Bill Text: TX HB2979 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to an indication on a voter's voter registration certificate that a voter is a veteran.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-11 - Placed on General State Calendar [HB2979 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB2979-Introduced.html

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88R14436 PRL-D
By: Garcia H.B. No. 2979

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an indication on a voter's voter registration
certificate that a voter is a veteran.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 13.071, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
(c) The registrar shall compile a list of each submitted
application for registration that indicates the applicant served in
the active military, naval, or air service and was discharged or
released from the service under conditions other than dishonorable.
(d) The secretary of state shall prescribe the procedures
for the transmission of the information collected under Subsection
(c) to the Texas Veterans Commission.
SECTION 2. Section 13.122(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) In addition to the other statements and spaces for
entering information that appear on an officially prescribed
registration application form, each official form must include:
(1) the statement: "I understand that giving false
information to procure a voter registration is perjury and a crime
under state and federal law.";
(2) a space for the applicant's registration number;
(3) a space for the applicant's Texas driver's license
number or number of a personal identification card issued by the
Department of Public Safety;
(4) a space for the applicant's telephone number;
(5) a space for the applicant's social security
number;
(6) a space for the applicant's sex;
(7) a statement indicating that the furnishing of the
applicant's telephone number and sex is optional;
(8) a space or box for indicating whether the
applicant or voter is submitting new registration information or a
change in current registration information;
(9) a statement instructing a voter who is using the
form to make a change in current registration information to enter
the voter's name and the changed information in the appropriate
spaces on the form;
(10) a statement that if the applicant declines to
register to vote, that fact will remain confidential and will be
used only for voter registration purposes;
(11) a statement that if the applicant does register
to vote, information regarding the agency or office to which the
application is submitted will remain confidential and will be used
only for voter registration purposes;
(12) a space or box for indicating whether the
applicant is interested in working as an election judge;
(13) a statement warning that a conviction for making
a false statement may result in imprisonment for up to the maximum
amount of time provided by law, a fine of up to the maximum amount
provided by law, or both the imprisonment and the fine; [and]
(14) a space or box for indicating whether the
applicant served in the active military, naval, or air service and
was discharged or released from the service under conditions other
than dishonorable; and
(15) [(14)] any other voter registration information
required by federal law or considered appropriate and required by
the secretary of state.
SECTION 3. Section 15.001(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Each voter registration certificate issued must
contain:
(1) the voter's name in the form indicated by the
voter, subject to applicable requirements prescribed by Section
13.002 and by rule of the secretary of state;
(2) the voter's residence address or, if the residence
has no address, the address at which the voter receives mail and a
concise description of the location of the voter's residence;
(3) the year of the voter's birth;
(4) the number of the county election precinct in
which the voter resides;
(5) the voter's effective date of registration if an
initial certificate;
(6) the voter's registration number;
(7) an indication of the period for which the
certificate is issued;
(8) a statement explaining the circumstances under
which the voter will receive a new certificate;
(9) a space for stamping the voter's political party
affiliation;
(10) a statement that voting with the certificate by a
person other than the person in whose name the certificate is issued
is a felony;
(11) a space for the voter's signature;
(12) a statement that the voter must sign the
certificate personally, if able to sign, immediately on receipt;
(13) a space for the voter to correct the information
on the certificate followed by a signature line;
(14) the statement: "If any information on this
certificate changes or is incorrect, correct the information in the
space provided, sign below, and return this certificate to the
voter registrar.";
(15) the registrar's mailing address and telephone
number; [and]
(16) the jurisdictional or distinguishing number for
the following territorial units in which the voter resides, as
determined by the voter registrar:
(A) congressional district;
(B) state senatorial district;
(C) state representative district;
(D) commissioners precinct;
(E) justice precinct;
(F) city election precinct; and
(G) school district election precinct; and
(17) an indication that the voter is a "veteran," if
the voter stated on the voter's registration application that the
voter served in the active military, naval, or air service and was
discharged or released from the service under conditions other than
dishonorable.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
13.122(a), Election Code, applies only to a voter registration
application distributed on or after September 1, 2023. A voter
registration application distributed before September 1, 2023, is
covered by the law in effect when the application was distributed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.