Bill Text: TX HB2266 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the appointment of election officers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 8-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-15 - Referred to Elections [HB2266 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB2266-Introduced.html
| 87R6731 ADM-D | ||
| By: Paul | H.B. No. 2266 | |
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| relating to the appointment of election officers. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Section 32.002, Election Code, is amended by | ||
| amending Subsection (c-1) and adding Subsection (h) to read as | ||
| follows: | ||
| (c-1) For purposes of this subsection, the county chair | ||
| shall provide a list of names of persons eligible for appointment as | ||
| election judges. Judges of countywide polling places established | ||
| under Section 43.007 must be appointed from the list of names of | ||
| persons submitted by the county chair in compliance with Subsection | ||
| (c) except that in appointing a person from the list the | ||
| commissioners court shall apportion the number of judges in direct | ||
| proportion to the percentage of precincts located in each county | ||
| commissioners precinct won by each party in the last gubernatorial | ||
| election, the commissioners court is not required to make the | ||
| appointments based on specific polling locations or precincts, 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, and more than one presiding judge or alternate presiding | ||
| judge may be selected from the same precinct to serve in polling | ||
| places not located in the precinct in which the judges reside. The | ||
| county chairs may submit, and the commissioners court may | ||
| preapprove, the appointment of more presiding judges or alternate | ||
| presiding judges than necessary to fill available positions. The | ||
| county clerk may select an individual whose appointment was | ||
| preapproved by the commissioners court to fill a vacancy in a | ||
| position that was held by an individual from the same political | ||
| party. [ |
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| (h) A person may not be appointed as presiding judge or | ||
| alternate presiding judge for a county election except as | ||
| explicitly provided by this section. | ||
| SECTION 2. Section 32.034, Election Code, is amended by | ||
| adding Subsection (g) to read as follows: | ||
| (g) A person may not be appointed as a clerk for an election | ||
| described by Subsection (a) except as explicitly provided by this | ||
| section. | ||
| SECTION 3. Section 87.002, Election Code, is amended by | ||
| adding Subsection (e) to read as follows: | ||
| (e) A person may not serve as a member of the board unless | ||
| appointed as explicitly provided by this section. | ||
| SECTION 4. Section 87.027(d), Election Code, is amended to | ||
| read as follows: | ||
| (d) The early voting clerk shall determine the number of | ||
| members who are to compose the signature verification committee and | ||
| shall state that number in the order calling for the committee's | ||
| appointment. A committee must consist of not fewer than five | ||
| members. In an election in which party alignment is indicated on the | ||
| ballot, each county chair of a political party with a nominee or | ||
| aligned candidate on the ballot shall submit to the appointing | ||
| authority a list of names of persons eligible to serve on the | ||
| signature verification committee. The authority shall appoint at | ||
| least two persons from each list to serve as members of the | ||
| committee. The same number of members must be appointed from each | ||
| list. The authority shall appoint the chair of the committee from | ||
| the list provided by the political party whose nominee for governor | ||
| received the most votes in the county in the most recent | ||
| gubernatorial general election. A vacancy on the committee shall be | ||
| filled by appointment from the original list or from a new list | ||
| submitted by the appropriate county chair. A person may not serve | ||
| on the committee unless appointed as explicitly provided by this | ||
| section. | ||
| SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
| a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
| provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
| Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
| Act takes effect September 1, 2021. | ||
