(a)Section 123.033 [§123.033]
of the Texas Election Code provides for the rental rate that a county
may charge for the use of its equipment. (The rental rates are $5
for each unit of tabulating equipment and $5 for each unit of electronic
voting system equipment installed at a polling location.) Removable
components, such as a flash drive or accessibility component, may
not be charged separately.
(b)In addition to subsection (a) of this section,
the primary fund may be used to pay the actual expenses incurred by
the county in transporting, preparing, programming, and testing the
necessary equipment, as well as for staffing the central counting
station.
(c)The county chair shall submit all calculations
for amounts charged for the use of county-owned and non-county-owned
equipment to the SOS for review with the final cost report.
(d)The county chair shall not use primary funds to
pay expenses related to the use of non-county-owned equipment, including,
but not limited to, ballot boxes and voting booths pursuant to §51.035
of the Texas Election Code, without approval from the SOS.
(e)Pursuant to §51.035 of the Texas Election
Code, counties may not charge the county parties for use of county-owned
voting booths or ballot boxes and other county-owned equipment where
there is no statutory authority to charge for said equipment; however,
the primary fund may pay the actual expenses incurred by the county
in transporting the equipment to and from the polling places if the
county provides that service.
(f)Pursuant to the General Appropriations
Act, 86th Texas Legislature, primary funds shall not be used to pay
the costs of leasing non-county-owned equipment that is needed to
conduct non-joint primary elections.
The agency certifies that legal counsel has reviewed
the proposal and found it to be within the state agency's legal authority
to adopt.
Filed with the Office
of the Secretary of State on October 28, 2019
TRD-201904003 Adam Bitter
General Counsel
Office of the Secretary of State
Earliest possible date of adoption: December 8, 2019
For further information, please call: (512) 463-5650
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