HBA-GUM H.B. 2924 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2924 By: Madden Elections 3/29/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law authorizes the use of a federal write-in absentee ballot (ballot) only in the general election, except in five states which have expanded its use beyond the federal law to include special, primary, and runoff elections. Sometimes ballots cannot be delivered in a timely fashion due to the relatively short period of time between the call for a special election and the actual election and between primary and runoff elections. H.B. 2924 allows a United States citizen living outside of the country to cast a state write-in ballot, and authorizes a person submitting a federal write-in ballot to use the ballot envelope as a voter registration application. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 105.002(a), Election Code, as added by Chapter 1349, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, by allowing a United States citizen living outside the United States to apply for and cast a state write-in ballot, and requiring a voter to make an application on an official federal form. SECTION 2. Amends Chapter 105, Election Code, by adding Section 105.003, as follows: Sec. 105.003. FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSENTEE BALLOT AS REGISTRATION FORM. Authorizes a person submitting a federal write-in ballot to use the federal write-in ballot envelope as an application for registration to vote in this state if the envelope contains the required information. SECTION 3. Amends the chapter heading for Chapter 105, Election Code, as follows: CHAPTER 105. VOTING BY PERSONS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES DURING ELECTION PERIOD. Deletes "military personnel" from existing title. SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 5. Emergency clause.