Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB3134 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R7839 JRJ-F
2	2	By: Gallego H.B. No. 3134
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the appointment of election judges and clerks.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Sections 32.002(c), (d), and (e), Election Code,
10	10	are amended to read as follows:
11	11	(c) The presiding judge and alternate presiding judge must
12	12	be affiliated or aligned with different political parties, subject
13	13	to this subsection. Before July of each year, the county chair of a
14	14	political party whose candidate for governor received the highest
15	15	or second highest number of votes in the county in the most recent
16	16	gubernatorial general election shall submit in writing to the
17	17	commissioners court a list of names of persons in order of
18	18	preference for each precinct who are eligible for appointment as an
19	19	election judge. The county chair may supplement the list of names
20	20	of persons until the 20th day before a general election or the 15th
21	21	day before a special election in case an appointed election judge
22	22	becomes unable to serve. The commissioners court may [shall]
23	23	appoint a [the first] person meeting the applicable eligibility
24	24	requirements from the list submitted in compliance with this
25	25	subsection by the party with the highest number of votes in the
26	26	precinct as the presiding judge and a [the first] person meeting the
27	27	applicable eligibility requirements from the list submitted in
28	28	compliance with this subsection by the party with the second
29	29	highest number of votes in the precinct as the alternate presiding
30	30	judge. The commissioners court may reject the list if the persons
31	31	whose names are submitted on the list are determined not to meet the
32	32	applicable eligibility requirements.
33	33	(d) The county clerk may [, after making a reasonable effort
34	34	to] consult with the party chair of the appropriate political party
35	35	or parties, and shall submit to the commissioners court a list of
36	36	names of persons eligible for appointment as presiding judge and
37	37	alternate presiding judge for each precinct in which an appointment
38	38	is not made under Subsection (c). The commissioners court shall
39	39	appoint an eligible person from the list who is affiliated or
40	40	aligned with the appropriate party, if available.
41	41	(e) The commissioners court shall fill a vacancy in the
42	42	position of presiding judge or alternate presiding judge for the
43	43	remainder of the unexpired term. An appointment to fill a vacancy
44	44	may be made at any regular or special term of court. The county
45	45	clerk should notify the county chair of the same political party
46	46	with which the original judge was affiliated or aligned of a vacancy
47	47	not [Not] later than 48 hours after the county clerk becomes aware
48	48	of the [a] vacancy [, the county clerk shall notify the county chair
49	49	of the same political party with which the original judge was
50	50	affiliated or aligned of the vacancy]. If the county clerk
51	51	notifies [Not later than the fifth day after the date of
52	52	notification of the vacancy,] the county chair of the same
53	53	political party with which the original judge was affiliated or
54	54	aligned of the vacancy, the county chair may [shall] submit to the
55	55	commissioners court in writing the name of a person who is eligible
56	56	for the appointment not later than the fifth day after the date of
57	57	notification of the vacancy. If a name is submitted in compliance
58	58	with this subsection, the commissioners court may [shall] appoint
59	59	that person to the unexpired term or [. If a name is not submitted
60	60	in compliance with this subsection, the county clerk shall submit
61	61	to the commissioners court a list of names of persons eligible as an
62	62	appointee for the unexpired term. The commissioners court shall]
63	63	appoint an eligible person who is affiliated or aligned with the
64	64	same party, if available, from a list of names of persons eligible
65	65	as an appointee for the unexpired term submitted by the county clerk
66	66	[the list who is affiliated or aligned with the same party, if
67	67	available].
68	68	SECTION 2. Sections 32.034(b), (c), (d), and (e), Election
69	69	Code, are amended to read as follows:
70	70	(b) The county chair of a political party whose candidate
71	71	for governor received the highest or second highest number of votes
72	72	in the county in the most recent gubernatorial general election
73	73	may, not later than the 45th [25th] day before a general election or
74	74	the 20th [10th] day before a special election to which Subsection
75	75	(a) applies, submit to a presiding judge a list containing the names
76	76	of at least two persons who are eligible for appointment as a clerk.
77	77	If a timely list is submitted, the presiding judge shall appoint at
78	78	least one clerk from the list, except as provided by Subsection (c).
79	79	(c) If only one additional clerk is to be appointed for an
80	80	election in which the alternate presiding judge will serve as a
81	81	clerk, the clerk may [shall] be appointed from the list of a
82	82	political party with which neither the presiding judge nor the
83	83	alternate judge is affiliated or aligned, if such a list is
84	84	submitted. If two such lists are submitted, the presiding judge may
85	85	[shall] decide from which list the appointment will be made. If
86	86	such a list is not submitted, the presiding judge is not required to
87	87	make an appointment from any list.
88	88	(d) The presiding judge may [shall] make an appointment
89	89	under this section not later than the fifth day after the date the
90	90	judge receives the list and may notify [shall deliver written
91	91	notification of the appointment to] the appropriate county chair.
92	92	(e) If a presiding judge has not been appointed at the time
93	93	the county chair of a political party is required to submit a list
94	94	of names for the appointment of a clerk under this section, the list
95	95	of names shall be submitted to the county chair of the political
96	96	party whose candidate for governor received the most votes in the
97	97	precinct in the most recent gubernatorial election and to the
98	98	commissioners court. The county chair, or the commissioners court
99	99	in a county without a county chair, may [shall] appoint clerks from
100	100	the list in the same manner provided for a presiding judge to
101	101	appoint clerks by this section.
102	102	SECTION 3. Section 32.051, Election Code, is amended by
103	103	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
104	104	follows:
105	105	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), [or] (e), or (f),
106	106	to be eligible to serve as a judge of an election precinct, a person
107	107	must:
108	108	(1) be a qualified voter of the precinct; and
109	109	(2) for a regular county election precinct for which
110	110	an appointment is made by the commissioners court, satisfy any
111	111	additional eligibility requirements prescribed by written order of
112	112	the commissioners court.
113	113	(f) A person who has been placed on probation, deferred
114	114	adjudication, or community supervision for a misdemeanor offense is
115	115	not eligible to serve as a judge of an election precinct during the
116	116	term of the probation, deferred adjudication, or community
117	117	supervision.
118	118	SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
119	119	an election judge or clerk appointed for an election ordered on or
120	120	after the effective date of this Act.
121	121	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.