Bill Text: TX HB61 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the signature required on an application for voter registration or for a ballot to be voted by mail.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-25 - Referred to Elections [HB61 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB61-Introduced.html

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87R1931 MLH-D
By: Swanson H.B. No. 61

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the signature required on an application for voter
registration or for a ballot to be voted by mail.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 13.002(a) and (b), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person desiring to register to vote must submit an
application to the registrar of the county in which the person
resides. Except as provided by Subsection (e), an application must
be submitted by personal delivery or [,] by mail[, or by telephonic
facsimile machine in accordance with Sections 13.143(d) and (d-2)].
(b) Except for a registration application submitted to the
Department of Public Safety in accordance with other law, a [A]
registration application must be in writing and signed by the
applicant using ink on paper, and an electronic signature or
photocopied signature is not permitted.
SECTION 2. Section 13.143(d), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) For purposes of determining the effective date of a
registration, an application submitted by[:
[(1)] mail is considered to be submitted to the
registrar on the date it is placed with postage prepaid and properly
addressed in the United States mail[; or
[(2) telephonic facsimile machine is considered to be
submitted to the registrar on the date the transmission is received
by the registrar, subject to Subsection (d-2)].
SECTION 3. Section 84.001(b), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) An application must be in writing and signed by the
applicant using ink on paper. An electronic signature or
photocopied signature is not permitted.
SECTION 4. Section 13.143(d-2), Election Code, is repealed.
SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies to an
application for voter registration or for a ballot to be voted by
mail submitted on or after the effective date of this Act. An
application for voter registration or for a ballot to be voted by
mail submitted before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect when the application was submitted, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.