective on election day. (c) Requires the registrar, in determining the effective date of the change covered by this section, to use the date indicated by the post office cancellation mark. (d) Authorizes the document, if the 30th day before the date of an election is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal state or national holiday, to be submitted to the registrar on the next regular business day. SECTION 7. Amends Sections 16.033(c) and (d), Election Code (relating to notification of an incomplete application for voter registration), to require an appropriate reply from the voter on or before the 30th, rather than the 60th, day after the date the notice is mailed. SECTION 8. Amends Section 16.0332(a), Election Code, to specify the accepted forms of proof of United States citizenship. Makes a conforming change. SECTION 9. Amends Section 16.036(a), Election Code, to include Section 16.332. Makes a conforming change. SECTION 10. Amends Section 19.001(a), Election Code, to include Section 16.0332. Makes a conforming change. SECTION 11. Amends Section 63.0101, Election Code, to include an affidavit in which a person working at the polling place attests to the identity of the voter as an accepted proof of identification. Makes a conforming change. SECTION 12. Amends Section 84.032, Election Code, as follows: (b) Includes reference to Subsection (e) in this subsection. Makes conforming changes. (e) Adds this subsection to authorize an applicant to submit a request at any time after the early voting ballot is returned to the early voting clerk as a marked ballot and before the ballot is delivered to the early voting ballot board by appearing in person and executing an affidavit that the applicant did not mark the ballot. SECTION 13. Amends Section 86.007(d), Election Code, to provide that the arrival, not later than the fifth day after the date of a joint election if the political subdivision's ballot is combined with the ballot for the general election for state and county officers, of the ballot is a provision for a marked ballot voted by mail to be counted. SECTION 14. Amends Section 87.0241, Election Code, to provide that Subsection (b)(2) applies to an election conducted by an authority of a county, or conducted jointly with such a county. Creates Subsection (c) to require the secretary of state to prescribe any procedures necessary for implementing this section in regard to election described by Subsection (b)(2). SECTION 15. Amends Section 87.026, Election Code, to include a meeting of a signature verification committee in the places a bystander is prohibited from attending. SECTION 16. Amends Section 87.027(f), Election Code, to prohibit a signature verification committee from continuing operating after 5 p.m. of the fourth day before election day unless that period is extended by written order of the presiding judge of the early voting ballot board. SECTION 17. Amends Section 87.0271(a), Election Code, to provide the signature verification committee under this section will be appointed on the submission, rather than on receipt, of a written request. Requires the request to be submitted not later than the preceding October 1. Provides that a request submitted by mail is considered to be submitted upon receipt by the clerk. SECTION 18. Amends Section 87.041(b), Election Code, to include the fact that the address to which the ballot was mailed to the voter is an address that is otherwise required by Section 84.002 (Contents of Application) and 86.003 (Method of Providing Ballot to Voter: Required Address), in the lists of provisions by which a ballot is accepted. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 19. Amends Section 87.0431, Election Code, to prohibit an original or copy of the notice from being available for public inspection before the early voting election returns are delivered to the general custodian of election records after the election. SECTION 20. Amends Section 87.1231, Election Code, to delete Subsection (b), relating to the report of vote totals for an election precinct in which fewer than five votes are cast during the early voting period. Makes a conforming change. SECTION 21. Amends Section 87.125(a), Election Code, as follows: (a) Adds text to provide that the time for the early voting ballot board to convenes to count the ballots is set by the presiding judge of the board. (1) Specifies that the election under this subsection is an election for state and county officers. (2) Moves from the fifth to the second day after the date of a primary election, the date on which the early voting ballot board may convene for purposes under this section. Adds text to require that on the date under this subsection the specified board convenes, for purposes under this section, at a time following the last mail delivery, or on an earlier day or at an earlier time if the early voting clerk certifies that all ballots mailed from outside the United States have been received. (3) Creates this subsection to require the specified board to convene for purposes under this section not earlier than the third day or later than the fifth day after the date of an election other than an election under Subsections (1) and (2). SECTION 22. Amends Subchapter G, Chapter 87, Election