H.R. No. 123       R E S O L U T I O N          WHEREAS, The right to vote is sacred, and the exercise of that   right represents a cornerstone of our democracy; and          WHEREAS, The offense of illegal voting has long existed in   this state, and when first codified, stated that if "any person,   knowing himself not to be a qualified voter" nonetheless voted, the   person would be subject to a fine; and          WHEREAS, The offense has changed over the decades until its   eventual recodification in Section 64.012(a)(1), Election Code,   which states that a person commits the offense if the person "votes   or attempts to vote in an election in which the person knows the   person is not eligible to vote"; and          WHEREAS, The offense is punishable by incarceration, fine, or   both; and          WHEREAS, A person's knowledge of the person's own   ineligibility has always been an element of the offense; and          WHEREAS, It is a fundamental principle of criminal law in   this state that persons should only be convicted of an offense when   all required elements of the offense are shown to have been   satisfied; and          WHEREAS, Instances where a person knows that the person is   ineligible to vote in an election but nonetheless votes or attempts   to vote should be prosecuted; and          WHEREAS, Cases of genuine mistake, where the person votes or   attempts to vote under the honest belief that the person is eligible   to vote, should not establish the required element of knowledge of   one's own ineligibility; and          WHEREAS, In such cases, the ineligible person's vote should   not be allowed, and any vote erroneously cast by an ineligible   person should not be counted, but a person should not be criminally   incarcerated for making an innocent mistake; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas   Legislature, 2nd Called Session, hereby strongly believes that no   Texan should be prosecuted for the offense of illegal voting if the   person voted or attempted to vote based on a mistaken, honest belief   that the person was in fact eligible to vote; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That the Texas House of Representatives encourages   the careful exercise of discretion at all levels of government when   investigating and prosecuting cases of alleged illegal voting.     Burrows     ______________________________   Speaker of the House                 I certify that H.R. No. 123 was adopted by the House on August   31, 2021, by the following vote:  Yeas 119, Nays 4, 1 present, not   voting.     ______________________________   Chief Clerk of the House