Sec. 43.031. POLLING PLACE IN PUBLIC BUILDING. (a) In this subchapter, "public building" means a building owned or controlled by the state or a political subdivision.

(b) Each polling place shall be located inside a building.

(c) The building selected for a polling place shall be a public building if practicable. The entity that owns or controls a public building shall make the building available for use as a polling place in any election that covers territory in which the building is located. If more than one authority requests the use of the building for the same day and simultaneous use is impracticable, the entity that owns or controls the building shall determine which authority may use the building.

(d) If a suitable public building is unavailable, the polling place may be located in some other building, including a building on a federal military base or facility with the permission of the post or base commander, and any charge for its use is an election expense. A polling place may not be located in a building under this subsection unless electioneering is permitted on the building's premises outside the prescribed limits within which electioneering is prohibited, except that a polling place may be located in a building at which electioneering is not permitted if it is the only building available for use as a polling place in the election precinct.

(e) A polling place may not be located at the residence of a person who is:

(1) a candidate for an elective office, including an office of a political party; or

(2) related within the third degree by consanguinity or the second degree by affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, to a candidate described by Subdivision (1).

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986. Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 976, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1350, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1316, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 516, Sec. 1, June 20, 2003.