HBA-DMH H.B. 2692 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2692 By: Madden Elections 4/3/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, service men and women deployed overseas have the opportunity to vote by absentee ballot. Sometimes, a sudden decision to relocate troops stateside or overseas, whether due to an unexpected emergency or an international crisis, breaks troops from the standard rotation process normally implemented by the military. House Bill 2692 clarifies absentee ballot voting procedures for deployed military personnel and modifies the early voting clerk's duties in relation to receiving ballots by carrier envelopes. 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 House Bill 2692 amends the Election Code to provide that a qualified voter who is a member of the armed forces of the United States, including the armed forces reserve and the national guard, is eligible for early voting by mail if the voter expects to be absent from the county of the voter's residence because of a military deployment on election day and during the regular hours for conducting early voting at the main early voting polling place for the period for early voting by personal appearance. The bill requires balloting materials for voting by mail to be mailed to voters as soon as practicable after the ballots become available but not earlier than the 60th day, rather than the 45th day, before election day. If the early voting clerk receives a timely carrier envelope before the seventh day before election day that does not fully comply with the applicable early voting requirements, the bill requires, rather than authorizes, the clerk to return the carrier envelope by mail to the voter not later than the second day after the date the envelope is received. If the clerk receives a timely carrier envelope on or after the seventh day before election day, the bill requires, rather than authorizes, the clerk, 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 the defect or cancel the voter's application to vote by mail and vote on election day. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.