Elections
H.B. 484 (Capriglione/Hancock) - Candidate Eligibility: provides, among other things, that for an individual to be an eligible candidate for city office and qualify for the office, the individual must be a registered voter in the territory from which the office is elected for six months preceding the regular filing deadline for a candidate’s application for a place on the ballot. (Effective September 1, 2015.)
H.B. 1026 (E. Thompson/Garcia) - Tabulation Supervisor: requires a tabulation supervisor to be a registered voter of the political subdivision served by the authority establishing the counting station or an employee of the political subdivision that adopts or owns the voting system. (Effective immediately.)
H.B. 1927 (G. Bonnen/Huffman) - Voting by Mail: this bill, among other things: (1) provides that, if an application for a ballot to be voted by mail for the main election and any resulting runoff is not timely for the main election, it will be considered timely for any resulting runoff if received in time; (2) provides that a person commits an offense if the person signs an application for a ballot to be voted by mail as a witness for more than one applicant in the same election or the person signs an annual application for a ballot to be voted by mail as a witness for more than one applicant in the same calendar year; (3) authorizes an application for a ballot to be voted by mail to be submitted to the early voting clerk by electronic transmission of a scanned application containing an original signature; (4) authorizes an application to be submitted at any time in the year of the election for which a ballot is requested, but not later than the close of regular business in the early voting clerk’s office or 12 noon, whichever is later, on the 11th day before election day, unless that day is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal state or national holiday, in which case the last day is the first preceding regular business day; (5) requires the early voting clerk to designate an email address for receipt of an application; (6) provides that the cancellation of an application for a ballot to be voted by mail at the applicant’s request is effective for a single ballot only and does not cancel the application with respect to a subsequent election; (7) authorizes a voter who applies for a ballot to be voted by mail on the ground of age or disability to apply for a ballot by mail from a city for more than one election; (8) requires the secretary of state to provide a method by which counties and political subdivisions located in the county can exchange and update information on applications for mail ballots; and (9) authorizes a marked ballot to be returned to the early voting clerk in the official carrier envelope via in-person delivery by the voter who voted the ballot. (Effective September 1, 2015.)
H.B. 2027 (G. Bonnen/Hancock) - Election Precincts: provides that the county election precincts are the election precincts for any election held on a uniform election date, except for elections held on the May uniform election date by a political subdivision that: (1) conducts early voting by personal appearance: (a) at 75% or more of its permanent or temporary branch polling places on the same days and during the same hours as voting is conducted at the main early voting polling place; and (b) at each remaining polling place for at least two consecutive days of voting during the early voting period, and for at least eight hours on each of the two consecutive days; or (2) has not established a permanent or temporary branch early voting polling place. (Effective September 1, 2015.)
H.B. 2160 (Paul/Bettencourt) - Confidentiality of Election Judge and Clerk Information:makes confidential the email address and personal phone number of an election clerk or judge that is collected by the election entity, except that the email address or phone number must be made available on request to: (1) any entity eligible to submit lists of election judges or clerks for that election; or (2) the state executive committee of a political party with a county chair eligible to submit lists of election judges or clerks for that election. (Effective September 1, 2015.)
H.B. 2354 (Farney/Schwertner) - Uniform Election Date: changes the May uniform election date from the second Saturday in May to the first Saturday in May. (Effective September 1, 2015.)
H.B. 2366 (Goldman/Hancock) - Early Voting: provides that the early voting clerk shall: (1) enter “early voting voter” beside each person’s name on the precinct list of registered voters if the voter’s name also appears on the list of early voting voters; and (2) deliver the precinct list to the presiding judge of the election precinct not later than the day before election day. (Effective September 1, 2015.)
H.B. 2721 (Blanco/Rodriguez) - Early Voting: requires the notice of early voting for an election to: (1) be posted on the website of the authority ordering the election, if the authority maintains a website; and (2) for a primary election or general election, be forwarded by the authority ordering the election to the secretary of state to be posted on the secretary of state’s website. (Effective immediately.)
VETOED H.B. 2775 (E. Rodriguez/Zaffirini) - Candidate Applications: provides that: (1) a single notarized affidavit by any person who obtains signatures for a candidate petition is valid for all signatures gathered by the person, if the date of notarization is after the date of the last signature obtained by the person; and (2) a candidate petition may be corrected and additional signatures presented after the petition has been initially filed, but not after the deadline for filing the petition. (Effective September 1, 2015.)
H.B. 2778 (Elkins/Bettencourt) - Federal Postcard Applications: allows balloting materials to be sent by email for any election in which a voter who registers is eligible to vote. (Effective September 1, 2015.)
H.B. 2900 (Goldman/Creighton) - Voting Standards: provides that a voting system may not be used in an election unless the system operates safely, efficiently, and accurately and complies with the voting system standards adopted by the Election Assistance Commission. (Effective immediately.)
S.B. 733 (Fraser/Workman) - Uniform Election Date: authorizes a city council that holds its general election on the May uniform election date to take action to change the date of its general election to the November uniform election date, provided the city acts to do so not later than December 31, 2016. (Effective immediately.)
S.B. 983 (Bettencourt/Schofield) - Birth Records: requires: (1) the state, a local registrar, or a county clerk to issue without fee a certified copy of a birth record to an applicant who states that the applicant is requesting the record for purposes of obtaining an election identification certificate; and (2) the state to pay the birth record fee for such records to a county clerk or local registrar. (Effective immediately.)
VETOED S.B. 1034 (Rodriguez/Miller) - Voting by Mail: provides that: (1) when a voter cancels an application for a ballot by mail, the cancellation does not extend to a subsequent election; (2) a person eligible to submit an application for a ballot to be voted by mail on the grounds of age or disability may apply to receive all ballots in an even numbered year on the same application submitted for a ballot in the November general election of an odd year; and (3) the secretary of state by rule may redesign the official carrier envelope by moving all the textual material to a separate sheet and styling the signature box to insure that a voter is instructed to and must sign over the flap. (Effective immediately.)
S.B. 1073 (Zaffirini/E. Rodriguez) - Candidate Application: provides, among other things, that a candidate’s application for a place on the ballot must include a public mailing address and any available email address at which the candidate receives correspondence relating to the candidate’s campaign. (Effective September 1, 2015.)
S.B. 1703 (Huffman/Laubenberg) - Election Deadlines and Procedures: this bill, among other things: (1) defines “national holiday” to include a federal holiday or day taken in lieu of an federal holiday when there is no regular U.S. mail delivery, and it defines “state holiday” to mean the same as those set out in current state law; (2) sets the deadline to order an election on a uniform election date as the 78th day before the date of the election; (3) allows a runoff election following a May election held in even-numbered years to be held within 30 days before or after the date of the general election for state and county officers, general primary election, or runoff primary election; (4) requires the early voting ballot board to verify and count provisional ballots and count ballots voted by mail not later than the 9th day after the date of an election, except that in an election held on the date of the general election for state and county officers, ballots voted by mail must be counted no later than the 13th day after the election; (5) changes certain vote by mail deadlines; (6) provides that, for an election to be held on a uniform election date, the filing deadline for a city candidate is the 78th day before the election; (7) provides that, for an election to be held on a uniform election date, the filing deadline for a write-in candidate is the 74th day before the election; (8) prohibits a write-in candidate from withdrawing after the 71st day before the election; and (9) requires that a special election to fill a vacancy be held on the first authorized uniform date on or after the 46th day after the election is ordered (except as otherwise provided by law) and change related deadlines for candidate’s application for a place on the ballot. (Effective September 1, 2015.)
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