Bill Text: TX HB329 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to election integrity.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 23-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-25 - Referred to Elections [HB329 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB329-Introduced.html

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87R490 ADM-D
By: Cain H.B. No. 329

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to election integrity.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 11, Election Code, is amended by adding
Section 11.0021 to read as follows:
Sec. 11.0021. MEASURES TO PREVENT NONCITIZEN VOTER
REGISTRATION AND VOTING. Notwithstanding any other law, to ensure
a person who is not a citizen of the United States may not register
to vote or vote:
(1) at least twice each year, the secretary of state
shall use the United States Department of Homeland Security
database of noncitizens living in Texas to identify noncitizens
whose voter registrations should be canceled and shall take all
appropriate actions;
(2) the Department of Public Safety shall forward to
the secretary of state the file of a person who applies for a Texas
driver's license or identification card and provides on the
application form that the person is not a citizen of the United
States; and
(3) the secretary of state may audit a county's voter
registration list to ensure a county complies with:
(A) state law; and
(B) the secretary of state's directives,
including a requested deletion from a county's voter registration
list.
SECTION 2. Sections 19.002(b) and (d), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) After June 1 of each year, the secretary of state shall
make payments pursuant to vouchers submitted by the registrar and
approved by the secretary of state in amounts determined by the
secretary of state based on the registrar's compliance with this
code and the secretary of state's directives [that in the aggregate
do not exceed the registrar's entitlement]. The secretary of state
shall prescribe the procedures necessary to implement this
subsection.
(d) The secretary of state may not make a payment under
Subsection (b) if on June 1 of the year in which the payment is to be
made the registrar is not in substantial compliance with this code
or the secretary of state's directives [Section 15.083, 16.031,
16.032, or 18.065 or with rules implementing the registration
service program].
SECTION 3. Subchapter F, Chapter 32, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 32.116 to read as follows:
Sec. 32.116. ELECTION JUDGE TRAINING. (a) The secretary of
state shall create an examination of election law and procedures
that a person must pass before serving as an election judge during
early voting by personal appearance or on election day. A county
must maintain an election judge's completed examination for at
least 24 months after the date of the election for which the person
served as an election judge as evidence of the election judge's
understanding of election law and procedures.
(b) The secretary of state shall prescribe any necessary
rules and take any appropriate action to implement this section.
SECTION 4. Section 63.0013, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) The secretary of state shall investigate a voter who
executed a declaration of reasonable impediment under Section
63.001(i) with the Department of Public Safety's identification
database to determine whether the voter has been issued a Texas
driver's license or an identification card by the Department of
Public Safety. For each match:
(1) the attorney general shall, as appropriate,
prosecute the voter under this section or Chapter 37, Penal Code;
(2) the secretary of state shall make a notation on the
statewide computerized voter registration list and notify the
appropriate county election officials that the voter has, and to
vote must use, an identification prescribed by Section 63.0101(a);
and
(3) the attorney general shall report findings of the
investigation under this section to the federal Fifth Circuit Court
of Appeals.
SECTION 5. Sections 19.002(a) and 19.0025, Election Code,
are repealed.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.