(a) A person commits an offense if the person buys, offers to buy, sells, or offers to sell an official ballot, official ballot envelope, official carrier envelope, signed application for an early voting mail ballot, or any other original election record.
(b) This section does not apply to a person who executes a written contract for the procurement of election supplies necessary to conduct an election under § 51.003.

Attorney's Note

Under the Texas Codes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
State jail felonybetween 180 days and 2 yearsup to $10,000
Class B misdemeanorup to 180 daysup to $2,000
For details, see Texas Penal Code § 12.35 and Texas Penal Code § 12.22

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Texas Election Code 276.010

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
  • Signed: includes any symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing. See Texas Government Code 311.005
  • Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005

(c) An offense under this section is a state jail felony unless a voter sells a ballot, ballot envelope, or carrier envelope that has been provided to the voter by government, in which event the offense is a Class B misdemeanor.