SB 1542
Bettencourt Bill Gives County Registrars Three Strikes On Voter Rolls
Died in committee
Verdict: No flags
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 maintaining the accuracy of information contained within the statewide voter registration system; creating a criminal offense.
Caption from analyzed text · version I.
Summary
Third violation: the secretary of state takes over the rolls, and it’s a Class A misdemeanor.
The bill makes the Texas secretary of state use both the national change-of-address database and change-of-address notices from the Department of Public Safety to spot voters who have moved or are registered in more than one place. It targets county voter registrars: on a third violation, the secretary of state takes over the registrar's voter-roll upkeep duties. A registrar who breaks the voter-list maintenance rules three or more times commits a Class A misdemeanor offense, starting September 1, 2025.
Labels
Labels: CREATES AN OFFENSE. The caption of the graded version (introduced) reads: “relating to maintaining the accuracy of information contained within the statewide voter registration system; creating a criminal offense.”NEVER GOT A HEARING. Filed Feb 21, 2025 and referred to the Senate State Affairs committee. No public hearing. The bill died.
Receipt
The receipt
89R-SB1542 · 2025-02-21
SOLD BY
ITEM
relating to maintaining the accuracy of information contained within the statewide voter registration system; creating a criminal offense.
WHAT IT DOES
Third violation: the secretary of state takes over the rolls, and it’s a Class A misdemeanor.
The bill makes the Texas secretary of state use both the national change-of-address database and change-of-address notices from the Department of Public Safety to spot voters who have moved or are registered in more than one place. It targets county voter registrars: on a third violation, the secretary of state takes over the registrar's voter-roll upkeep duties. A registrar who breaks the voter-list maintenance rules three or more times commits a Class A misdemeanor offense, starting September 1, 2025.
CHARGES
[ ] NONE FOUND
TOTAL
No fiscal note in the loaded record.
HISTORY
- Received by the Secretary of the Senate
- Filed
- Read first time
- Referred to State Affairs
FILED UNDER
THE TEXT
“enter into an agreement with the Department of Public Safety to receive notice of a change of address submitted”…
Bill text, introduced version (I)
The bill sets up data sharing so driver's license address changes held by the Department of Public Safety flow to the secretary of state for voter-roll checks.
THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT
CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY
CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY
Donors
Donors report through Friends of Paul Bettencourt.
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 27, 2024 to Jun 30, 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.
MoneyMissing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.
Votes
No floor vote loaded for this bill.
Fiscal
No fiscal note in the loaded record.
How this was graded
Analysis of text version I by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 20, 2026, against the published rubric.
Sources
Texas Senate · Filed Feb 21, 2025
03/06/2025 S Referred to State Affairs
Texas Legislature Online · Introduced
Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:20 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.
Senate committee · State Affairs · Final status: Died in committee
Subjects
Crimes--Miscellaneous
Elections--Election Officers
Elections--General
Elections--Registration & Suffrage
SECRETARY OF STATE
Text
The text as introduced · 361 words
89R8239 JDK-D By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 1542 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to maintaining the accuracy of information contained within the statewide voter registration system; creating a criminal offense. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 18.062(i), Election Code, is amended to read as follows: (i) In addition to using a system described by Subsection (a), the secretary of state shall , [ use data from the National Change of Address database to identify voters whose addresses have changed ] for the purpose of preventing duplication of registration in more than one state or jurisdiction and to identify voters whose addresses have changed: (1) use data from the National Change of Address database; and (2) enter into an agreement with the Department of Public Safety to receive notice of a change of address submitted under Section 521.054, Transportation Code . SECTION 2. Section 18.065, Election Code, is amended by adding Subsections (e-1) and (g-1) to read as follows. (e-1) On a third violation under Subsection (e), the secretary of state shall, as necessary, assume the voter registrar's duties relating to the maintenance of the statewide voter registration list, including the registrar's duties related to the maintenance of accurate registration records under: (1) Subchapters B, C, and D, Chapter 15; and (2) Chapter 16. (g-1) It is an offense for a voter registrar to commit a violation of a requirement imposed on the registrar by a provision or rule described in Subsection (a) three or more times. An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor. 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, 2025.