Amends TCA Title 2.

ON APRIL 11, 2022, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2159, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to make the following additions and changes to present law concerning elections: (1) This amendment adds a requirement that, in a polling place where precinct-based optical scanners are utilized, the election commission must post instructions stating, "Please check the recorded votes on your ballot before inserting into scanner"; (2) Following each November general election, present law requires any county election commission utilizing a precinct-based optical scanner to conduct automatic mandatory audits of the voter-verified paper ballots cast for the president of the United States in a presidential election and the governor in a gubernatorial election. This amendment adds a requirement that, at the same time the machines are inspected in preparation for an election, the machine technicians certify in writing that the proper firmware is loaded on each unit of voting equipment and that the system settings are correct; and (3) After each election in Williamson County, this amendment requires the county election commission to conduct automatic mandatory audits of the voter-verified paper ballots cast in each election conducted in 2022. The full text of this amendment specifies the manner in which the audit must be conducted. This amendment requires the county election commission to report the results of the 2022 hand count election audit pilot to the coordinator of elections and make the report available to the public. The provisions of this amendment concerning the election audit pilot will be deleted on January 1, 2023.