Hartnett Proposes HR 1: New Rule Allows Paper Ballots For Speaker’s Race

Judiciary Committee Chair Will Hartnett has filed HR 1, which would allow for a secret ballot.  Given that I don’t see anything in the rules about delayed release, I assume they would be released as soon as the election is over. Still, that’s probably not as secret as it needs to be to defeat Craddick.
From HR 1:

SECTION 3.  VOTING PROCEDURES.

(a) The chief clerk shall prepare paper ballots containing a space for a member to write in the member’s choice for speaker. One ballot shall be prepared for each member and must contain the member’s name and district number and a space for the member’s signature. The house sergeant shall distribute each ballot to the appropriate member at the member’s desk.
(b)  The chief clerk shall designate a voting area and shall provide a voting box for the marked ballots. A member may mark and sign the member’s ballot either at the member’s desk or at the voting area.
(c)  Each member shall be called individually by the reading
clerk in order of the member’s district number and the member shall proceed to the voting area when called. After arriving at the voting area, the member shall fold the marked and signed ballot and deposit it in the voting box.
(d)  After all members have voted, the chief clerk shall count the ballots on the house floor. The secretary of state and the state auditor shall observe the count. A ballot may not be counted unless it bears the signature of the member for whom it was prepared. The chief clerk shall prepare a tally sheet indicating how each member voted, the total votes received by each nominee, and the total number of members who are present, not voting.
(e)  All votes taken shall be record votes with the vote of each member entered in the House Journal.

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