S.B. No. 910
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to certain election practices and procedures.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subsection (c), Section 1.007, Election Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  A delivery, submission, or filing of a document or paper
  under this code may be made by personal delivery, mail, telephonic
  facsimile machine, or any other method of transmission.
         SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 13.002, Election Code,
  is 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).
         SECTION 3.  Section 13.143, Election Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (d-1) and (d-2) 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).
         (d-1)  The date indicated by the post office cancellation
  mark is considered to be the date the application was placed in the
  mail unless proven otherwise.
         (d-2)  For a registration application submitted by
  telephonic facsimile machine to be effective, a copy of the
  registration application must be submitted by mail and be received
  by the registrar not later than the fourth business day after the
  transmission by telephonic facsimile machine is received.
         SECTION 4.  Section 16.001, Election Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  The information required to be filed with the secretary
  of state under this section must be filed electronically.  The
  secretary of state may waive this requirement on application for a
  waiver submitted by the appropriate entity.
         SECTION 5.  Subsection (b), Section 31.006, Election Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  The documents submitted [to the attorney general] under
  Subsection (a) are not considered public information until:
               (1)  the secretary of state makes a determination that
  the complaint received does not warrant an investigation; or
               (2)  if referred to the attorney general, the attorney
  general has completed the investigation or has made a determination
  that the complaint referred does not warrant an investigation.
         SECTION 6.  Section 32.054, Election Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
         (d)  Notwithstanding Subsection (b), a person employed by a
  county solely as an early voting clerk appointed under Chapter 83 is
  not employed by a candidate for purposes of this section.
         SECTION 7.  Subchapter C, Chapter 52, Election Code, is
  amended by adding Section 52.075 to read as follows:
         Sec. 52.075.  MODIFICATION OF BALLOT FORM FOR CERTAIN VOTING
  SYSTEMS. The secretary of state may prescribe the form and content
  of a ballot for an election using a voting system, including an
  electronic voting system or a voting system that uses direct
  recording electronic voting machines, to conform to the formatting
  requirements of the system.
         SECTION 8.  Section 63.0011, Election Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
         (f)  Information included on a statement of residence under
  Subsection (c)(2) is subject to Section 13.004(c).
         SECTION 9.  Subsection (c), Section 84.007, Election Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (c)  An application must be submitted on or after the 60th
  day before election day and before the close of regular business in
  the early voting clerk's office or 12 noon, whichever is later, on
  the ninth [seventh] day before election day unless that day is a
  Saturday, Sunday, or legal state or national holiday, in which case
  the last day is the first preceding regular business day.
         SECTION 10.  Section 85.034, Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 85.034.  VOTER UNABLE TO ENTER POLLING PLACE.
  [(a)]  Early voting by personal appearance by a voter who is voting
  outside the early voting polling place [under Section 64.009] shall
  be conducted pursuant to Section 64.009 [in accordance with this
  section if voting at the early voting polling place is by voting
  machine].
         [(b)   The early voting clerk shall furnish each accepted voter
  with the early voting ballot used for voting by mail and the
  official ballot envelope.
         [(c)   The voter must mark the ballot and seal it in the
  envelope.
         [(d)   Immediately after sealing the ballot envelope, the
  voter must give it to the clerk. Before depositing the envelope in
  the ballot box, the clerk shall indicate on the envelope that the
  ballot was voted outside the polling place under this section.
         [(e)   The secretary of state may provide for the use of
  envelopes or other containers instead of ballot boxes in which to
  deposit ballots voted under this section.]
         SECTION 11.  Subsection (a), Section 86.014, Election Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A copy of an application for a ballot to be voted by mail
  is not available for public inspection, except to the voter seeking
  to verify that the information pertaining to the voter is accurate,
  until the first business day after the election day of the latest
  occurring election for which the application is submitted.
         SECTION 12.  Section 141.031, Election Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
         (d)  The secretary of state may prescribe a different form
  for an application for a place on the ballot for each of the
  following:
               (1)  an office of the federal government;
               (2)  an office of the state government; or
               (3)  an office of a political party.
         SECTION 13.  Subsection (a), Section 144.005, Election Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), an application for
  a place on the ballot must be filed not later than 5 p.m. of the 62nd
  day before election day.  Notwithstanding any other law outside
  this code, an application may not be filed earlier than the 30th day
  before the date of the filing deadline.
         SECTION 14.  Subsection (a), Section 145.096, Election Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), a candidate's name
  shall be placed on the ballot if the candidate:
               (1)  dies on or after the second day before the deadline
  for filing the candidate's application for a place on the ballot;
               (2)  is declared ineligible after 5 p.m. of the third
  [second] day after the deadline for filing the candidate's
  application for a place on the ballot [before the beginning of early
  voting by personal appearance], in an election subject to Section
  145.092(a);
               (3)  is declared ineligible after 5 p.m. of the 53rd day
  before election day, in an election subject to Section 145.092(b);
  or
               (4)  is declared ineligible after 5 p.m. of the 71st day
  before election day, in an election subject to Section 145.092(f).
