Bill Text: TX HB1669 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the appointment of election officers to serve during the early voting period.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-07 - Referred to Elections [HB1669 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB1669-Introduced.html
88R4035 MLH-D | ||
By: Jetton | H.B. No. 1669 |
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relating to the appointment of election officers to serve during | ||
the early voting period. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 85.009, Election Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (b) and by adding Subsections (b-1), (b-2), | ||
(b-3), (b-4), (b-5), and (b-6) to read as follows: | ||
(b) Before July of each year, the county chair of each | ||
political party holding a primary election in the county shall | ||
submit in writing to the county clerk a list of names of persons [ |
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eligible for selection as an election officer. The county chair may | ||
supplement the list of names of persons until the 30th day before | ||
early voting begins [ |
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and alternate presiding judges who meet [ |
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the applicable eligibility requirements from the lists [ |
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submitted in compliance with this subsection. The county clerk | ||
shall appoint [ |
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subsection by the party with the [ |
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that precinct in the last gubernatorial election, and as the | ||
alternate presiding judge of each polling place a person from the | ||
list submitted in compliance with this subsection by the party with | ||
the second highest number of votes in that precinct in the last | ||
gubernatorial election [ |
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election officers for each polling place in the manner described by | ||
Subsection (a). The county clerk may reject the list if the | ||
persons whose names are submitted on the list are determined not to | ||
meet the applicable eligibility requirements. | ||
(b-1) In a county with a population of 100,000 or more, to be | ||
eligible to serve as a presiding judge a person must: | ||
(1) have served in at least three elections as an | ||
election clerk in the county in which the person's name is | ||
submitted; and | ||
(2) to the greatest extent possible, have served in at | ||
least two elections as an alternate presiding judge in the county in | ||
which the person's name is submitted. | ||
(b-2) In a county with a population of 100,000 or more, to be | ||
eligible to serve as an alternate presiding judge a person must have | ||
served in at least three elections as an election clerk in the | ||
county where the person's name is submitted. | ||
(b-3) If the county clerk has appointed every eligible | ||
person on a list submitted in compliance with Subsection (b) by the | ||
county chair of a political party and a vacant position still | ||
remains, the county clerk may waive the requirements of Subsections | ||
(b-1) and (b-2). | ||
(b-4) A presiding judge or alternate presiding judge is not | ||
required to serve in a polling place located in the precinct in | ||
which the judge resides. | ||
(b-5) The county chairs may submit more names than necessary | ||
to fill available positions. If a vacancy occurs after the county | ||
clerk has made appointments under this section, the county clerk | ||
may appoint a new presiding judge or alternate presiding judge, as | ||
applicable, from the list affiliated or aligned with the same | ||
political party as the original judge. | ||
(b-6) Following an oral warning to the election judge and | ||
with the concurrence of the county chair of the same political party | ||
with which the judge is affiliated or aligned, the county clerk may | ||
remove, replace, or reassign an election judge who causes a | ||
disruption in a polling location or wilfully disobeys the | ||
provisions of this code. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |