Sec. 86.0051. UNLAWFUL CARRIER ENVELOPE ACTION BY PERSON OTHER THAN VOTER. (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 assists a voter by depositing the carrier envelope in the mail or with a common or contract carrier or who obtains the carrier envelope for that purpose 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 A misdemeanor, unless it is shown on the trial of an offense under this section that the person committed 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) This section does not apply if the person is 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, or was physically living in the same dwelling as the voter at the time of the event.
(f) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 393, Sec. 13, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2017, 85th Leg., 1st C.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 5), Sec. 10, eff. December 1, 2017.
Acts 2017, 85th Leg., 1st C.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 5), Sec. 11, eff. December 1, 2017.
Structure Texas Statutes
Chapter 86 - Conduct of Voting by Mail
Section 86.001. Reviewing Application and Providing Ballot
Section 86.0015. Annual Ballots by Mail
Section 86.002. Additional Balloting Materials
Section 86.003. Method of Providing Ballot to Voter: Required Address
Section 86.004. Time for Providing Ballot to Voter
Section 86.005. Marking and Sealing Ballot
Section 86.0051. Unlawful Carrier Envelope Action by Person Other Than Voter
Section 86.0052. Compensation for Carrier Envelope Action Prohibited
Section 86.006. Method of Returning Marked Ballot
Section 86.007. Deadline for Returning Marked Ballot
Section 86.008. Defective Application
Section 86.009. Providing Corrected Ballot to Voter
Section 86.010. Unlawfully Assisting Voter Voting Ballot by Mail
Section 86.0105. Compensation for Assisting Voters Prohibited
Section 86.011. Action by Clerk on Return of Ballot
Section 86.012. Official Ballot Envelope
Section 86.013. Official Carrier Envelope
Section 86.014. Public Inspection of Early Voting Records
Section 86.015. Electronic Tracking of Application for Ballot Voted by Mail or Ballot Voted by Mail