         SECTION 15.  Subsections (a) and (b), Section 172.054,
  Election Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The deadline for filing an application for a place on
  the general primary election ballot is extended as provided by this
  section if a candidate who has made an application that complies
  with the applicable requirements:
               (1)  dies on or after the fifth day before the date of
  the regular filing deadline and on or before the first [79th] day
  after the date of the regular filing deadline [before general
  primary election day];
               (2)  holds the office for which the application was
  made and withdraws or is declared ineligible on [or after] the date
  of the regular filing deadline [and on] or [before] the first [79th]
  day after the date of the regular filing deadline [before general
  primary election day]; or
               (3)  withdraws or is declared ineligible during the
  period prescribed by Subdivision (2), and at the time of the
  withdrawal or declaration of ineligibility no other candidate has
  made an application that complies with the applicable requirements
  for the office sought by the withdrawn or ineligible candidate.
         (b)  An application for an office sought by a withdrawn,
  deceased, or ineligible candidate must be filed not later than 6
  p.m. of the fifth day after the date of the regular filing deadline
  [81st day before general primary election day].  An application
  filed by mail with the state chair is not timely if received later
  than 5 p.m. of the fifth day after the date of the regular filing
  deadline [81st day before general primary election day].
         SECTION 16.  Section 172.057, Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 172.057.  WITHDRAWN, DECEASED, OR INELIGIBLE
  CANDIDATE'S NAME OMITTED FROM GENERAL PRIMARY BALLOT.  A
  candidate's name shall be omitted from the general primary election
  ballot if the candidate withdraws, dies, or is declared ineligible
  on or before the first [79th] day after the date of the regular
  filing deadline [before general primary election day].
         SECTION 17.  Subsection (a), Section 172.058, Election Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  If a candidate who has made an application for a place on
  the general primary election ballot that complies with the
  applicable requirements dies or is declared ineligible after the
  first [79th] day after the date of the regular filing deadline
  [before general primary election day], the candidate's name shall
  be placed on the ballot and the votes cast for the candidate shall
  be counted and entered on the official election returns in the same
  manner as for the other candidates.
         SECTION 18.  Section 201.052, Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 201.052.  DATE OF ELECTION. (a)  Except as otherwise
  provided by this code, a special election to fill a vacancy shall be
  held on the first authorized uniform election date occurring on or
  after the 45th [30th] day after the date the election is ordered.
         (b)  If a law outside this code authorizes the holding of the
  election on a date earlier than the 45th [30th] day after the date
  of the order, the election shall be held on the first authorized
  uniform election date occurring on or after the earliest date that
  the election could be held under that law.
         SECTION 19.  Subsection (a), Section 201.054, Election Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (f), a candidate's
  application for a place on a special election ballot must be filed
  not later than:
               (1)  5 p.m. of the 62nd day before election day, if
  election day is on or after the 70th day after the date the election
  is ordered; or
               (2)  5 p.m. of the 45th [31st] day before election day,
  if election day is on or after the 57th [36th] day and before the
  70th day after the date the election is ordered[; or
               [(3)     5 p.m. of a day fixed by the authority ordering
  the election, which day must be not earlier than the fifth day after
  the date the election is ordered and not later than the 20th day
  before election day, if election day is before the 36th day after
  the date the election is ordered].
         SECTION 20.  Subsections (a) and (c), Section 202.004,
  Election Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A political party's nominee for an unexpired term must
  be nominated by primary election if:
               (1)  the political party is making nominations by
  primary election for the general election in which the vacancy is to
  be filled; and
               (2)  the vacancy occurs on or before the fifth [62nd]
  day before the date of the regular deadline for candidates to file
  applications for a place on the general primary ballot [general
  primary election day].
         (c)  If the vacancy occurs after the 10th day before the date
  of the regular filing deadline, an application for the unexpired
  term must be filed not later than 6 [5] p.m. of the fifth day after
  the date of the regular filing deadline [15th day after the date the
  vacancy occurs or 5 p.m. of the 60th day before general primary
  election day, whichever is earlier].
         SECTION 21.  Section 215.002, Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 215.002.  ASSESSABLE COSTS. Only the following costs
  of a recount are assessable against a person:
               (1)  compensation of members of a recount committee as
  provided by Section 213.004;
               (2)  charges for use of automatic tabulating equipment
  as provided by Section 214.044;
               (3)  a service charge of $15 for each recount
  supervisor involved in the recount as a reimbursement to the fund
  from which the telephone, postage, and other office expenses of the
  recount supervisor are paid; [and]
               (4)  in a recount of an election for which the final
  canvass is at the state level, a service charge of $15 for each
  recount supervisor involved in the recount plus an additional $50
  as a reimbursement to the fund from which the telephone, postage,
  and other office expenses of the recount coordinator are paid; and
               (5)  the actual expense incurred in producing a printed
  ballot image from an electronic voting system record.
         SECTION 22.  Section 62.113, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  The information required to be filed with the secretary
  of state under this section must be filed electronically.  The
  secretary of state may waive this requirement on application for a
  waiver submitted by the clerk.
         SECTION 23.  Subsection (f), Section 86.001, Election Code,
  is repealed.
         SECTION 24.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
 
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 910 passed the Senate on
  April 18, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0;
  May 22, 2013, Senate refused to concur in House amendments and
  requested appointment of Conference Committee; May 24, 2013, House
  granted request of the Senate; May 26, 2013, Senate adopted
  Conference Committee Report by the following vote:  Yeas 31,
  Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 910 passed the House, with
  amendments, on May 17, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 134,
  Nays 0, two present not voting; May 24, 2013, House granted request
  of the Senate for appointment of Conference Committee;
  May 26, 2013, House adopted Conference Committee Report by the
  following vote:  Yeas 142, Nays 0, two present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
             Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor