SB 2363
Creighton Bill Makes Repeating Your Spouse’s Vote A Felony
Did not pass
Verdict: Smells
Why it's charged
Dragnet
THE CAPTION
…“the prosecution of the criminal offense of unlawfully”…
Caption, Senate committee report version (S)
THE TEXT
“"Publish" means to communicate information or make information available to another person orally, in writing, or by means of telecommunication or electronic communication.”
Bill text, Senate committee report version (S)
The stated target is a news outlet putting a ballot online, but "publish" covers telling a single person out loud, with no polling-place limit. Repeating how a neighbor or spouse said they voted, without their effective consent, falls inside a third degree felony.
DragnetNeeds review · Nov 1, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade
Caption
relating to the prosecution of the criminal offense of unlawfully publishing a vote.
Caption from analyzed text · version S.
Summary
“Publish” means telling another person, even “orally.” Without consent, that’s a third degree felony!
The bill rewrites the Election Code offense about revealing a vote so that it covers anyone who knowingly or intentionally publishes how a voter voted without the voter's consent, not just people inside a polling place. It touches news outlets, campaigns, poll workers and ordinary Texans, because "publish" includes telling even one other person out loud, in writing or online. The offense is a third degree felony, and the only stated defense is publishing under a state law that requires it, starting September 1, 2025.
Labels
Labels: STALLED AFTER COMMITTEE. Voted out of the Senate State Affairs committee 9-1 on Apr 30, 2025. Placed on the intent calendar on May 19, 2025. The bill died.
Receipt
The receipt
89R-SB2363 · 2025-03-12
SOLD BY
+ 1 coauthor
ITEM
relating to the prosecution of the criminal offense of unlawfully publishing a vote.
WHAT IT DOES
“Publish” means telling another person, even “orally.” Without consent, that’s a third degree felony!
The bill rewrites the Election Code offense about revealing a vote so that it covers anyone who knowingly or intentionally publishes how a voter voted without the voter's consent, not just people inside a polling place. It touches news outlets, campaigns, poll workers and ordinary Texans, because "publish" includes telling even one other person out loud, in writing or online. The offense is a third degree felony, and the only stated defense is publishing under a state law that requires it, starting September 1, 2025.
CHARGES
[x] DRAGNETanalysis confidence 60%
THE CAPTION
…“the prosecution of the criminal offense of unlawfully”…
Caption, Senate committee report version (S)
THE TEXT
“"Publish" means to communicate information or make information available to another person orally, in writing, or by means of telecommunication or electronic communication.”
Bill text, Senate committee report version (S)
The stated target is a news outlet putting a ballot online, but "publish" covers telling a single person out loud, with no polling-place limit. Repeating how a neighbor or spouse said they voted, without their effective consent, falls inside a third degree felony.
TOTAL
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
LBB estimate · fiscal note version S · source
Sources
Fiscal note · version S · May 1, 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
- Received by the Secretary of the Senate
- Filed
- Read first time
- Referred to State Affairs
- Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- Considered in public hearing
- Testimony taken in committee
- Left pending in committee
- Considered in public hearing
- Vote taken in committee
- Reported favorably as substituted
- Committee report printed and distributed
- Placed on intent calendar
- Not again placed on intent calendar
- Co-author authorized
FILED UNDER
THE TEXT
…“how a voter has voted without the effective consent of the voter”
Bill text, Senate committee report version (S)
The bill makes it a felony to say or post how another person voted without that voter's consent, which regulates what Texans and news outlets can communicate.
THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT
CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY
CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY
Donors
Donors report through Friends of Brandon Creighton.
Not tied to this bill.
Sources
The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.
$0 raised since Jul 1, 2024. Derived sum of published report totals. blank in the state's data, consistent with zero. Flow, Jul 1, 2024 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026. 4 of 4 filed reports carry a published figure.
Report 101060909: Published total from the filed report. Retrieved Oct 29, 2026. Filed report 101060909
$0 spent Jan 1, 2026 to Jun 30, 2026. Published total from the filed report. Flow, Jan 1, 2026 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026. 1 of 1 filed reports carry a published figure.
Report 101060909: Published total from the filed report. Retrieved Oct 29, 2026. Filed report 101060909
$0 cash on hand. Published report total. Stock, as of Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.
$0 loans outstanding. Published report total. Stock, as of Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.
Derived sum of itemized contributions in regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Unitemized contributions are not included. Flow, Jul 1, 2024 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.
MoneyMissing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.
Votes
No floor vote loaded for this bill.
Witnesses7
- For
- 3
- Against
- 2
- On
- 2
Names
For
- Common Cause Texas1 registration
- Self; County & District Clerks Assoc1 registration
- Self; Harris county ballot security1 registration
Against
- Self; The Libertarian Party of Texas1 registration
- Texas Civil Rights Project1 registration
On
- Office of the Attorney General1 registration
- True Texas Elections, LLC1 registration
Sources
7 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.
Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.
Senate witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.
Fiscal
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
LBB estimate · fiscal note version S · source
Sources
Fiscal note · version S · May 1, 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 S by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 22, 2026, against the published rubric.
Sources
Texas Senate · Filed Mar 12, 2025
05/23/2025 S Not again placed on intent calendar
Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report
Data snapshot Nov 1, 2026 at 2:11 PM CST. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.
Senate committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 9 aye, 1 nay, 1 absent · Out of committee
Companion
HB 3517 by Morgan (identical)
Subjects
Communications & Press
Crimes--Against Persons--General
Elections--Administration
Elections--General
Protection of Personal Information
EMAIL & ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS
Text
The text as introduced · 411 words
89R3477 TSS-F By: Creighton S.B. No. 2363 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to the prosecution of the criminal offense of unlawfully publishing a vote. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 61.006, Election Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 61.006. UNLAWFULLY PUBLISHING [ DIVULGING ] VOTE. (a) In this section: (1) "Effective consent" means consent by a person legally authorized to act for the voter. Consent is not effective if: (A) induced by force, threat, or fraud; (B) given by a person the actor knows is not legally authorized to act for the voter; (C) given by a person who by reason of youth, mental disease or defect, or intoxication is known by the actor to be unable to make reasonable decisions; or (D) given solely to detect the commission of an offense. (2) "Publish" means to communicate information or make information available to another person orally, in writing, or by means of telecommunication or electronic communication. (a-1) A person commits an offense if the person [ was in a polling place for any purpose other than voting and ] knowingly publishes [ communicates to another person information that the person obtained at the polling place about ] how a voter has voted without the effective consent of the voter . (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree. (c) It is an exception to prosecution under this section that the person published the voter's voting [ This section does not apply to ] information during: (1) [ presented in ] an official investigation to which the information was relevant; or (2) an administrative, executive, legislative, or judicial proceeding conducted before a public servant and to [ other official proceeding in ] which the information was [ is ] relevant , including during the administration of an election . SECTION 2. 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.