|
CHAPTER 2. VOTE REQUIRED FOR ELECTION TO OFFICE
§ 2.054. COERCION AGAINST CANDIDACY PROHIBITED
|
(a) A person commits an offense if by intimidation or by means of coercion the person influences or attempts to influence a person to not file an application for a place on the ballot or a declaration of write-in candidacy in an election that may be subject to this subchapter.
(b) In this section, "coercion" has the meaning assigned by Section 1.07, Penal Code.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor unless the intimidation or coercion is a threat to commit a felony, in which event it is a felony of the third degree. |
 |
|
|
CHAPTER 13. APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION; INITIAL REGISTRATION
§ 13.006. PURPORTEDLY ACTING AS AGENT
|
| (a) A person commits an offense if the person purports to act as an agent in applying for registration or in signing a registration application at a time when the person: |
(1) is not an agent of the applicant under Section 13.003(a); and
(2) is not eligible for appointment under Section 13.003(b) as the agent of the person for whom the person purports to act. |
| (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree. |
|
|
| § 13.145. UNLAWFUL DELIVERY OF CERTIFICATE |
(a) A voter registrar commits an offense if the registrar knowingly delivers a registration certificate to a person other than the applicant or the applicant's agent appointed under Section 13.003.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree. |
|
|
|
CHAPTER 61. CONDUCT OF VOTING GENERALLY
§ 61.006. UNLAWFULLY DIVULGING VOTE
|
(a) A person commits an offense if the person was in a polling place for any purpose other than voting and knowingly communicates to another person information that the person obtained at the polling place about how a voter has voted.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree.
(c) This section does not apply to information presented in an official investigation or other official proceeding in which the information is relevant. |
|
|
|
CHAPTER 64. VOTING PROCEDURES
§ 64.012. ILLEGAL VOTING
|
| (a) A person commits an offense if the person: |
(1) votes or attempts to vote in an election in which the person knows the person is not eligible to vote;
(2) knowingly votes or attempts to vote more than once in an election;
(3) knowingly impersonates another person and votes or attempts to vote as the impersonated person; or
(4) knowingly marks or attempts to mark another person's ballot without the consent of that person. |
| (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree unless the person is convicted of an attempt. In that case, the offense is a Class A misdemeanor. |
|
|
|
CHAPTER 84. APPLICATION FOR BALLOT
§ 84.0041. PROVIDING FALSE INFORMATION ON APPLICATION
|
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly provides false information on an application for an early voting ballot.
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony unless the person is the applicant, is related to the applicant within the second degree by affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code, or is registered to vote at the same address as the applicant, in which event the offense is a Class A misdemeanor. |
|
|
|
CHAPTER 86. CONDUCT OF VOTING BY MAIL
§ 86.0051. CARRIER ENVELOPE ACTION BY PERSON OTHER THAT VOTER; OFFENSES
|
(a) A person commits an offense if the person acts as a witness for a voter in signing the certificate on the carrier envelope and knowingly fails to comply with Section 1.011.
(b) A person other than the voter who deposits the carrier envelope in the mail or with a common or contract carrier must provide the person's signature, printed name, and residence address on the reverse side of the envelope.
(c) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly violates Subsection (b). It is not a defense to an offense under this subsection that the voter voluntarily gave another person possession of the voter's carrier envelope.
(d) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor, unless the person is convicted of an offense under Section 64.036 for providing unlawful assistance to the same voter in connection with the same ballot, in which event the offense is a state jail felony.
(e) Subsections (a) and (c) do not apply if the person is related to the applicant within the second degree by affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code, or is registered to vote at the same address as the applicant. |
|
|
| § 86.006. METHOD OF RETURNING MARKED BALLOT |
| (f) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly possesses an official ballot or official carrier envelope provided under this code to another. Unless the person possessed the ballot or carrier envelope with intent to defraud the voter or the election authority, it is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this subsection that the person, on the date of the offense, was: |
(1) related to the voter within the second degree by affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code;
(2) registered to vote at the same address as the voter;
(3) an early voting clerk or a deputy early voting clerk;
(4) a person who possesses the carrier envelope in order to deposit the envelope in the mail or with a common or contract carrier and who provides the information required by Section 86.0051(b) in accordance with that section;
(5) an employee of the United States Postal Service working in the normal course of the employee's authorized duties; or
(6) a common or contract carrier working in the normal course of the carrier's authorized duties if the official ballot is sealed in an official carrier envelope that is accompanied by an individual delivery receipt for that particular carrier envelope. |
| (g) An offense under Subsection (f) is: |
(1) a Class B misdemeanor if the person possesses at least one but fewer than 10 ballots or carrier envelopes unless the person possesses the ballots or carrier envelopes without the consent of the voters, in which event the offense is a state jail felony;
(2) a Class A misdemeanor if the person possesses at least 10 but fewer than 20 ballots or carrier envelopes unless the person possesses the ballots or carrier envelopes without the consent of the voters, in which event the offense is a felony of the third degree; or
(3) a state jail felony if the person possesses 20 or more ballots or carrier envelopes unless the person possesses the ballots or carrier envelopes without the consent of the voters, in which event the offense is a felony of the second degree. |
|
|
| § 86.010. ASSISTING VOTER |
(a) A voter casting a ballot by mail who would be eligible under Section 64.031 to receive assistance at a polling place may select a person as provided by Section 64.032(c) to assist the voter in preparing the ballot.
(b) Assistance rendered under this section is limited to that authorized by this code at a polling place.
