82R4896 DRH-D
By: Hughes H.R. No. 102
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. VOTING PROCEDURES: ROLL CALL VOTE. (a) If there
are more than three nominees for speaker, the election shall be held
in the manner provided for a roll call vote of the members with the
chief clerk calling the members' names in alphabetical order. When
the chief clerk reads aloud the name of a member, the member shall
vote by stating the name of one of the nominees or state that the
member is present, not voting. The chief clerk shall repeat the
member's vote aloud and record the vote on a tally sheet.
(b) After all members have announced their votes, the chief
clerk shall prepare a report containing the total votes received by
each nominee and the total number of members who are present, not
voting. The chief clerk shall provide a copy of the report to the
secretary of state.
(c) A verification of a vote taken by roll call consists
solely of ensuring that an announced vote was tallied correctly.
SECTION 3. RECORD VOTE. All votes taken shall be record
votes with the vote of each member entered in the House Journal.
SECTION 4. 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 5. 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 6. 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.