Code, by adding Sections 87.126 and 87.127, as follows: Sec. 87.126. UNLAWFULLY DIVULGING VOTE. (a) Provides that a person commits an offense if the person was at the meeting place of an early voting ballot board or signature verification committee for any purpose and knowingly communicates to another person information that the person obtained at the meeting place of the board or committee about how a voter has voted. (b) Provides that an offense under this section is a felony of the third degree. (c) Provides that this section does not apply to information presented in an official investigation or other official proceeding in which the information is relevant. Sec. 87.127. UNLAWFULLY REVEALING INFORMATION BEFORE POLLS CLOSE. (a) Provides that a person serving at the meeting place of an early voting ballot board or signature verification committee in an official capacity commits an offense if, before the polls close on election day, the person reveals specified information that the person obtained at the meeting place of the board or committee. (b) Provides that an offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor. SECTION 23. Amends Section 88.004, Election Code, by adding Subsection (d), to prohibit an original or copy of the notice of the outcome, relating to the challenge of a person voting by mail, from being available for public inspection until the early voting election returns are delivered to the general custodian of election records after the election. SECTION 24. Amends Section 102.003(b), Election Code, to extend from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. the time by which an application for early voting by personal appearance need be submitted on election day. SECTION 25. Amends Section 104.003, Election Code, to require that the voting hours be from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., rather than 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., for an early voting polling place. Deletes text setting forth the voting hours for an election in which mechanical voting machines are used. SECTION 26. Amends Section 112.006, Election Code, as follows: Sec. 112.006. New title: TIME AND PLACE FOR VOTING BY PERSONAL APPEARANCE. Adds text to specify that a person may vote at the main early voting polling place only on the days and during the hours the main early voting polling place is open through 7:00 p.m. on election day. SECTION 27. Amends Section 141.004, Election Code, as follows: Sec. 141.004. New title: EFFECT OF BOUNDARY CHANGE ON RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT FOR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION. Provides that the specified residency requirement is for an office of a political subdivision, rather than for a city office. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 28. Amends Sections 146.051 and 146.055, Election Code, provide that this section, relating to the appearance of a candidate's name on the list of write-in candidates, applies to any election, rather than to a general election, for city officers. SECTION 29. Amends Section 172.126(c), Election Code, to require the precinct, if a party's cojudge for the precinct cannot serve and the vacancy is not filled by the party, to be consolidated with another precinct so that each party has a co-judge for the consolidated precinct. SECTION 30. Amends Section 173.011(b), Election Code, to require the surplus remaining in a county primary fund to be remitted as provided by this section to the secretary of state, rather than to the county clerk. Deletes text relating to the use of the specified surplus. SECTION 31. Amends Section 212.001, Election Code, to include that a deposit as provided by Subchapter E (Deposit For Costs of Recount) must accompany a recount document. SECTION 32. Amends Section 212.088(a), Election Code, to extend from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. of the next regular business day after a weekend or legal holiday the deadline for submitting an expedited recount petition. SECTION 33. Amends Section 212.111(b), Election Code, to include cash or money orders among the acceptable forms in which the deposit for covering the costs of recount may be made payable. Deletes text providing an exception to this section. SECTION 34. Amends Section 271.011, Election Code, by adding Subsection (c), to authorize the joint local canvass, if one of the elections to be jointly canvassed is the general election for state and county officers, to be conducted on the regular date prescribed for the local canvass for the general election for state and county officers. SECTION 35. Amends Section 277.002(a), Election Code, to delete the signer's voter registration number from the items required for a petition signature to be valid. SECTION 36. Repealer: Sections 13.072(e) (relating to the notification of an incomplete application for voter registration), 15.026 (Effective Date of Registration Under New Name) and 212.111(c) (regarding a temporary deposit in the form of cash or a personal check made when the deadline for the deposit fall on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal state holiday), Election Code. SECTION 37. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 38. Emergency clause.