(c) The person assisting the voter must sign a written oath prescribed by Section 64.034 that is part of the certificate on the official carrier envelope.
(d) If a voter is assisted in violation of Subsection (a) or (b), the voter's ballot may not be counted.
(e) A person who assists a voter to prepare a ballot to be voted by mail shall enter the person's signature, printed name, and residence address on the official carrier envelope of the voter.
(f) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly fails to provide the information on the official carrier envelope as required by Subsection (e).
(g) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor unless the person is convicted of an offense under Section 64.036 for providing unlawful assistance to the same voter, in which event the offense is a state jail felony.
(h) Subsection (f) does not apply if the person is related to the applicant within the second degree by affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code, or is registered to vote at the same address as the applicant. |
|
|
|
CHAPTER 253. RESTRICTIONS ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES
§ 253.003. UNLAWFULLY MAKING OR ACCEPTING CONTRIBUTION
|
(a) A person may not knowingly make a political contribution in violation of this chapter.
(b) A person may not knowingly accept a political contribution the person knows to have been made in violation of this chapter.
(c) This section does not apply to a political contribution made or accepted in violation of Subchapter F.
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a person who violates this section commits an offense. An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
(e) A violation of Subsection (a) or (b) is a felony of the third degree if the contribution is made in violation of Subchapter D. [Ed. note--Subchapter D regulates political contributions from corporations and labor unions. See below.] |
|
|
| § 253.094. CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES PROHIBITED |
(a) A corporation or labor organization may not make a political contribution or political expenditure that is not authorized by this subchapter.
(b) A corporation or labor organization may not make a political contribution or political expenditure in connection with a recall election, including the circulation and submission of a petition to call an election.
(c) A person who violates this section commits an offense. An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree. |
|
|
| § 253.101. UNLAWFUL CONTRIBUTION OR EXPENDITURE BY COMMITTEE |
(a) A political committee assisted by a corporation or labor organization under Section 253.100 may not make a political contribution or political expenditure in whole or part from money that is known by a member or officer of the political committee to be dues, fees, or other money required as a condition of employment or condition of membership in a labor organization.
(b) A person who violates this section commits an offense. An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree. |
|
|
| § 253.102. COERCION PROHIBITED |
(a) A corporation or labor organization or a political committee assisted by a corporation or labor organization under Section 253.100 commits an offense if it uses or threatens to use physical force, job discrimination, or financial reprisal to obtain money or any other thing of value to be used to influence the result of an election or to assist an officeholder.
(b) A political committee assisted by a corporation or labor organization under Section 253.100 commits an offense if it accepts or uses money or any other thing of value that is known by a member or officer of the political committee to have been obtained in violation of Subsection (a).
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree. |
|
|
| § 253.103. CORPORATE LOANS |
| (a) A corporation may not make a loan to a candidate, officeholder, or political committee for campaign or officeholder purposes unless: |
(1) the corporation has been legally and continuously engaged in the business of lending money for at least one year before the loan is made; and
(2) the loan is made in the due course of business. |
(b) This section does not apply to a loan covered by Section 253.096.
(c) A person who violates this section commits an offense. An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree. |
|
|
| § 253.104. CONTRIBUTION TO POLITICAL PARTY |
(a) A corporation or labor organization may make a contribution from its own property to a political party to be used as provided by Chapter 257.
(b) A corporation or labor organization may not knowingly make a contribution authorized by Subsection (a) during a period beginning on the 60th day before the date of a general election for state and county officers and continuing through the day of the election.
(c) A corporation or labor organization that knowingly makes a contribution in violation of this section commits an offense. An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree. |
|
|
|
CHAPTER 257. POLITICAL PARTIES
§ 257.004. RESTRICTIONS ON CONTRIBUTIONS BEFORE GENERAL ELECTION
|
(a) Beginning on the 60th day before the date of the general election for state and county officers and continuing through the day of the election, a political party may not knowingly accept a contribution authorized by Section 253.104 or make an expenditure from the account required by Section 257.002.
(b) A person who violates this section commits an offense. An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree. |
|
|
|
CHAPTER 276. MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES AND OTHER PROVISIONS
§ 276.001. RETALIATION AGAINST VOTER
|
| (a) A person commits an offense if, in retaliation against a voter who has voted for or against a candidate or measure or a voter who has refused to reveal how the voter voted, the person knowingly: |
(1) harms or threatens to harm the voter by an unlawful act; or
(2) with respect to a voter over whom the person has authority in the scope of employment, subjects or threatens to subject the voter to a loss or reduction of wages or another benefit of employment. |
| (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree. |
|
|
| § 276.003. UNLAWFUL REMOVAL FROM BALLOT BOX |
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly or intentionally removes or attempts to remove voted ballots from a ballot box in a manner not authorized by law.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree unless the person is convicted of an attempt. In that case, the offense is a Class A misdemeanor. |
|
|
| § 276.010. UNLAWFUL BUYING AND SELLING OF BALLOTING MATERIALS |
(a) A person commits an offense if the person buys, offers to buy, sells, or offers to sell an official ballot, official ballot envelope, official carrier envelope, signed application for an early voting mail ballot, or any other original election record.
(b) This section does not apply to a person who executes a written contract for the procurement of election supplies necessary to conduct an election under Section 51.003.
(c) An offense under this section is a state jail felony unless a voter sells a ballot, ballot envelope, or carrier envelope that has been provided to the voter by government, in which event the offense is a Class B misdemeanor. |
