| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the period in which a person may submit an application |
|
|
to vote an early ballot by mail. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 84.007(c), Election Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(c) An application may [must] be submitted at any time in |
|
|
the year preceding the date of the election for which a ballot is |
|
|
requested, but not later than [on or after the 60th day before
|
|
|
election day and before] the close of regular business in the early |
|
|
voting clerk's office or 12 noon, whichever is later, on the ninth |
|
|
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. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 84.009, Election Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 84.009. SUBMITTING APPLICATION FOR BALLOT VOTED BY |
|
|
MAIL: CONFINEMENT IN JAIL. [(a)] On request of the applicant, an |
|
|
application for a ballot to be voted by mail on the ground of |
|
|
confinement in jail may be submitted to the early voting clerk, at |
|
|
the discretion of the authority in charge of the jail, by personal |
|
|
delivery by the jail authority or by a designated subordinate of the |
|
|
authority. |
|
|
[(b)
An application submitted under this section may not be
|
|
|
submitted before the 20th day before election day.] |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 101.052(b), Election Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(b) A federal postcard application may be submitted at any |
|
|
time during the [calendar] year preceding the date of [in which] the |
|
|
election for which a ballot is requested [occurs], but not later |
|
|
than the deadline for submitting a regular application for a ballot |
|
|
to be voted by mail. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Section 101.052(c), Election Code, is repealed. |
|
|
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, 2015. |