S.B. No. 44
AN ACT
relating to requirements relating to an application for a place on
the ballot.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 141.032(c), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) If an application is accompanied by a petition, the
petition is considered part of the application, and the review
shall be completed as soon as practicable after the date the
application is received by the authority. However, the petition is
not considered part of the application for purposes of determining
compliance with the requirements applicable to each document, and a
deficiency in the requirements for one document may not be remedied
by the contents of the other document. Unless the petition is
challenged, the authority is only required to review the petition
for facial compliance with the applicable requirements as to form,
content, and procedure.
SECTION 2. Section 141.034, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) An application for a place on the ballot may not be
challenged for compliance with the applicable requirements as to
form, content, and procedure after the day before any ballot to be
voted early by mail is mailed to an address in the authority's
jurisdiction [the beginning of early voting by personal appearance]
for the election for which the application is made.
(c) A challenge must state with specificity how the
application does not comply with the applicable requirements as to
form, content, and procedure. The authority's review of the
challenge is limited to the specific items challenged and any
response filed with the authority by the challenged candidate.
SECTION 3. Section 172.021, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (e) and (g) to read as follows:
(e) A candidate for an office specified by Section
172.024(a)(8), (10), or (12), or for justice of the peace in a
county with a population of more than 1.5 million, who chooses to
pay the filing fee must also accompany the application with a
petition for a place on the primary ballot as a candidate for
judicial office that complies with the requirements prescribed for
the petition authorized by Subsection (b), except that the minimum
number of signatures that must appear on the petition required by
this subsection is 250. If the candidate chooses to file the
petition authorized by Subsection (b) in lieu of the filing fee, the
minimum number of signatures required for that petition is
increased by 250. Signatures on a petition filed under this
subsection or Subsection (b) by a candidate covered by this
subsection may not be obtained on the grounds of a county courthouse
or courthouse annex.
(g) A candidate for the office of chief justice or justice,
supreme court, or presiding judge or judge, court of criminal
appeals, who chooses to pay the filing fee must also accompany the
application with a petition that complies with the requirements
prescribed for a petition authorized by Subsection (b), except that
the minimum number of signatures that must appear on the petition
required by this subsection is 50 from each court of appeals
district.
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, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 44 passed the Senate on
February 28, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and
that the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 16, 2017, by
the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 44 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 9, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 144,
Nays 1, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor