HB1013 - Relating to election integrity and security, including by preventing fraud in the conduct of elections in this state; authorizing a penalty, increasing a penalty.

      By: Toth H.B. No. 1013       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to election integrity and security, including by   preventing fraud in the conduct of elections in this state;   authorizing a penalty, increasing a penalty.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:   ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS          SECTION 1.01.  SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the   Election Accuracy, Transparency, and Accountability Act.          SECTION 1.02.  Chapter 41 of the Texas Election Code is   amended to read as follows:          Sec. 41.002.  GENERAL ELECTION FOR STATE AND COUNTY   OFFICERS. The general election for state and county officers shall   be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in   even-numbered years.   Voting by personal appearance shall begin 8   calendar days in advance of election day culminating on election   day for a total of 9 consecutive days for voting by personal   appearance.          SECTION 1.03.  Title 7 of the Election Code shall be amended   to repeal provisions permitting and governing early voting by   personal appearance.          SECTION 1.04.  Chapter 42 of the Texas Election Code shall be   amended as follows:          Sec. 42.006.  POPULATION REQUIREMENTS. (a)  Except as   otherwise provided by this section, a county election precinct must   contain at least 100 but not more than 2,000 [ 5,000 ] registered   voters.          SECTION 1.05.  Chapter 43 of the Texas Election Code shall be   amended as follows:          Sec. 43.001.  ONE POLLING PLACE IN EACH PRECINCT.  Each   election precinct established for an election shall be served by a   single polling place located within the boundary of the precinct or   adjoining precinct.   More than one precinct may vote at the same   location provided the location is large enough to accommodate all   election activities as required by this code while keeping those   activities separate and distinct for each precinct .          Sec. 43.031.  POLLING PLACE IN PUBLIC BUILDING. (a)  In this   subchapter, "public building" means a building owned or controlled   by the state or a political subdivision.          (b)  Each polling place shall be located inside a building.     The room where the election is conducted shall be used solely for   that purpose during the election and shall be capable of being   locked and secured from unauthorized access at any time an election   judge is not present.           (b-1)   No voter may cast a vote from inside a motor vehicle   unless the voter meets the requirements of Section 64.009.  A   violation of this section is a state-jail felony offense.          Sec. 43.031   (e) A polling place may not be located at the   residence or business location of a person who is:                (1)  a candidate for an elective office, including an   office of a political party; or                (2)  related within the third degree by consanguinity   or the second degree by affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,   Government Code, to a candidate described by Subdivision (1).           (f)     The polling place may not be located in a movable   structure.          SECTION 1.06.  Chapter 51 of the Texas Election Code shall be   amended as follows:          Sec. 51.004.  DISTRIBUTING SUPPLIES.          (b)  The appropriate and sufficient amounts of supplies   including but not limited to ballots shall be distributed to each   presiding election judge not later than one hour before the polls   are required to be open for voting [ and to the early voting clerk   before the beginning of early voting ].           (c)     In addition to any other penalty set forth in this code,   failure to comply with this section or Section 51.005 by an election   administrator or election officer whether or not intentional   impacting more than one precinct shall result in the removal of the   election administrator or election officer and the election shall   be reconducted.          Sec. 51.005.  NUMBER OF BALLOTS. (a) The authority   responsible for procuring the election supplies for an election   shall provide for each election precinct a number of ballots equal   to at least the [ percentage ] number of registered voters [ who   voted ] in that precinct [ in the most recent corresponding election ]   plus 1 [ 25 ] percent of that number [ except that the number of   ballots provided may not exceed the total number of registered   voters in the precinct ].          Sec. 51.011.  OBSTRUCTING DISTRIBUTION OF SUPPLIES. (a) A   person commits an offense if the person intentionally obstructs the   distribution of election supplies for an election.          (b)  An offense under this section is a state jail felony   [ Class C misdemeanor ].          Sec. 51.013.  IDENTIFICATION OF PRINTERS FOR PRIMARY   ELECTION OR GENERAL ELECTION FOR STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS. Amend   to add (e), (f)and (g):           (e)    Ballot printing services shall be procured from   printers located within the state of Texas.           (f)    Chain of custody procedures including securing batches   with uniquely numbered seals that are logged, shall be followed   including documentation of such procedures by the printer from the   time the ballots come off the press until they are delivered   securely to the county elections officer.   Failure of printer to   follow chain of custody procedures and/or produce required   documentation at the time of delivery of ballots shall result in   termination of all present and future contracts.           (g)    Chain of custody procedures including securing batches   with uniquely numbered seals that are logged, shall be followed   including documentation of such procedures by the printer from the   time the ballots come off the press until they are delivered   securely to the county elections officer.   