Bill Text: TX SB22 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to identification requirements for early voting by mail.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-07-07 - Filed [SB22 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB22-Introduced.html
| 87S10102 TSS-D | ||
| By: Creighton | S.B. No. 22 | |
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| relating to identification requirements for early voting by mail. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. 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 2. Section 84.002, Election Code, as effective | ||
| September 1, 2021, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding | ||
| Subsection (d) to read as follows: | ||
| (a) An early voting ballot application must include: | ||
| (1) the applicant's name and the address at which the | ||
| applicant is registered to vote; | ||
| (1-a) the following information: | ||
| (A) the number of the applicant's driver's | ||
| license or personal identification card issued by the Department of | ||
| Public Safety that has not expired or that expired no earlier than | ||
| four years before the date of application; or | ||
| (B) if the applicant has not been issued a number | ||
| described by Paragraph (A), the last four digits of the applicant's | ||
| social security number; | ||
| (2) for an application for a ballot to be voted by mail | ||
| on the ground of absence from the county of residence, the address | ||
| outside the applicant's county of residence to which the ballot is | ||
| to be mailed; | ||
| (3) for an application for a ballot to be voted by mail | ||
| on the ground of age or disability, the address of the hospital, | ||
| nursing home or other long-term care facility, or retirement | ||
| center, or of a person related to the applicant within the second | ||
| degree by affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as | ||
| determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, if the applicant is | ||
| living at that address and that address is different from the | ||
| address at which the applicant is registered to vote; | ||
| (4) for an application for a ballot to be voted by mail | ||
| on the ground of confinement in jail, the address of the jail or of a | ||
| person related to the applicant within the degree described by | ||
| Subdivision (3); | ||
| (5) for an application for a ballot to be voted by mail | ||
| on any ground, an indication of each election for which the | ||
| applicant is applying for a ballot; | ||
| (6) an indication of the ground of eligibility for | ||
| early voting; and | ||
| (7) for an application for a ballot to be voted by mail | ||
| on the ground of involuntary civil commitment, the address of the | ||
| facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Civil | ||
| Commitment Office or of a person related to the applicant within the | ||
| degree of consanguinity described by Subdivision (3). | ||
| (d) A person 70 years of age or older may use the number of a | ||
| driver's license or personal identification card that has expired | ||
| for the purpose of fulfilling the requirement under Subsection | ||
| (a)(1-a) if the license or identification is otherwise valid. | ||
| SECTION 3. Section 84.011(a), Election Code, as effective | ||
| September 1, 2021, is amended to read as follows: | ||
| (a) The officially prescribed application form for an early | ||
| voting ballot must include: | ||
| (1) immediately preceding the signature space the | ||
| statement: "I certify that the information given in this | ||
| application is true, and I understand that giving false information | ||
| in this application is a crime."; | ||
| (2) a statement informing the applicant of the | ||
| offenses prescribed by Sections 84.003 and 84.004; | ||
| (3) spaces for entering an applicant's voter | ||
| registration number and county election precinct of registration, | ||
| with a statement informing the applicant that failure to furnish | ||
| that information does not invalidate the application; | ||
| (3-a) a space for entering the information required | ||
| under Section 84.002(a)(1-a); and | ||
| (4) on an application for a ballot to be voted by mail: | ||
| (A) a space for an applicant applying on the | ||
| ground of absence from the county of residence to indicate the date | ||
| on or after which the applicant can receive mail at the address | ||
| outside the county; | ||
| (B) a space for indicating the fact that an | ||
| applicant whose application is signed by a witness cannot make the | ||
| applicant's mark and a space for indicating the relationship or | ||
| lack of relationship of the witness to the applicant; | ||
| (C) a space for entering an applicant's telephone | ||
| number, with a statement informing the applicant that failure to | ||
| furnish that information does not invalidate the application; | ||
| (D) a space or box for an applicant applying on | ||
| the ground of age or disability to indicate that the address to | ||
| which the ballot is to be mailed is the address of a facility or | ||
| relative described by Section 84.002(a)(3), if applicable; | ||
| (E) a space or box for an applicant applying on | ||
| the ground of confinement in jail or involuntary civil commitment | ||
| to indicate that the address to which the ballot is to be mailed is | ||
| the address of a relative described by Section 84.002(a)(4) or (7), | ||
| if applicable; | ||
| (F) a space for an applicant applying on the | ||
| ground of age or disability to indicate if the application is an | ||
| application under Section 86.0015; | ||
| (G) spaces for entering the signature, printed | ||
| name, and residence address of any person assisting the applicant; | ||
| (H) a statement informing the applicant of the | ||
| condition prescribed by Section 81.005; and | ||
| (I) a statement informing the applicant of the | ||
| requirement prescribed by Section 86.003(c). | ||
| SECTION 4. Section 86.001, Election Code, is amended by | ||
| adding Subsection (f) to read as follows: | ||
| (f) If the information required under Section | ||
| 84.002(a)(1-a) included on the application does not match the | ||
| information on the applicant's application for voter registration | ||
| under Section 13.002(c)(8), the clerk shall reject the application. | ||
| SECTION 5. Section 86.002, Election Code, is amended by | ||
| adding Subsections (g), (h), and (i) to read as follows: | ||
| (g) The carrier envelope must include a space that is hidden | ||
| from view when the envelope is sealed for the voter to enter the | ||
| following information: | ||
| (1) the number of the voter's driver's license or | ||
| personal identification card issued by the Department of Public | ||
| Safety that has not expired or that expired no earlier than four | ||
| years before the date of presentation; or | ||
| (2) if the voter has not been issued a number described | ||
| by Subdivision (1), the last four digits of the voter's social | ||
| security number. | ||
| (h) A person 70 years of age or older may use the number of a | ||
| driver's license or personal identification card that has expired | ||
| for purposes of Subsection (g) if the license or identification is | ||
| otherwise valid. | ||
| (i) No record associating an individual voter with a ballot | ||
| may be created. | ||
| SECTION 6. Section 87.041(b), Election Code, is amended to | ||
| read as follows: | ||
| (b) A ballot may be accepted only if: | ||
| (1) the carrier envelope certificate is properly | ||
| executed; | ||
| (2) neither the voter's signature on the ballot | ||
| application nor the signature on the carrier envelope certificate | ||
| is determined to have been executed by a person other than the | ||
| voter, unless signed by a witness; | ||
| (3) the voter's ballot application states a legal | ||
| ground for early voting by mail; | ||
| (4) the voter is registered to vote, if registration | ||
| is required by law; | ||
| (5) the address to which the ballot was mailed to the | ||
| voter, as indicated by the application, was outside the voter's | ||
| county of residence, if the ground for early voting is absence from | ||
| the county of residence; | ||
| (6) for a voter to whom a statement of residence form | ||
| was required to be sent under Section 86.002(a), the statement of | ||
| residence is returned in the carrier envelope and indicates that | ||
| the voter satisfies the residence requirements prescribed by | ||
| Section 63.0011; [ |
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| (7) the address to which the ballot was mailed to the | ||
| voter is an address that is otherwise required by Sections 84.002 | ||
| and 86.003; and | ||
| (8) the information required under Section 86.002(g) | ||
| provided by the voter matches the information on the voter's | ||
| application for voter registration under Section 13.002(c)(8). | ||
| SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
| an application to vote an early voting ballot by mail submitted on | ||
| or after the effective date of this Act. An application to vote an | ||
| early voting ballot 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 8. This Act takes effect December 1, 2021. | ||
