---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the penalty for the offense of illegal voting; increasing a criminal penalty."
description: "Relating to the penalty for the offense of illegal voting; increasing a criminal penalty."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "88"
identifier: "HB 1243"
citation: "Texas HB 1243 (88)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Crimes--Miscellaneous (I0200)", "Elections--General (I0310)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Goldman", "Hefner", "Hughes", "Leach", "Murr", "Spiller"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 80
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2023-01-10"
last_action: "2023-06-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b9caab4e-a6d4-4a02-b4fe-8c410516fcf6"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/88R/billhistory/house_bills/HB01200_HB01299/HB 1243.xml"
source_hash: "9e462410364cd9e3323e6c9cd3a0f2bf728a39b1eaeefd272e1e12f5b3e0773b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tx"]
---

# Texas HB 1243 (88) — Relating to the penalty for the offense of illegal voting; increasing a criminal penalty.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB01243I.HTM)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB01243E.HTM)
3. **House Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB01243H.HTM)
4. **Senate Committee Report** (committee substitute) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB01243S.HTM)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB01243F.HTM)

## Votes

- passage — **86–56** (pass) · upper
- passage — **88–60** (pass) · lower
- passage — **86–56** (pass) · lower
- passage — **19–11** (pass) · upper
- passage — **19–12** (pass) · upper
- passage — **19–12** (pass) · upper
- passage — **83–63** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Goldman — primary (person)
- Hefner — primary (person)
- Hughes — primary (person)
- Leach — primary (person)
- Murr — primary (person)
- Spiller — primary (person)
- Ashby — cosponsor (person)
- Bettencourt — cosponsor (person)
- Birdwell — cosponsor (person)
- Bumgarner — cosponsor (person)
- Clardy — cosponsor (person)
- Cook — cosponsor (person)
- Creighton — cosponsor (person)
- Darby — cosponsor (person)
- Dean — cosponsor (person)
- Dorazio — cosponsor (person)
- Harris, Caroline — cosponsor (person)
- Harrison — cosponsor (person)
- Hayes — cosponsor (person)
- Isaac — cosponsor (person)
- Kolkhorst — cosponsor (person)
- Leo-Wilson — cosponsor (person)
- Lopez, Janie — cosponsor (person)
- Metcalf — cosponsor (person)
- Noble — cosponsor (person)
- Oliverson — cosponsor (person)
- Parker — cosponsor (person)
- Patterson — cosponsor (person)
- Paul — cosponsor (person)
- Paxton — cosponsor (person)
- Stucky — cosponsor (person)
- Thimesch — cosponsor (person)
- Toth — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-01-10** Filed `filing`
- **2023-03-03** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-03-03** Referred to Elections `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-13** Considered in public hearing
- **2023-04-13** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2023-04-13** Left pending in committee
- **2023-04-20** Considered in public hearing
- **2023-04-20** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-24** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator `filing`
- **2023-04-25** Committee report distributed
- **2023-04-25** Committee report sent to Calendars
- **2023-04-25** Considered in Calendars
- **2023-04-27** Placed on Major State Calendar
- **2023-04-27** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2023-04-27** Amendment fails of adoption `amendment-failure`
- **2023-04-27** Record vote
- **2023-04-27** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-04-27** Amendment fails of adoption `amendment-failure`
- **2023-04-27** Record vote
- **2023-04-27** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-04-27** Passed to engrossment
- **2023-04-27** Record vote
- **2023-04-27** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-04-28** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2023-04-28** Passed `passage`
- **2023-04-28** Record vote
- **2023-04-28** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-04-28** Reported engrossed
- **2023-05-01** Received from the House `introduction`
- **2023-05-01** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-05-01** Referred to State Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2023-05-15** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2023-05-15** Considered in public hearing
- **2023-05-15** Testimony taken in committee
- **2023-05-15** Left pending in committee
- **2023-05-21** Considered in public hearing
- **2023-05-21** Vote taken in committee
- **2023-05-22** Reported favorably as substituted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-22** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2023-05-23** Co-sponsor authorized
- **2023-05-23** Placed on intent calendar
- **2023-05-24** Co-sponsor authorized
- **2023-05-24** Not again placed on intent calendar
- **2023-05-24** Rules suspended-Regular order of business
- **2023-05-24** Record vote
- **2023-05-24** Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading `reading-2`
- **2023-05-24** Record vote
- **2023-05-24** Rules suspended-Regular order of business
- **2023-05-24** Record vote
- **2023-05-24** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2023-05-24** Passed `passage`
- **2023-05-24** Record vote
- **2023-05-25** Senate passage as amended reported `amendment-passage`
- **2023-05-25** Senate Amendments distributed
- **2023-05-25** Senate Amendments Analysis distributed
- **2023-05-26** House refuses to concur in Senate amendments
- **2023-05-26** House requests conference committee
- **2023-05-26** House appoints conferees
- **2023-05-26** House refuses to concur-reported
- **2023-05-26** House requests conference committee-reported
- **2023-05-26** House appoints conferees-reported
- **2023-05-26** Senate grants request for conference comm.
- **2023-05-26** Senate appoints conferees
- **2023-05-26** Senate grants request for conf comm-reported
- **2023-05-26** Senate appoints conferees-reported
- **2023-05-27** Conference committee report filed `filing`
- **2023-05-27** Conf. Comm. Report distributed
- **2023-05-28** House adopts conference committee report `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-28** Record vote
- **2023-05-28** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2023-05-28** House adopts conf. comm. report-reported
- **2023-05-28** Senate adopts conference committee report `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-28** Record vote
- **2023-05-28** Senate adopts conf. comm. report-reported
- **2023-05-28** Reported enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-05-29** Signed in the House `passage`
- **2023-05-29** Signed in the Senate `passage`
- **2023-05-30** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-06-13** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-06-13** Effective on 9/1/23 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b9caab4e-a6d4-4a02-b4fe-8c410516fcf6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).