HBA-CMT C.S.S.B. 1424 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 1424 By: Brown, J. E. "Buster" Elections 4/30/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE After the 2000 presidential election, the Texas Election Code was analyzed to identify what statutory changes could be made to avoid the voting difficulties encountered by members of the armed forces of the United States who live in Florida. C.S.S.B. 1424 increases the time period that balloting materials for voting by mail are made available to voters from 45 days prior to the election date to 55 days before the election date and adds provisions regarding early voting clerks returning problematic mail ballots or federal post card applications to voters or notifying the voters by telephone of the problem so the ballot can be corrected, or application canceled. 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. ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 1424 amends the Election Code to modify the requirement that balloting materials for voting by mail be mailed to voters as soon as practicable after the ballots become available to be not earlier than the 55th day rather than 45th day before election day. The bill requires an election clerk (clerk) who receives a timely carrier envelope (envelope) before the seventh day before election day that does not fully comply with the applicable early voting requirements to return the envelope by mail to the voter not later than the second day after the envelope is received. The bill requires a clerk, if possible, to notify the voter if the clerk receives an envelope on or after the seventh day and before the third day before election day that does not fully comply with the applicable early voting requirements, and advise the voter that the voter may correct or cancel the ballot in person. The bill does not require but encourages a clerk that receives an envelope on or after the third day before election day to notify the voter and advise the voter that the voter may correct or cancel the application in person. The bill provides that if an applicant submits a federal postcard application indicating that the address to which the balloting materials are to be sent is an address within the county and the application does not indicate that the balloting materials will be forwarded or delivered to the applicant at a location outside the United States, the early voting clerk is required to immediately notify the applicant that the application is not valid and to advise the applicant to complete a voter registration application and submit the application to the early voting clerk. If the early voting clerk receives the application on or after the fifth day before the voter registration deadline, the clerk is required to contact the applicant by telephone to advise the applicant to complete a voter registration application. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.S.B. 1424 modifies the original bill by adding that if the early voting clerk receives a timely carrier envelope on or after the seventh day and before the third day before an election day that does not comply with applicable early voting requirements, the clerk is required if possible to notify the voter of the defect by telephone and advise the voter that the voter may come to the clerk's office in person to correct or cancel the application. The substitute adds the provision that if the clerk receives a timely carrier envelope on or after the third day before an election day that does not comply with applicable early voting requirements, the clerk is not required but encouraged to notify the voter of the defect by telephone and advise the voter that the voter is authorized to come in and correct or cancel the voter application. The substitute adds provisions pertaining to the actions taken by an early voting clerk to notify an applicant submitting a federal postcard application for voting that the application is not valid.