By: Miller (Senate Sponsor - Bettencourt) H.B. No. 2157
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2017;
May 10, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 18, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 18, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the requirements for a candidate's application or
petition for a place on the ballot.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 141.031(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A candidate's application for a place on the ballot that
is required by this code must:
(1) be in writing;
(2) be signed and sworn to before a person authorized
to administer oaths in this state by the candidate and indicate the
date that the candidate swears to the application;
(3) be timely filed with the appropriate authority;
and
(4) include:
(A) the candidate's name;
(B) the candidate's occupation;
(C) the office sought, including any place number
or other distinguishing number;
(D) an indication of whether the office sought is
to be filled for a full or unexpired term if the office sought and
another office to be voted on have the same title but do not have
place numbers or other distinguishing numbers;
(E) a statement that the candidate is a United
States citizen;
(F) a statement that the candidate has not been
determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate
jurisdiction to be:
(i) totally mentally incapacitated; or
(ii) partially mentally incapacitated
without the right to vote;
(G) a statement that the candidate has not been
finally convicted of a felony from which the candidate has not been
pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities;
(H) the candidate's date of birth;
(I) the candidate's residence address or, if the
residence has no address, the address at which the candidate
receives mail and a concise description of the location of the
candidate's residence;
(J) the candidate's length of continuous
residence in the state and in the territory from which the office
sought is elected as of the date the candidate swears to the
application;
(K) the statement: "I, __________, of
__________ County, Texas, being a candidate for the office of
__________, swear that I will support and defend the constitution
and laws of the United States and of the State of Texas";
(L) a statement that the candidate is aware of
the nepotism law, Chapter 573, Government Code; and
(M) a public mailing address and any available
electronic mail address at which the candidate receives
correspondence relating to the candidate's campaign.
SECTION 2. Section 141.065, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) Each part of a petition must include an affidavit of the
person who circulated it, executed before a person authorized to
administer oaths in this state, stating that the person:
(1) pointed out and read to each signer, before the
petition was signed, each statement pertaining to the signer that
appears on the petition;
(2) witnessed each signature;
(3) verified each signer's registration status; and
(4) believes each signature to be genuine and the
corresponding information to be correct.
(c) A single notarized affidavit by any person who obtained
signatures is valid for all signatures gathered by the person if the
date of notarization is on or after the date of the last signature
obtained by the person.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
141.031(a) and 141.065(a), Election Code, apply to an application
for a place on the ballot made or a petition circulated on or after
the effective date of this Act. An application for a place on the
ballot made or a petition circulated before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
application is made or the petition is circulated, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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