TITLE: Relating to assistance provided to a person applying for an early voting ballot or voting an early voting ballot by mail; increasing a criminal penalty.

SUMMARY: Relating to assistance provided to a person applying for an early voting ballot or voting an early voting ballot by mail; increasing a criminal penalty.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to assistance provided to a person applying for an early voting ballot or voting an early voting ballot by mail; increasing a criminal penalty. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 84.003(c), Election Code, is amended to read as follows: (c) An offense under this section is a state jail felony [Class A misdemeanor].SECTION 2. Sections 86.010(c) and (e), Election Code, are amended to read as follows: (c) The person assisting the voter must sign a written oath [prescribed by Section 64.034] that is part of the certificate on the official carrier envelope. The text of the oath must read as follows: "I swear (or affirm) that I will not suggest, by word, sign, or gesture, how the voter should vote; I will confine my assistance to answering the voter's questions, to stating propositions on the ballot, and to naming candidates and, if listed, their political parties; I will prepare the voter's ballot as the voter directs; and I am not the voter's employer, an agent of the voter's employer, or an officer or agent of a labor union to which the voter belongs. I understand that if I violate these requirements, I am committing a criminal offense." (e) A person who assists a voter to prepare a ballot to be voted by mail shall enter the person's signature, printed name, [and] residence address,and the manner in which the person assisted the voter on the official carrier envelope of the voter. SECTION 3. Section 86.013(b), Election Code, is amended to read as follows: (b) Spaces must appear on the reverse side of the official carrier envelope for: (1) indicating the identity and date of the election; [and] (2) entering the signature, printed name, and residence address of a person other than the voter who deposits the carrier envelope in the mail or with a common or contract carrier;and (3) indicating the manner of any assistance provided by a person assisting the voter.SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.