Texas Bills to Watch: SB 2 increases the penalty for illegal voting to a FELONY
March 21, 2023 | Austin, TX
Senator Bryan Hughes (SD 1) has submitted SB 2, increasing the criminal penalty for illegal voting to a felony, which was haphazardly removed in 2021.
First, the bill clarifies the standard for illegal voting. Second, it returns the penalty for illegal voting from a misdemeanor to a second degree felony, which was the penalty prior to 2021. Co-authors of the bill include Montgomery County Senators Bettencourt, Creighton, and Kohlkorst, alongside Flores, Huffman, King, Middleton, Parker, Paston, Springer.
Thousands of delegates to the 2022 Republican State Convention, along with Montgomery County voters, are very concerned about election integrity which was voted as the number one Legislative Priority by convention delegates. If our elections are not secure, our whole system of government is in jeopardy.
An identical companion bill has been filed in the House, HB 4198, authored by Montgomery County Representative Steve Toth and assigned to the State Affairs Committee. Last session a similar bill was debated and not passed, and Speaker Phelan seems uninterested in pushing through on this priority.
If you have additional thoughts on this bill, please email MCRP Legislative Chair Bonnie Lyons at info@mctxgop.org. She’d love to hear your thoughts on this!
Take Action
Contact your state senator to voice your support for SB 2.
Brandon Creighton (SD-4)
(512) 463-0104 (Austin Office)
(281) 292-4128 (District Office)
Send an email
Paul Bettencourt (SD-7)
(512) 463-0107 (Austin Office)
(713) 464-0282 (District Office)
Send an email
Lois Kolkhorst (SD-18)
(512) 463-0118 (Austin Office)
(979) 251-7888 (District Office)
Send an email