Texas House bill by Rep. Shaheen increases penalties for election-related offenses

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Matt Shaheen seeks to strengthen the legal framework against election fraud by elevating penalties for offenses such as vote tampering and false registration, aiming to protect the integrity of the electoral process, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the House, five Democrats and 83 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 54 Democrats opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, one Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor, while 10 Democrats voted against it.

Matt Shaheen introduced the bill in the Texas House on Thursday, March 13, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Shaheen graduated from Randolph-Macon College with a BS.

Shaheen, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State House in 2015 to represent the state’s 66th House district, replacing previous state representative Van Taylor.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the penalty for the crime of election fraud; increasing a criminal penalty’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill seeks to address election fraud by amending the Election Code to increase criminal penalties for certain offenses related to voting. It defines offenses such as influencing or altering another’s vote, registering or voting under false pretenses, providing false information to election officials, and discarding a voter’s ballot without consent. The bill elevates the offense to a second-degree felony, with a first-degree felony applied if committed by an elected official, and a third-degree felony for attempted offenses. It repeals certain sections of the Election Code to streamline these provisions. The changes apply to offenses committed on or after Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Rep. Will Metcalf (Republican – District 16), Rep. Jared Patterson (Republican – District 106), and Rep. Carrie Isaac (Republican – District 73), along with four other authors.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Wednesday, May 28, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, June 20.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.