Austin, TX – Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), pre-filed bills deemed the “Integrity 7,” ahead of the 89th Legislative Session which begins on January 14, 2025. These bills are aimed at improving election transparency, voter roll integrity, and provide penalties for non-performance in Texas. The first six bills are bills that passed the Senate in the previous 88th legislative session, and they have up to seven joint-authors.

The following seven bills that make up Senator Bettencourt’s “Integrity 7” package include:

1. SB 505, an audit bill, establishes a line of communication between the public and election officials by establishing a civil complaint procedure for specific individuals involved in an election. It also creates a process for referring Election Irregularities to the Secretary of State, who will determine if an audit is necessary. If the audit finds a violation, then the Secretary of State could take necessary action by assigning a conservator to manage that election authority. (7 Joint Authors).
2. SB 506 will prevent local governments from misleading voters at the polls with deceptive proposition ballot language, spending taxpayer money to ignore lawfully collected petition signatures, and suppressing petitions signed by those they are sworn to represent. (4 JAs)
3. SB 507 will increase the penalty for the intentional failure to deliver election supplies, the penalty for obstructing the distribution of election supplies, and the penalty for revealing election results early. It also creates a Class A misdemeanor if an election official intentionally fails to provide an election precinct with the required number of ballots or intentionally fails to promptly supplement the distributed ballots upon request by a polling place. (6 JAs)
4. SB 508 will address issues in past elections where election officials failed to report election results no later than 24 hours after election polls close. If the county can't count election returns by the 24-hour deadline, the Secretary of State can step in and oversee the process. (6 JAs)
5. SB 509 requires that the Attorney General’s Office be notified if an action under the Election Code is filed seeking a temporary restraining order. (4 JAs)
6. SB 510 would extend the penalty of the withholding of Chapter 19 or 31 funds if the voter registrar fails to timely perform their duty under the entire Election Code that requires the voter registrar to approve, change, or cancel a voter’s registration, schedule a hearing on a challenge, or decide on a challenge. (6 JAs)
7. SB 511 would ban local governments from using public funds to send out unsolicited voter registration cards. (3 JAs)

“I’m proud that Senators Creighton, Huffman, Kolkhorst, Middleton, Paxton, Perry, and Parker have jointly authored different bills in this “Integrity 7” package. Election integrity has been one of my top priorities since being elected to office. I’m hopeful these bills will provide additional election integrity and transparency in Texas. Paramount of all of this, is a voter roll with integrity and election procedures and results that the public can trust,” stated Senator Bettencourt.

Senate State Affairs Committee Chair Bryan Hughes concluded, “Our goal for Texas elections is to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. The Senate State Affairs Committee passed a half dozen of these good voter integrity bills in the 88th Texas Legislature, and they are highly likely to again get hearings in the 89th.” Senator Bettencourt plans on filing additional new legislation next month.

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