WHEREAS, election integrity in the State of Texas has been compromised in past elections and will continue to be compromised in future elections unless laws are passed to guarantee the validity of local, state, and federal elections; and

WHEREAS, election integrity is currently under assault through attempts by the federal government to allow millions of illegal aliens to vote, and so, in order to counter this assault, proof of U.S. Citizenship, consisting of a U.S. birth certificate, valid U.S. Passport, or U.S. naturalization papers at the time of voter registration, should be required; and

WHEREAS, the current election process, which sacrifices security for convenience by having both an excessively long Early Voting period and a three-day gap until Election Day, should be consolidated into a single in-person voting period under Election Day laws with no time gap between when voting starts and Election Day occurs to help reduce fraud; and

WHEREAS, the complete elimination of mail-in ballots is necessary, with an exception for those who cannot physically appear in person, the request for those voters should use the official application form only with a wet signature, and the ballots must be returned before 7 p.m. on Election Day; and

WHEREAS, restoring integrity to the voter rolls and reducing voter fraud is necessary and can be achieved by requiring voters to re-register if they have not voted within a five-year period, conducting periodic checks on the voter rolls to ensure all currently registered voters are eligible, penalizing election officials for not performing the checks, and promoting a collaboration between states to ensure accuracy in Texas voter rolls without an interstate cross-check system; and

WHEREAS, due to potential and real fraud committed with paper ballots and ballot secrecy requirements, sequentially numbered, signed paper ballots that contain anti-counterfeiting measures that are accounted for through strong chain of custody procedures should be implemented; and

WHEREAS, since poll watchers, who are an integral part of our election process that helps prevent fraud, report issues that are often unheard and not acted upon by authorities, there is a need to create processes that will allow rapid adjudication of election law violation disputes as they occur and before violations can be successfully perpetrated; and

WHEREAS, the Texas Senate passed SB 921 in the 88th Legislature with bipartisan support (which was later killed in the House) and now Senator Brian Hughes has pre-filed SB 310 for the 89th Legislative Session, which would ban Ranked Choice or Preferential Voting Systems that increase election distrust, voter suppression, and disenfranchisement, that eliminate the historical political party system, and that depend on costly and confusing technology implemented by unelected bureaucrats; and

WHEREAS, Representative Briscoe Cain pre-filed HB 817 for the 89th Legislative Session, which would also ban Ranked Choice or Preferential Voting Systems; and

WHEREAS, Senator Brian Hughes has pre-filed SB 309, Representative Brooks Landgraf pre-filed HB 219, Representative Briscoe Cain pre-filed HB 892, and Representative Mike Schofield pre-filed HB 1263 for the 89th Legislative Session, all of which would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote; and

WHEREAS, protecting the integrity of the Republican Primary Election is a top priority, and election laws should be changed to require a closed primary system in Texas that reflects the Rules on closed primaries passed by the delegates to the 2024 Republican Party of Texas State Convention; and

WHEREAS, Representative Briscoe Cain pre-filed HB 934 for the 89th Legislative Session and Representative Mike Schofield pre-filed HB 951 for the 89th Legislative Session, both of which seek to codify closed primaries; and

WHEREAS, Senator Bob Hall has presented a program for election improvements that includes many of our Platform planks and Legislative Priorities and has pre-filed SB 76, SB 77, SB 104, SB 106, and SB 107 for the 89th Legislative Session that support these improvements; now

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Party of Texas urges our Legislature to continue to file and then pass bills in the 89th Legislative Session that will improve our election integrity and that specifically implement our Platform Planks 220, 221, 222, and 225 as well as our Legislative Priority on election integrity in which we call for:

· requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote

· creating a single voting period that removes the gap between Early Voting and Election Day and eliminating a distinction between early voting laws and Election Day laws

· eliminating mail-in ballots except to those who cannot physically appear in person

· requiring re-registration of voters who have not voted within a five-year period

· adding anti-counterfeiting measures and strong chain of custody requirements with paper ballots

· ensuring judges are trained in election law and available during elections to hear and resolve election-related cases

· banning Ranked Choice or Preferential Voting

· creating Closed Primaries; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to Governor Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Patrick and all of our Republican State Legislators.