Failure of printer to   follow chain of custody procedures and/or produce required   documentation at the time of delivery of ballots shall result in   termination of all present and future contracts.          SECTION 1.07.  Chapter 52 of the Texas Election Code shall be   Amended to read as follows:           Sec.   52.0064.     ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY RESPONSIBLE CLERK IN   EVENT OF MISPRINT or BALLOT PRINTING ERROR.           (a)     In the event of a misprint or other error in printing one   or more ballots, such ballots must be marked "VOID" in large letters   across the front of the ballots.       (b) Such void ballots must be   accounted for by ballot number, placed in locked containers with   numbered seals marked "VOID MISPRINTED BALLOTS" and placed in a   secure, locked location and retained as election records.   Such   void ballots numbers shall be recorded as void numbers and no voided   ballot numbers may be used for any re-printed ballots.   Strict chain   of custody procedures shall be followed.      [ Sec.A52.0064.DESTRUCTION OF INCORRECT BALLOTS.   (a)   If new   ballots are prepared to make a correction on the ballot, the   authority responsible for having the official ballot prepared shall   destroy the incorrect ballots in the presence of: (1)the sheriff,   in an election ordered by the governor or a primary election; or   (2)the authority responsible for ordering the election, in any   other election. (b)The authority responsible for having the   official ballot prepared shall post in the authority 's office a   notice of the date, hour, and place of the destruction of the   incorrect ballots. The notice must remain posted continuously for   the 72 hours preceding the scheduled time of the destruction.   (c)Any interested person is entitled to be present at the   destruction of incorrect ballots. (d) The authority responsible for   having the official ballot prepared shall prepare a record of the   incorrect ballots that are destroyed.   The authority shall preserve   the record for the period for preserving the precinct election   records. ]          Sec. 52.061.  PRINTING ON BALLOT. (a) The ballot shall be   designed for hand marking and shall be printed in black ink, on   secure, auditable, counterfeit resistant, non-encrypted paper, on   white or light-colored paper, but the ballot may not be the same   color as sample ballots.   No ballot may contain any QR or bar code or   any other code not readable by the human eye nor may a ballot   contain any open or encrypted of tracking, tracing or identifying a   voter's ballot.           (c)     The voting precinct number and polling location shall be   pre-printed on all pages of the ballot.           (d)     Failure of the Election Administrator comply with this   section shall be a Class A misdemeanor.          Sec. 52.062.  NUMBERING OF BALLOTS. The ballots prepared by   each authority responsible for having the official ballot prepared   shall be numbered sequentially and in accordance with this code,   with no gap in numbering, on the front and back of each ballot,   consecutively beginning with the number "1."   No ballot in the state   shall have a duplicative number.          SECTION 1.08.  Chapter 61 of the Texas Election Code shall be   amended as follows:          Sec. 61.002.  CLOSING POLLING PLACE FOR VOTING.           (c)   Immediately after closing the polls for voting on   [ election day ] the final day of voting , the presiding election   judge or alternate election judge shall follow the hand counting   procedures set forth in Chapter 61.0021 of the code. [ print the tape   to show the number of votes cast for each candidate or ballot   measure for each voting machine.   Each election judge or alternate election judge present shall sign   a tape printed under this section ] ]           Sec. 61.0021  OF COUNTING ELECTION.          (a)   All elections shall be conducted with full transparency   and video recorded without interruption.   These video recordings   shall be made freely available to all interested parties and   publicly posted so that they can be access by every citizen without   cost or additional request.   The video recordings must clearly   capture the ballot selections on each ballot counted and the   tabulation result associated with that ballot.           (a-1)     If technically feasible, the hand counting procedure   may be live streamed.          (b)   The election materials including ballots, ballot boxes,   and envelopes used for provisional ballots at a polling place shall   be in plain view of at least one election officer from the time the   polls open for voting until the precinct returns have been   certified.   The election materials must also have constant video   recording from the time the polls open for voting until the precinct   returns have been certified while ensuring no individual voter is   identifiably recorded.          (c)   All counting shall be done by hand at the precinct prior   to transporting the ballots to any other location.          (d)   Counting shall be performed by bi-partisan teams. Each   team shall be assigned a reasonable number of ballots in batches and   the video recording will memorialize and confirm the count. Prior   to beginning the count, the video recording will begin by recording   a caption page.   This page will define the time, date, team members,   supervisor members and a sample ballot.   The video will conclude   showing the same caption page except that the caption page shall be   signed by the team members and the raw totals shall be listed by   race. This video recording shall be securely made so that it cannot   be altered in any way.   A sufficient number of counting teams shall   be assembled so as to complete the count within approximately three   hours of the closing of the polls.   These teams shall be supervise [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]