87R5074 JON-F
By: Crockett H.B. No. 1375
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the selection of presidential electors.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 192.002(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) To be eligible to serve as a presidential elector, a
person must:
(1) be a qualified voter of this state;
(2) be a resident of the congressional district the
person is chosen to represent, if the person is an elector
designated under Section 192.003(b)(2); and
(3) [(2)] not hold the office of United States
senator, United States representative, or any other federal office
of profit or trust.
SECTION 2. Section 192.003, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 192.003. METHOD OF BECOMING ELECTOR CANDIDATE. (a)
To become a presidential elector candidate, a person must be
nominated as a political party's elector candidate in accordance
with party rules or named as an elector candidate by an independent
or write-in candidate for president.
(b) The presidential elector candidates must be designated
as follows:
(1) two persons to serve as at-large electors from the
state; and
(2) one person to serve as an elector from each
congressional district.
SECTION 3. Section 192.005, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 192.005. VOTE REQUIRED FOR ELECTION. An elector
candidate is elected if:
(1) for the persons designated under Section
192.003(b)(1), the candidates for president and vice-president
that correspond to the electors receive the most votes in the state;
and
(2) for a person designated under Section
192.003(b)(2), the candidates for president and vice-president
that correspond to the elector receive the most votes in the
congressional district the elector represents [The set of elector
candidates that is elected is the one that corresponds to the
candidates for president and vice-president receiving the most
votes].
SECTION 4. Section 192.007, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 192.007. REPLACEMENT AFTER ELECTION. (a) The
electors meeting to vote for president and vice-president may
appoint a replacement elector as provided by Subsection (b) [by a
majority vote of the qualified electors present] if:
(1) the vacancy occurred before presidential election
day and a replacement was not chosen under Section 192.004;
(2) on or after presidential election day, an elector
is declared ineligible or dies; or
(3) the vacancy is declared under Section 192.006(c).
(b) A replacement elector is chosen by the majority vote of
the qualified electors present that correspond to the same
candidates for president and vice-president that received the most
votes in the area for which the replacement elector is chosen. If
there are no qualified electors present that correspond to the same
candidates for president and vice-president that received the most
votes in the area for which the replacement elector is chosen, a
replacement elector is chosen by the majority vote of all the
qualified electors present.
(c) The chair of the electors shall notify the secretary of
state of the name and residence address of a replacement elector
immediately on the replacement's appointment.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.