Monitoring the Session

HB 4253

Gerdes Bill on voter residence notices

Did not pass

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Rep. Stan GerdesRHouse 17

Initial review · graded Oct 20, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

relating to confirmation of a voter's residence by a voter registrar.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

New rule for when the registrar mails one.

The bill rewrites the rule for when a county voter registrar must mail a voter a notice asking the voter to confirm where they live. It adds a new trigger: any voter who is not already on the suspense list and has not voted in any election in the previous 25 months gets a confirmation notice on November 30 after a general election, alongside the existing triggers for commercial mailbox addresses and other reasons to doubt the address. Registrars will send more confirmation notices to inactive voters on a fixed schedule, starting September 1, 2025.

Labels

Labels: ZOMBIE BILL. Died 2 times: 88R HB 1134 by Rep. Jetton (Died in committee) and this bill (Did not pass). Checked against 88R only.BACK FROM THE DEAD. Same text as a bill filed before that died: 88R HB 1134 by Rep. Jetton (Died in committee). Filed in 2 sessions, counting this one. Checked against 88R only.TRY NO. 2. Filed in 2 sessions: 88R and 89R. Checked against 88R only.STALLED AFTER COMMITTEE. Voted out of the House Elections committee 5-4 on Apr 28, 2025. Never placed on a calendar. The bill died.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB4253 · 2025-03-10

SOLD BY

Rep. Stan GerdesRHouse 17 Rep. Carrie IsaacRHouse 73 Rep. Valoree SwansonRHouse 150

+ 2 more authors, 3 coauthors

ITEM

relating to confirmation of a voter's residence by a voter registrar.

WHAT IT DOES

New rule for when the registrar mails one.

The bill rewrites the rule for when a county voter registrar must mail a voter a notice asking the voter to confirm where they live. It adds a new trigger: any voter who is not already on the suspense list and has not voted in any election in the previous 25 months gets a confirmation notice on November 30 after a general election, alongside the existing triggers for commercial mailbox addresses and other reasons to doubt the address. Registrars will send more confirmation notices to inactive voters on a fixed schedule, starting September 1, 2025.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · April 28, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

  1. Filed
  2. Read first time
  3. Referred to Elections
  4. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  5. Considered in public hearing
  6. Committee substitute considered in committee
  7. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  8. Left pending in committee
  9. Considered in formal meeting
  10. Committee substitute considered in committee
  11. Reported favorably as substituted
  12. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  13. Committee report distributed
  14. Committee report sent to Calendars
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Stan Gerdes

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$316KDustin Burrows Campaign$89KTexas Conservative Majority PAC$68K

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Oct 30, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$316,248.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$316,248.00

Cash
$220,000.00
Paid by others
$96,248.00
Total
$316,248.00
advertising $74,698.00polling $21,550.00

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 25, 2025 to Sep 29, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101010282, 101029052, 101035831, 101036569, 101070133.

Dustin Burrows Campaign$88,800.00

Dustin Burrows Campaign

$88,800.00

Cash
$75,000.00
Paid by others
$13,800.00
Total
$88,800.00
polling $13,800.00

Also funds 39 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Sep 13, 2025 to Sep 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 29, 2025 to Jan 26, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101029052, 101035831, 101036569.

Texas Conservative Majority PAC$67,750.00

Texas Conservative Majority PAC

$67,750.00

Cash
$25,000.00
Paid by others
$42,750.00
Total
$67,750.00
canvassing $35,000.00polling $7,750.00

Also funds 42 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jan 23, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Feb 13, 2026 to Feb 20, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101036569.

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$316,248.00

Cash
$220,000.00
Paid by others
$96,248.00
Total
$316,248.00
advertising $74,698.00polling $21,550.00

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 25, 2025 to Sep 29, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101010282, 101029052, 101035831, 101036569, 101070133.

×

Dustin Burrows Campaign

$88,800.00

Cash
$75,000.00
Paid by others
$13,800.00
Total
$88,800.00
polling $13,800.00

Also funds 39 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Sep 13, 2025 to Sep 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 29, 2025 to Jan 26, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101029052, 101035831, 101036569.

×

Texas Conservative Majority PAC

$67,750.00

Cash
$25,000.00
Paid by others
$42,750.00
Total
$67,750.00
canvassing $35,000.00polling $7,750.00

Also funds 42 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jan 23, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Feb 13, 2026 to Feb 20, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101036569.

Votes

No floor vote loaded for this bill.

Witnesses20
For
7
Against
10
On
3
Names

For

  • Self5 registrations
  • Self; Harris county ballot security1 registration
  • Self; SREC EI Committee and Secure Texas Elections LP Subcommittee, Self1 registration

Against

  • ACLU of Texas1 registration
  • Common Cause Texas1 registration
  • Every Texan1 registration
  • Harris County Commissioners Court1 registration
  • Secure Democracy USA1 registration
  • Self4 registrations
  • Texas Civil Rights Project1 registration

On

  • Secretary of State1 registration
  • Self; Texas Association of County Election Officials1 registration
  • Tax Assessor-Collector Association1 registration
Sources

20 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

House witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · April 28, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version I by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 20, 2026, against the published rubric.

FILED BEFORE

Filed 2 times: 88R and 89R. Checked against 88R only.

88R HB 1134

by Rep. Jetton, different lead author · Died in committee · same text

Introduced text

Last action, Mar 2, 2023: Referred to Elections

Relating to confirmation of a voter's residence by a voter registrar.

Caption, 88R bill history

Sources

Texas House · Filed Mar 10, 2025

05/05/2025 H Committee report sent to Calendars

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:20 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors
Trent AshbyRHouse 9 Jay DeanRHouse 7 Keresa RichardsonRHouse 61

House committee · Elections · Committee vote 5 aye, 4 nay · Out of committee

Companion

SB 396 by Kolkhorst (identical)

HB 2272 by Morgan (duplicate)

Subjects

Elections--Registration & Suffrage

Text

The text as introduced · 205 words

89R365 MPF-D

By: Gerdes
H.B. No. 4253

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to confirmation of a voter's residence by a voter

registrar.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 15.051(a), Election Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(a) The [ If the registrar has reason to believe that a

voter's current residence is different from that indicated on the

registration records, or that the voter's residence address is a

commercial post office box or similar location that does not

correspond to a residence, the ] registrar shall deliver to a [ the ]

voter a written confirmation notice requesting confirmation of the

voter's current residence if:

(1) the voter's residence address is a commercial post

office box or similar location that does not correspond to a

residence;

(2) on November 30 following a general election:

(A) the voter's name is not on the suspense list;

and

(B) the voter has not voted in any election

during the previous 25 months; or

(3) the registrar has any other reason to believe that

a voter's current residence is different from that indicated on the

registration records .

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.