Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HR101 Latest Draft

Bill / Introduced Version

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                            82R4897 DRH-D
 By: Hughes H.R. No. 101


 R E S O L U T I O N
 BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of
 Texas, That, in accordance with Sections 9(b) and 11, Article III,
 Texas Constitution, the House of Representatives of the 82nd
 Legislature shall elect a speaker of the house from nominations
 previously made as follows:
 SECTION 1.  VOTING PROCEDURES:  VOTING MACHINE. (a) If
 there is only one nominee for speaker, the members shall record
 their votes from their desks on the voting machine with the yeas and
 nays taken as in other record votes of the house.
 (b)  If there are two or three nominees for speaker, the
 members shall record their votes from their desks on the voting
 machine with a different colored light on the machine indicating a
 vote for each nominee. If the nominees cannot agree on the color
 that will indicate a vote for each nominee, the presiding officer
 shall draw lots to determine the color for each nominee.
 (c)  Before the close of voting on the voting machine, the
 presiding officer shall provide several warnings to the members
 that the voting period is about to close.
 (d)  A verification of a vote taken by voting machine shall
 be by roll call vote, with the members seated and the house at
 order, beginning with the members recorded as voting for the
 apparent winning nominee. During verification, a member may not
 change a vote unless it was erroneously recorded, and any member not
 having voted for a nominee may not cast a vote.
 (e)  If there are three nominees for speaker, a member who
 does not cast a vote for a nominee but who was recorded as present at
 the initial roll call shall be recorded as "present, not voting" in
 the record of the vote.
 SECTION 2.  RECORD VOTE.  All votes taken shall be record
 votes with the vote of each member entered in the House Journal.
 SECTION 3.  RESULTS; RUNOFF.  (a)  The secretary of state
 shall announce the results of the election. If a nominee receives a
 majority of the votes cast, the secretary of state shall declare
 that nominee to be elected to the office of speaker of the house of
 representatives.
 (b)  If no nominee receives a majority of the votes cast, the
 two nominees receiving the largest number of votes in the initial
 vote shall be in a runoff conducted by voting machine as provided by
 Section 1 of this resolution. The secretary of state shall announce
 the results of the runoff and declare the nominee receiving a
 majority of the votes cast to be elected.
 SECTION 4.  TIE VOTES. (a) If in the initial vote no nominee
 receives a majority of the votes cast and it is not possible to
 determine the two nominees receiving the largest number of votes
 cast because of a tie vote, additional rounds of voting shall occur
 among the same nominees, other than a nominee who withdraws, until a
 nominee receives a majority of the votes cast or, if no nominee
 receives a majority of the votes cast, until it is possible to
 determine the two nominees who receive the largest number of votes
 cast.
 (b)  If in a runoff between two nominees no nominee receives
 a majority of the votes cast because of a tie vote, additional
 rounds of runoff voting shall occur between the same two nominees
 until one of the nominees in the runoff receives a majority of the
 votes cast.
 SECTION 5.  OATH.  After the election, the secretary of state
 shall direct the administration of the oath of office to the
 speaker-elect. The speaker shall take the chair immediately after
 taking the oath of office.