By: Hegar S.B. No. 817
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain requirements for political parties holding
conventions and for officers of certain of those parties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 161.005, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) To be eligible to be a candidate for or to serve as a
county or precinct chair of a political party, a person must:
(1) be a qualified voter of the county; and
(2) except as provided by Subsection (c), not be a
candidate for nomination or election to, or be the holder of, an
elective office of the federal, state, or county government.
(c) A candidate for nomination or election to, or the holder
of, an elective office of the federal, state, or county government
is eligible to serve as a county or precinct chair of a political
party to which Chapter 181 applies.
SECTION 2. Section 163.002, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 163.002. REQUIRED RULES. A political party that makes
nominations in this state shall adopt rules that:
(1) prescribe the parliamentary procedure governing
the conduct of party meetings and conventions from the precinct
level to the state level, including:
(A) quorums;
(B) casting and counting votes;
(C) operation of executive committees;
(D) appointment and duties of convention
committees; and
(E) presentation of matters before a convention;
(2) prescribe the method of selecting the party's
presidential elector candidates;
(3) prescribe the manner of selecting party officers,
convention delegates, any convention alternates, and convention
officials;
(4) provide for representative apportionment of party
officers, convention delegates, any convention alternates, and
convention officials throughout the state on the basis of
population, party strength, or both, within the appropriate
territorial unit;
(5) provide for periodic publication and publicizing
of party rules; and
(6) prescribe the manner of adopting party rules and
amendments to the rules.
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 181.061, Election Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) A political party nominating by convention must make its
nominations for statewide offices at a state convention held on the
second Saturday in April [June] of the election year, except that if
the Sunday after the second Saturday in April in an election year is
the date of the Easter holiday, the state convention must be held on
the third Saturday in April of that year. The state convention
consists of delegates selected at the county conventions held under
Subsection (c).
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2013.