87R1916 ADM-D     By: Swanson H.B. No. 611       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the assistance of voters; increasing a criminal   penalty.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 64.034, Election Code, is amended to   read as follows:          Sec. 64.034.  OATH. A person selected to provide assistance   to a voter must take the following oath, administered by an election   officer at the polling place, before providing assistance:          "I swear (or affirm) that I will not suggest, by word, sign,   or gesture, how the voter should vote; I will confine my assistance   to answering the voter's questions, to stating propositions on the   ballot, and to naming candidates and, if listed, their political   parties; I will prepare the voter's ballot as the voter directs; I   did not pressure or intimidate the voter into choosing me to provide   assistance; and I am not the voter's employer, an agent of the   voter's employer, or an officer or agent of a labor union to which   the voter belongs."          SECTION 2.  Section 37.02, Penal Code, is amended by   amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as   follows:          (b)  An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor   except as provided by Subsection (c).          (c)  The punishment for an offense under this section is a   state jail felony if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:                (1)  the false statement was the oath described by   Section 64.034, Election Code; and                 (2)  the person made a false statement described by   Subdivision (1) three or more times in connection with a single   election.          SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only   to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.   An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is   governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,   and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For   purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the   effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred   before that date.          SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.