HB 1296
AN ACT relating to the voter registration of naturalized United States
89th Regular Session
Jan 14, 2025 - Jun 2, 2025 • Session ended
Awaiting Committee Assignment
Bill filed, pending referral to House committee
Committee
Not yet assigned
Fiscal Note
Not available
What This Bill Does
Automatically registers newly naturalized U.S. citizens to vote in Texas through a streamlined process between the Department of Public Safety and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. If the immigration services do not automatically notify the state about a new citizen, the individual can personally present their naturalization certificate to the county registrar, who must then help them register to vote. The law aims to simplify voter registration for new citizens and goes into effect on September 1, 2025.
Subject Areas
Bill Text
relating to the voter registration of naturalized United States BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 13.002(a), Election Code, is amended to (a) Except as provided by Section 13.009, a [A] person desiring to register to vote must submit an application to the registrar of the county in which the person resides. Except as provided by Subsection (e), an application must be submitted by personal delivery, by mail, or by telephonic facsimile machine in accordance with Sections 13.143(d) and (d-2). SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 13, Election Code, is amended by adding Section 13.009 to read as follows: Sec. 13.009. VOTER REGISTRATION OF NATURALIZED CITIZEN. (a) The voter registrar of each county shall automatically register a resident of the county who is eligible to vote as provided by Section 13.001 upon issuance of a certificate of naturalization by the United States Citizenship and Immigration (b) For the purposes of Subsection (a), the Department of Public Safety may, in cooperation with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, establish a procedure by which the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services notifies the department when a person lawfully present in this state is issued a certificate of naturalization. (c) A procedure established under Subsection (b) must require the Department of Public Safety to provide the information received from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to the appropriate county registrar. (d) If the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services fails to notify the Department of Public Safety that a person lawfully present in this state has been issued a certificate of naturalization, the newly naturalized citizen may present the certificate of naturalization to the appropriate county registrar in satisfaction of Section 13.002(c)(3). The registrar shall assist the person in registering to vote. (e) The secretary of state may adopt rules to implement this SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
Bill Sponsors
Legislators who authored or co-sponsored this bill.
Expert Lobbyists for This Bill
These lobbyists specialize in Aliens and related subject areas.
Ky Ash
Elizabeth Hadley
Galt Graydon
David Doran Parker
Chris Hosek
Christopher Hughes
Amanda Sheridan Kimball
Jacob Smith
Ann Baddour
Damon Withrow
Bill History
Bill filed: AN ACT relating to the voter registration of naturalized United States
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