Monitoring the Session

SB 507

shorting a precinct on ballots becomes a Class A misdemeanor

Did not pass

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Paul BettencourtRSenate 7

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 election supplies and the conduct of elections; creating criminal offenses; increasing criminal penalties.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Same for failing to promptly send more.

The bill makes it an offense, a Class A misdemeanor, for the officials who buy election supplies to intentionally short a precinct on ballots or to intentionally fail to promptly send more ballots when a polling place asks. It also raises the penalties for three existing election-supply and polling-place offenses in the Election Code, two of them up to state jail felonies, and lets counties in the countywide polling place program go above the old cap of one ballot per registered voter in a precinct. It touches county election officials and other authorities that procure ballots, and it starts September 1, 2025.

Labels

Labels: CREATES AN OFFENSE. The caption of the graded version (introduced) reads: “relating to election supplies and the conduct of elections; creating criminal offenses; increasing criminal penalties.”

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB507 · 2024-11-25

SOLD BY

Sen. Paul BettencourtRSenate 7 Sen. Brandon CreightonRSenate 4 Sen. Lois KolkhorstRSenate 18

+ 4 more authors, 2 coauthors

ITEM

relating to election supplies and the conduct of elections; creating criminal offenses; increasing criminal penalties.

WHAT IT DOES

Same for failing to promptly send more.

The bill makes it an offense, a Class A misdemeanor, for the officials who buy election supplies to intentionally short a precinct on ballots or to intentionally fail to promptly send more ballots when a polling place asks. It also raises the penalties for three existing election-supply and polling-place offenses in the Election Code, two of them up to state jail felonies, and lets counties in the countywide polling place program go above the old cap of one ballot per registered voter in a precinct. It touches county election officials and other authorities that procure ballots, and it starts September 1, 2025.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 12, 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. Received by the Secretary of the Senate
  2. Filed
  3. Read first time
  4. Referred to State Affairs
  5. Co-author authorized
  6. Co-author authorized
  7. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  8. Considered in public hearing
  9. Testimony taken in committee
  10. Left pending in committee
  11. Considered in public hearing
  12. Vote taken in committee
  13. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  14. Committee report printed and distributed
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Paul Bettencourt

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.

Money

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

Votes

No floor vote loaded for this bill.

Witnesses15
For
6
Against
9
On
0
Names

For

  • Self5 registrations
  • True Texas Elections1 registration

Against

  • ACLU of Texas1 registration
  • Common Cause Texas1 registration
  • Common cause texas1 registration
  • Every Texan1 registration
  • Self1 registration
  • Self; MOVE Texas Civic Fund1 registration
  • Self; NAKASEC ACTION FUND TEXAS1 registration
  • Texas Civil Rights Project1 registration
  • The Brennan Center for Justice1 registration
Sources

15 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 I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 12, 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.

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Nov 25, 2024

03/24/2025 S Committee report printed and distributed: Mar 24 2025 2:50PM

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report

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

Coauthors
Bob HallRSenate 2 Kevin SparksRSenate 31

Senate committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 9 aye, 0 nay, 2 absent · Out of committee

Companion

HB 1661 by Vasut (identical)

Subjects

Crimes--Miscellaneous

Elections--Administration

Elections--Registration & Suffrage

Text

The text as introduced · 437 words

89R2061 LRM-F

By: Bettencourt, et al.
S.B. No. 507

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to election supplies and the conduct of elections;

creating criminal offenses; increasing criminal penalties.

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

SECTION 1. Section 51.005, Election Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (d) to

read as follows:

(a) The authority responsible for procuring the election

supplies for an election shall provide for each election precinct a

number of ballots equal to at least the percentage of voters who

voted in that precinct in the most recent corresponding election

plus 25 percent of that number .

(a-1) The [ , except that the ] number of ballots provided may

not exceed the total number of registered voters in the precinct

unless the county participates in the countywide polling place

program under Section 43.007 .

(d) The authority responsible for procuring the election

supplies for an election commits an offense if the authority

intentionally fails to provide an election precinct with the

required number of ballots under this section. An offense under

this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.

SECTION 2. Section 51.008, Election Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:

(e) The authority responsible for procuring the election

supplies for an election commits an offense if the authority

intentionally fails to promptly supplement the distributed ballots

upon request by a polling place. An offense under this subsection

is a Class A misdemeanor.

SECTION 3. Section 51.010(c), Election Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(c) An offense under this section is a Class A [ C ]

misdemeanor.

SECTION 4. Section 51.011(b), Election Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony

[ Class C misdemeanor ].

SECTION 5. Section 61.007(b), Election Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony

[ Class A misdemeanor ].

SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections

51.010, 51.011, and 61.007, Election Code, apply 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 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.