The debate went into the early morning hours, but the Texas Senate took bold action on election integrity. I’m proud to be a co-author of Senate Bill 7 making Texas the leader on the most free and most secure elections in the nation.

Senate Bill 7 includes:

• A backup paper ballot is required of the official voting record
• Mass-mailed voter registration cards cannot be pre-checked to affirm eligibility
• Public employees are prohibited from distributing unrequested applications for mail-in ballots
• Consistent voting hours are applied statewide
• In person voting rules are applied statewide and drive-through voting is prohibited
• Voting machines are required to remain in place throughout the voting period
• Counties are required to save voting machine memory devices and are prohibited from erasing the disks so all votes can be verified
• Open record and transparency requirements are applied to all election equipment vendor communications
• The ability of the Texas Secretary of State to waive voting rules is removed
• The creation of a program for citizens to track their mail-in ballots online is mandated
• Curbside voting for disabled individuals will have the same protections as voting within a polling place
• The “if in line when polls close” law, guaranteeing that everyone in line can vote, applies to early voting, just like on election day
• Candidates who are harmed by election fraud have an avenue for redress in criminal and civil court
• Polling locations will be linked to the actual number of eligible voters in an area
• Live video and live streams are required at central counting locations for counties with a population of over 100,000