According to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB), SB 507 is not expected to have a significant fiscal impact on the State of Texas. The bill introduces two new Class A misdemeanor offenses for election officials who intentionally fail to supply a sufficient number of ballots or fail to supplement ballots upon request. It also increases the penalties for existing offenses related to the distribution and handling of election supplies, raising them in some cases to state jail felonies.

Despite these changes in legal penalties and enforcement provisions, the Legislative Budget Board assumes that any resulting fiscal implications—such as costs related to enforcement, prosecution, or incarceration—would be minimal and not lead to a significant increase in the demand for state correctional resources. The rationale is likely based on the expectation that such offenses will be infrequent and that existing judicial and correctional infrastructure can accommodate them.

Similarly, the bill is not anticipated to impose significant financial burdens on local governments. The costs associated with investigating, prosecuting, or managing these new or enhanced offenses at the county or municipal level are expected to be minor and manageable within current budgets.

In sum, SB 507 is considered to have a negligible financial impact while aiming to improve accountability and reliability in the administration of elections.

SB 507 is a targeted legislative response to a well-documented failure in election administration during the November 2022 election in Harris County, where numerous polling places lacked adequate ballot supplies, leading to voter disenfranchisement. The bill aims to address and prevent such issues by strengthening statutory requirements for ballot provisioning and introducing new criminal penalties for failure to comply. It also enhances penalties for existing offenses that compromise the integrity and administration of elections.

The bill’s provisions increase accountability for election officials by requiring that each precinct receive at least 125% of the ballots based on the turnout in the most recent comparable election, with a cap on the number of registered voters unless the county participates in a countywide polling program. It criminalizes intentional failure to meet this requirement and failure to promptly supplement ballot supplies upon request. Additionally, the bill raises penalties for obstructing ballot distribution and prematurely releasing election data—offenses that directly threaten public trust in the electoral process.

The fiscal note confirms that the bill poses no significant cost to state or local governments, reinforcing that the legislative intent is focused more on deterrence and accountability than on creating new burdens. The bill is carefully drafted to affect only those officials whose intentional actions—or inactions—undermine voter access or election security.

In sum, SB 507 supports the liberty principle of protecting individuals’ ability to vote, reinforces the principle of personal responsibility for public officials, and maintains a limited but effective role for government by applying narrowly tailored criminal penalties to preserve electoral integrity. As such, Texas Policy Research recommends that lawmakers vote YES on SB 507.

• HB 1661 (Same As)