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House Bill 1987 |
House Author: Berman |
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Effective: 9-1-07 |
Senate Sponsor: Duncan |
Previous law provided that a person committed a criminal offense if the person knowingly possessed another person's official vote-by-mail ballot or official vote-by-mail carrier envelope. The law provided certain affirmative defenses to prosecution that were available unless the person possessed the ballot or carrier envelope with the intent to defraud the voter or the appropriate election authority. House Bill 1987 amends the Election Code to transform these affirmative defenses to prosecution into conditions under which a person's possession of another person's official vote-by-mail ballot or official vote-by-mail carrier envelope is not a criminal offense, unless the act is performed with the intent to defraud. The bill provides that in the prosecution of the act as a criminal offense, the prosecuting attorney is not required to negate the applicability of these conditions in the accusation charging commission of an offense.