By: West S.R. No. 49                 SENATE RESOLUTION          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 their 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 Senate of the State of Texas, 87th   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 Senate encourages the careful   exercise of discretion at all levels of government when   investigating and prosecuting cases of alleged illegal voting.