| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to public access to anonymized ballots. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. The purpose of this act is to instill confidence |
|
|
in Texas elections and protect the secrecy of the ballot by ensuring |
|
|
the public’s right to audit the results of their elections by |
|
|
accessing copies of casted ballots that have been anonymized. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 1.012, Election Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding subsections (f) and (g) to read as follows: |
|
|
(f) Notwithstanding any other law, including Section |
|
|
66.058, except subsection (g) of this Section, the portions of a |
|
|
cast ballot that contain no specific individual voter identifying |
|
|
information are public information under Chapter 552, Government |
|
|
Code. Any individual voter identifying information contained on a |
|
|
cast ballot shall be redacted prior to a cast ballot being made |
|
|
available for inspection or copying. |
|
|
(g) A governmental body, in responding to a request under |
|
|
Chapter 552, Government Code, for portions of a ballot cast in a |
|
|
precinct containing five or fewer registered voters as of the date |
|
|
of the election shall take reasonable measures to ensure the |
|
|
release of the records does not have the effect of disclosing the |
|
|
votes taken by the voters in that precinct. The measures taken may |
|
|
include redacting precinct identifying information, modifying the |
|
|
request to include portions of ballots from additional precincts, |
|
|
and aggregating responsive records from multiple precincts. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect December 1, 2021. |