Bill Text: TX SB379 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to an early voting ballot voted by mail.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-09 - Referred to State Affairs [SB379 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB379-Introduced.html

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87R958 BRG-D
By: West S.B. No. 379

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an early voting ballot voted by mail.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 7, Election Code, is amended by
adding Chapter 107 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 107. VOTING BY MAIL AFTER DECLARATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH
DISASTER
Sec. 107.001. APPLICABILITY. This chapter only applies
during a statewide public health disaster, as defined by Section
81.003, Health and Safety Code, that arises due to a worldwide
outbreak of an infectious disease that may greatly increase
morbidity or mortality and cause significant economic, social, or
political disruption.
Sec. 107.002. VOTING BY MAIL AFTER DECLARATION OF PUBLIC
HEALTH DISASTER. A qualified voter is eligible for early voting by
mail if the voter submits an application for a ballot to vote by
mail:
(1) following a declaration of a public health
disaster described under Section 107.001; and
(2) in the period that an application may be submitted
under Section 84.007.
SECTION 2. Section 87.027(i), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(i) The signature verification committee shall compare the
signature on each carrier envelope certificate, except those signed
for a voter by a witness, with the signature on the voter's ballot
application to determine whether the signatures are those of the
voter. The committee may also compare the signatures with any two
or more signatures of the voter made within the preceding six years
and on file with the county clerk or voter registrar to determine
whether the signatures are those of the voter. Except as provided by
Subsection (l), a determination under this subsection that the
signatures are not those of the voter must be made by a majority
vote of the committee's membership. The committee shall place the
jacket envelopes, carrier envelopes, and applications of voters
whose signatures are not those of the voter in separate containers
from those of voters whose signatures are those of the voter. As
soon as practicable after the committee discovers that a voter did
not sign the carrier envelope certificate or determines that the
signature on the voter's ballot application or certificate is not
that of the voter, the committee chair shall deliver the jacket
envelope, carrier envelope, and application of the voter to the
early voting ballot board. The committee chair shall deliver the
jacket envelopes, carrier envelopes, and applications of voters
whose signatures are those of the voter [sorted materials] to the
early voting ballot board at the time specified by the board's
presiding judge.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 87, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 87.0411 to read as follows:
Sec. 87.0411. OPPORTUNITY TO CORRECT SIGNATURE DEFECT. (a)
The early voting ballot board may not reject an early voting ballot
voted by mail on the basis that the voter did not sign the carrier
envelope certificate or that the signature on the voter's ballot
application or carrier envelope certificate is not that of the
voter if the early voting clerk receives from the voter, not later
than the ninth day after the date of the election, the following
materials:
(1) a copy of one form of identification listed under
Section 63.0101(a), or if the voter does not have access to a form
of identification listed under that section, a document listed
under Section 63.0101(b); and
(2) a signed cure affidavit in a form prescribed by the
secretary of state stating that the ballot at issue is that of the
voter.
(b) A voter may submit materials listed under Subsection (a)
to the early voting clerk by:
(1) personal delivery;
(2) mail;
(3) e-mail; or
(4) telephonic facsimile machine, if a machine is
available in the clerk's office.
(c) The early voting ballot board shall notify a voter that
the voter's ballot contains a signature defect as soon as
practicable after the early voting ballot board:
(1) discovers a missing signature on the voter's
carrier envelope certificate;
(2) determines that the signature on the voter's
ballot application or carrier envelope certificate is not the
signature of the voter; or
(3) except as provided by Subsection (f), receives the
jacket envelope, carrier envelope, and application of a voter from
the signature verification committee under Section 87.027(i).
(d) The notice under Subsection (c) must:
(1) inform the voter that the voter's vote will not be
counted unless the voter submits the materials listed under
Subsection (a) not later than the date prescribed by that section;
(2) instruct the voter on the methods of returning the
materials listed under Subsection (b); and
(3) direct the voter to the location of the cure
affidavit on the secretary of state's Internet website.
(e) The early voting ballot board shall provide notice to
the voter under Subsection (c) by any method reasonably calculated
to provide sufficient time for the voter to submit the materials
under Subsection (a) not later than the date prescribed by that
section.
(f) The early voting ballot board is not required to provide
notice under Subsection (c) if the board makes a determination
under Section 87.027(j) that the signature on the carrier envelope
certificate and ballot application are those of the voter.
(g) If the early voting ballot board does not provide notice
to the voter under Subsection (c) and the ballot meets the
requirements of Sections 87.041(b)(1), (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7),
the board shall accept the ballot in the manner provided by Section
87.042.
(h) The secretary of state shall:
(1) prominently display and maintain on the main page
of the secretary's Internet website a link to a blank version of the
affidavit described by Subsection (a)(2); and
(2) adopt rules and prescribe forms as necessary to
implement this section.
(i) An affidavit prescribed under this section must include
clear instructions for completion and notice of the penalties
associated with election fraud and voting more than once in an
election.
SECTION 4. Sections 87.041(b) and (d), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Section 87.0411(g), a [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; and
(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.
(d) Except as provided by Section 87.0411(g), a [A] ballot
shall be rejected if any requirement prescribed by Subsection (b)
is not satisfied. In that case, the board shall indicate the
rejection by entering "rejected" on the carrier envelope and on the
corresponding jacket envelope.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an election ordered on or after September 1, 2021.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.