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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to early voting ballots for persons with an employment |
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hardship; |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 82.005, Election Code is amended as |
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follows: |
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Employment Hardship. An employment hardship is when an |
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applicant has absences from the applicant's county of residence due |
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to the applicant's employment and; |
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(1) those absences are unpredictable and, at the time of |
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submitting the application, the applicant does not know where the |
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applicant will be on election day and during the regular hours for |
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conducting early voting; or |
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(2) the employment is of a nature that causes the applicant |
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to be working periodically offshore. |
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82.0056. Eligibility for early voting by person appearance. |
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SECTION 2. 84.002(a) is amended by adding subsection (7) to |
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read as follows: |
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(7) for an application for a ballot to be voted by mail on |
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the ground of employment hardship, the address of the applicant's |
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employer or of a person related to the applicant within the second |
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degree by affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as |
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determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, if that address is |
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different from the address at which the applicant is registered to |
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vote. |
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SECTION 3. Section 84.011(a)(4), Election Code, is amended |
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to read as follows: |
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(G) a space for an applicant applying on the ground of |
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employment hardship to indicate that the address to which the |
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ballot is to be mailed is the address of an employer or of a relative |
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described by Section 84.002(a)(7), if applicable; |
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(G H) spaces for entering the signature, printed name, and |
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residence address of any person assisting the applicant; |
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(H I) a statement informing the applicant of the condition |
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prescribed by Section 81.005; and |
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(I J) a statement informing the applicant of the requirement |
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prescribed by Section 86.003(c). |
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SECTION 4. Section 86.0015, Election Code, is amended to |
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read as follows: |
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Sec. 86.0015. Annual ballots by mail. (a) This section |
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applies only to an application for a ballot to be voted by mail that |
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has been marked by the applicant as an application for more than one |
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election and indicates that the ground of eligibility is: |
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(1) age or disability; or |
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(2) employment hardship. |
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SECTION 5. Section 86.003(c) is amended to read as follows: |
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(c) The address to which the balloting materials must be |
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addressed is the address at which the voter is registered to vote, |
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or the registered mailing address if different, unless the ground |
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for voting by mail is: |
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(1) absence from the county of residence, in which case the |
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address must be an address outside the voter's county of residence; |
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(2) confinement in j |
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ail, in which case the address must be |
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the address of the jail or of a relative described by Section |
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84.002(a)(4); or
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(3) age or disability and the voter is living at a hospital, |
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nursing home or other long-term care facility, or retirement |
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center, or with a relative described by Section 84.002(a)(3), in |
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which case the address must be the address of that facility or |
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relative; or |
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(4) employment hardship, in which case the address must be |
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the address of the applicant's employer or of a person related to |
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the applicant within the second degree by affinity or the third |
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degree by consanguinity, as determined under Chapter 573, |
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Government Code, if that address is different from the address at |
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which the applicant is registered to vote or the registered mailing |
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address. |
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SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |