AUSTIN, Texas — A bill written by an East Texas state senator seeking to make illegal voting a felony was approved by the Senate earlier this week.
Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, authored Senate Bill 2 that would make voting illegally a felony instead of a Class A misdemeanor, according to the bill.
On Tuesday, the bill passed with 19 votes in favor and 12 against the proposal, according to Texas Legislature website documents.
The bill will have to go through the Texas House of Representatives before making it to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.
A companion bill, HB 4198, has been filed in the House by state Rep. Steve Toth, who represents southern Montgomery County, the legislature website states.
If passed, SB 2 would amend the Election Code to make a person found guilty of any of these acts to be convicted of a second-degree felony. However, if they are convicted of attempting these offenses, the person would be found guilty of a state jail felony:
- Voting or attempting to vote in which the person knows they are not eligible to vote
- Voting or trying to vote more than once in an election
- Voting or trying to vote a ballot belonging to another person or by impersonating another person
- Marking or attempting to mark any part of another person's ballot without their consent or specific instruction on how to mark the ballot
- Voting or attempting to vote in Texas after voting in another state in which the race is for a federal office and the Election Day is on the same day
In 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Hughes' Senate Bill 1, also known as the Election Integrity Protection Act of 2021, which banned drive-thru voting and 24-hour voting among other things.