87R6731 ADM-D
 
  By: Paul H.B. No. 2266
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the appointment of election officers.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 32.002, Election Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (c-1) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
  follows:
         (c-1)  For purposes of this subsection, the county chair
  shall provide a list of names of persons eligible for appointment as
  election judges.  Judges of countywide polling places established
  under Section 43.007 must be appointed from the list of names of
  persons submitted by the county chair in compliance with Subsection
  (c) except that in appointing a person from the list the
  commissioners court shall apportion the number of judges in direct
  proportion to the percentage of precincts located in each county
  commissioners precinct won by each party in the last gubernatorial
  election, the commissioners court is not required to make the
  appointments based on specific polling locations or precincts, a
  presiding judge or alternate presiding judge is not required to
  serve in a polling place located in the precinct in which the judge
  resides, and more than one presiding judge or alternate presiding
  judge may be selected from the same precinct to serve in polling
  places not located in the precinct in which the judges reside.  The
  county chairs may submit, and the commissioners court may
  preapprove, the appointment of more presiding judges or alternate
  presiding judges than necessary to fill available positions.  The
  county clerk may select an individual whose appointment was
  preapproved by the commissioners court to fill a vacancy in a
  position that was held by an individual from the same political
  party.  [Other than a judge's party affiliation, nothing in this
  subsection precludes a county clerk from placing an election
  officer at a countywide polling place based on the need for services
  at that location.]
         (h)  A person may not be appointed as presiding judge or
  alternate presiding judge for a county election except as
  explicitly provided by this section.
         SECTION 2.  Section 32.034, Election Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
         (g)  A person may not be appointed as a clerk for an election
  described by Subsection (a) except as explicitly provided by this
  section.
         SECTION 3.  Section 87.002, Election Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  A person may not serve as a member of the board unless
  appointed as explicitly provided by this section.
         SECTION 4.  Section 87.027(d), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  The early voting clerk shall determine the number of
  members who are to compose the signature verification committee and
  shall state that number in the order calling for the committee's
  appointment. A committee must consist of not fewer than five
  members. In an election in which party alignment is indicated on the
  ballot, each county chair of a political party with a nominee or
  aligned candidate on the ballot shall submit to the appointing
  authority a list of names of persons eligible to serve on the
  signature verification committee. The authority shall appoint at
  least two persons from each list to serve as members of the
  committee. The same number of members must be appointed from each
  list. The authority shall appoint the chair of the committee from
  the list provided by the political party whose nominee for governor
  received the most votes in the county in the most recent
  gubernatorial general election. A vacancy on the committee shall be
  filled by appointment from the original list or from a new list
  submitted by the appropriate county chair. A person may not serve
  on the committee unless appointed as explicitly provided by this
  section.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2021.