AUSTIN - Texas' Senate Bill 1 is a sweeping, 47-page renovation of the state's voting and election laws that grew by more than 14 pages with the addition of Republican-backed amendments during Thursday's 12-hour debate in the House.
The House gave final approval Friday, sending SB 1 back to the Senate, which passed a similar version Aug. 12.
Senators can accept the version approved by the House and send it to Gov. Greg Abbott, who designated election law changes a legislative priority and said Thursday that he looks forward to signing SB 1 into law.
If senators want to make changes, they can call for a conference committee to negotiate a final version of SB 1 that would have to be approved by a majority of both houses. Republicans hold comfortable majorities in the Texas House and Senate.
n SB 1 restricts overnight, drive-thru voting
The bill would ban drive-thru voting or casting a ballot from inside a vehicle unless participating in curbside voting due to sickness or a disability.
It also would prohibit 24-hour and overnight voting by requiring polls to be open a minimum of nine hours from between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Harris County, home to Houston, implemented drive-thru and 24-hour polling stations as COVID-19 safety measures for early voting before the general election in November.
Democrats praised innovations for helping voters cast ballots safety and conveniently, noting a report that said 53% of voters using the new methods were racial and ethnic minorities. Republicans criticized the measures as less secure, partly because partisan poll watchers were unavailable to monitor voting.
And while Democrats said 24-hour and drive-thru voting were not prohibited by state law, Republicans argued that the innovations were not allowed under the law and therefore illegal.
Voting hours would be impacted if signed into Texas state law
Early voting polling sites would have to be open at least nine hours a day, up from the current eight-hour requirement - opening no earlier than 6 a.m. and later than 10 p.m.
Voters who are in line when an early voting site closes would be entitled to cast a ballot that day, a protection currently in place for Election Day voters.
Additional ID requirements would be required for Texans who vote by mail
Texans who vote by mail would have to include a driver's license number or last four digits of a Social Security number on the envelope containing their ballot. That number would have to match the number provided on the vote-by-mail application submitted earlier.
Voters may use an expired license or state-issued ID card that is "otherwise valid."
How would mail-in ballot mistakes be fixed?
Voters who make a mistake that invalidates a mail-in ballot - such as forgetting to sign the envelope or submitting a signature that does not match what's on file - must be given a chance to correct the problem if there's enough time before Election Day.
If time is short, county election officials would be given the choice of whether to notify voters, by phone or email, that they can cancel their vote-by-mail application and vote in person.
New steps for voter assistants
Those who help a voter cast a ballot due to language or physical needs would have to fill out a document listing their name, address and relationship to the voter. Assistants also would have to sign an oath, under penalty of perjury, stating that the voter is eligible for help due to a physical disability or is unable to read the ballot language.
Those who transport seven or more nonfamily members to a polling location for curbside voting would have to fill out a form giving their name and address and indicate whether they also provided help casting any ballots.
What SB 1 means for poll watchers
Poll watchers, who monitor elections on behalf of candidates or political parties, get special attention with three dozen references in SB 1.
The bill states that watchers must be allowed to observe, without obstruction, to observe election activity inside polling places and vote-counting centers so they may call attention to "any observed or suspected irregularity or violation of law."
"A watcher may not be denied free movement where election activity is occurring," SB 1 says.
The bill also makes it a crime, with a jail term of up to one year, for election officers to deny access to a poll watcher.
Watchers may be removed for committing "a breach of the peace or a violation of law," and language requiring poll watchers to be warned at least once before removal is no longer in the bill.
In debate, Republicans have called watchers "the eyes and ears of the public," but Democrats say watchers have been used to intimidate voters, particularly people of color, to discourage participation.
The House amended SB 1 to require the secretary of state's office to create an online course on poll watcher duties that all watchers must complete.
Suing election opponents
Candidates may sue an election opponent - or somebody acting on their behalf with the opposing candidate's knowledge - to collect $1,000 for each violation of election laws such as illegal voting, illegal delivery of a mail-in ballot or providing a false statement on a voter registration or vote-by-mail application.
New crimes under Texas voting bill
In addition to the Class B misdemeanor for election officers who improperly turn away a poll watcher, SB would create several crimes, including:
Vote harvesting, defined as "in-person interaction with one or more voters, in the presence of the ballot or during the voting process, intended to deliver votes for a specific candidate or measure" in exchange for payment or another benefit.
The third-degree felony carries a 2- to 10-year prison term.
Unlawful solicitation and distribution of a ballot by mail, which would occur when a public official sends an application to vote by mail to somebody who did not request it. The crime also would apply to officials who authorize spending tax money for a third party to send unsolicited applications.
The proposed state jail felony, with a jail term of up to two years, was in response to the Harris County clerk's plan to send mail-voting applications to all registered voters last year.