Jun 17, 2017 | Legislation
Three election-related bills were among 50 vetoes issued by Gov. Greg Abbott. House Bill 2410 by Rep. Celia Israel (D-Austin) would have permitted a primary runoff to be conducted by mail if fewer than 100 votes were cast in the county’s primary election and no...
Jun 1, 2017 | Legislation
Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law bills that conform the state’s Voter ID law to recent judicial rulings and end the option to cast a single-punch, straight-party ballot after the 2018 general election. Senate Bill 5 by Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) codifies a process...
May 29, 2017 | Legislation
This post had been updated to reflect Gov. Abbott’s subsequent actions on these bills. The 85th Legislature, Regular Session has adjourned sine die. While there are rumors of a special session in the air, one is not likely to include election-related issues....
May 27, 2017 | breaking-news, Legislation
Updated. The conference committee on Senate Bill 5, the Voter ID fix, largely kept to the Senate’s version and rejected House language calling for a voter turnout strategic plan and a report on voter education expenditures. The conference committee report (pdf) was...
May 23, 2017 | Legislation
The House gave preliminary approval to a bill that largely conforms the state’s Voter ID law to a court decision requiring a process for people to vote who lack an acceptable form of identification. The 95-54, almost party-line vote capped a lengthy debate over the...
May 20, 2017 | Legislation, Straight-ticket Voting
The House concurred in the Senate’s amendment to House Bill 25 by Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton), sending the measure to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. The bill would end the practice of voting for all of a party’s candidates using a single punch, mark or other action....
May 14, 2017 | Legislation
The 85th Texas Legislature, Regular Session is down to its final two weeks. We have already passed two of the session’s most significant end-of-session deadlines: the last day a House committee may report a House bill (May 8) and the last day the House may consider a...
May 11, 2017 | Legislation
The Senate Business & Commerce Committee heard testimony on, and ultimately approved, a bill that would end single-punch, straight-ticket voting in Texas: House Bill 25 by Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton). It passed the House last week on a near party-line vote....
May 5, 2017 | Legislation
The House gave tentative approval to a bill that would eliminate the single-punch option to vote a straight ticket. House Bill 25 by Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton) was passed to engrossment (third reading) by and following a series of largely party-line votes. The...
Mar 13, 2017 | Legislation, Straight-ticket Voting
The House Elections Committee approved a bill to end the “single-punch” option for straight-party voting by a 5-2 party line vote following more than an hour of public testimony. Rep. RonSimmons Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton) explained that House Bill 25 was about...
Feb 21, 2017 | Legislation
Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), chair of the Senate State Affairs Committee, filed Senate Bill 5 to update the state’s Voter ID law. The chamber’s other 19 Republican are listed as co-authors. The bill would largely codify the “reasonable impediment” declaration that...
Feb 13, 2017 | Legislation, Straight-ticket Voting
Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton) filed House Bill 25, which would eliminate the option of voting for every candidate of a given party by making a single mark on the ballot, known as straight-party or straight-ticket voting. It is identical to House Bill 433, also filed...
