HBA-MPM H.B. 231 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 231
By: West, George
Elections
2/10/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law stipulates that a voter registration certificate must contain
15 specific elements, including the voter's name, date of birth, and
residence address.  Also included in this list of requirements is a blank
space in which the primary election official, at the time the vote is cast,
manually stamps the party name for which the primary election is being
held.  Anyone who subsequently observes the partisan stamp, even
unintentionally, violates the fundamental concept of the secret ballot.
H.B. 231 ends the requirement that certificates be stamped with the voter's
party affiliation and instead requires them to be marked in a nonpartisan
manner that the person voted in a primary election.  It also prohibits an
election officer from marking the certificate in a way that indicates the
party's primary in which the holder cast a vote. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not delegate  any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer,
department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 15.001(a), Election Code, to include on a voter
registration certificate a space to indicate that a voter voted in a
primary election, rather than a space to stamp the voter's political party
affiliation.  

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 162.004(b) and (c), Election Code, to prohibit
an election official from indicating the name of the party conducting the
primary on the registration certificate.  Requires the presiding judge to
issue a voter who is accepted to vote an affiliation certificate at the
voter's request.  Deletes language that requires the presiding judge to
issue an affiliation certificate to a voter, if the voter is accepted to
vote without presenting a registration certificate.  Deletes language
specifying that the certificate is not required to be issued to a voter in
a runoff primary unless at the voter's request.  Makes conforming changes.

SECTION 3.  Effective date:  September 1, 1999.

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause.