Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1978 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R8622 JRJ-D
2	2	By: Miller of Fort Bend H.B. No. 1978
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the requirements for a candidate's application for a
8	8	place on the ballot.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 141.031(a), Election Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	(a) A candidate's application for a place on the ballot that
13	13	is required by this code must:
14	14	(1) be in writing;
15	15	(2) be signed and sworn to before a notary public by
16	16	the candidate and indicate the date that the candidate swears to the
17	17	application;
18	18	(3) be timely filed with the appropriate authority;
19	19	and
20	20	(4) include:
21	21	(A) the candidate's name;
22	22	(B) the candidate's occupation;
23	23	(C) the office sought, including any place number
24	24	or other distinguishing number;
25	25	(D) an indication of whether the office sought is
26	26	to be filled for a full or unexpired term if the office sought and
27	27	another office to be voted on have the same title but do not have
28	28	place numbers or other distinguishing numbers;
29	29	(E) a statement that the candidate is a United
30	30	States citizen;
31	31	(F) a statement that the candidate has not been
32	32	determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate
33	33	jurisdiction to be:
34	34	(i) totally mentally incapacitated; or
35	35	(ii) partially mentally incapacitated
36	36	without the right to vote;
37	37	(G) a statement that the candidate has not been
38	38	finally convicted of a felony from which the candidate has not been
39	39	pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities;
40	40	(H) the candidate's date of birth;
41	41	(I) the candidate's residence address or, if the
42	42	residence has no address, the address at which the candidate
43	43	receives mail and a concise description of the location of the
44	44	candidate's residence;
45	45	(J) the candidate's length of continuous
46	46	residence in the state and in the territory from which the office
47	47	sought is elected as of the date the candidate swears to the
48	48	application;
49	49	(K) the statement: "I, __________, of
50	50	__________ County, Texas, being a candidate for the office of
51	51	__________, swear that I will support and defend the constitution
52	52	and laws of the United States and of the State of Texas"; and
53	53	(L) a statement that the candidate is aware of
54	54	the nepotism law, Chapter 573, Government Code.
55	55	SECTION 2. Section 141.065(a), Election Code, is amended to
56	56	read as follows:
57	57	(a) Each part of a petition must include an affidavit of the
58	58	person who circulated it, executed before a notary public, stating
59	59	that the person:
60	60	(1) pointed out and read to each signer, before the
61	61	petition was signed, each statement pertaining to the signer that
62	62	appears on the petition;
63	63	(2) witnessed each signature;
64	64	(3) verified each signer's registration status; and
65	65	(4) believes each signature to be genuine and the
66	66	corresponding information to be correct.
67	67	SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
68	68	141.031(a) and 141.065(a), Election Code, apply to an application
69	69	for a place on the ballot made or a petition circulated on or after
70	70	the effective date of this Act. An application for a place on the
71	71	ballot made or a petition circulated before the effective date of
72	72	this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
73	73	application is made or the petition is circulated, and the former
74	74	law is continued in effect for that purpose.
75	75	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.