By Danburg H.B. No. 2535
75R5396 DRH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the election of a political party's state executive
1-3 committee at a primary election.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 161.005(a), Election Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 (a) To be eligible to be a candidate for or to serve as an
1-8 officer [a county or precinct chairman] of a political party
1-9 elected at a primary election, a person must:
1-10 (1) be a qualified voter of the territory from which
1-11 the office sought is elected [county]; and
1-12 (2) not be a candidate for nomination or election to,
1-13 or be the holder of, an elective office of the federal, state, or
1-14 county government.
1-15 SECTION 2. Section 162.001(a), Election Code, is amended to
1-16 read as follows:
1-17 (a) A person must be affiliated with a political party to be
1-18 eligible to:
1-19 (1) serve as a delegate to or otherwise participate in
1-20 a convention held by the party under this code;
1-21 (2) [be elected as a member of or] be appointed to
1-22 fill a vacancy on a state executive committee; or
1-23 (3) be appointed to fill a vacancy on a county
1-24 executive committee.
2-1 SECTION 3. Section 171.002, Election Code, is amended to
2-2 read as follows:
2-3 Sec. 171.002. COMMITTEE COMPOSITION. (a) The state
2-4 executive committee consists of two members from each state
2-5 senatorial district, elected at the general primary election held
2-6 in a gubernatorial general election year by majority vote of the
2-7 qualified voters of the senatorial district who vote in the primary
2-8 on that office or appointed by the state executive committee as
2-9 provided by this subchapter. [One of each district's members must
2-10 be a man and the other a woman.]
2-11 (b) In addition to the members representing the senatorial
2-12 districts, the committee has a chairman and a vice-chairman, each
2-13 of whom is elected at the general primary election held in a
2-14 gubernatorial general election year by majority vote of the
2-15 qualified voters of the state who vote in the primary on that
2-16 office or appointed by the state executive committee as provided by
2-17 this subchapter [one of whom must be a man and the other a woman].
2-18 Except as otherwise provided by party rule, the chairman and
2-19 vice-chairman are considered members of the committee.
2-20 (c) If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a
2-21 runoff to determine the office is conducted in the same manner as a
2-22 runoff primary election to determine a nomination for public
2-23 office. The candidates to be in a runoff are determined in the
2-24 same manner as candidates in a runoff for a nomination. [The
2-25 chairman, vice-chairman, and members representing the senatorial
2-26 districts are elected at the party's biennial state convention.
2-27 However, the chairman, vice-chairman, and members may be elected
3-1 for four-year terms at the state convention held in gubernatorial
3-2 election years. Each holds office until a successor is elected and
3-3 assumes office.]
3-4 (d) Each committee member serves for a term of four years
3-5 beginning the 20th day after runoff primary election day. [The
3-6 members elected to represent a particular senatorial district must
3-7 be those recommended by the convention delegates representing that
3-8 senatorial district.]
3-9 SECTION 4. Section 172.021(b), Election Code, is amended to
3-10 read as follows:
3-11 (b) An application must, in addition to complying with
3-12 Section 141.031, be accompanied by the appropriate filing fee or,
3-13 instead of the filing fee, a petition that satisfies the
3-14 requirements prescribed by Section 141.062. A political party may
3-15 not require payment of a fee as a condition to applying for a place
3-16 on the ballot as a candidate for a party office [county chairman or
3-17 precinct chairman].
3-18 SECTION 5. Section 172.061, Election Code, is amended to
3-19 read as follows:
3-20 Sec. 172.061. CANDIDATE FOR PARTY OFFICE. (a) Except for
3-21 Sections 172.058(b), 172.059(c), and 172.060(b), this subchapter
3-22 applies to a candidate for a party office [county chairman or
3-23 precinct chairman].
3-24 (b) If a runoff candidate for a party office [county
3-25 chairman or precinct chairman] withdraws, the remaining candidate
3-26 is considered to be elected and the runoff election for that office
3-27 is not held.
4-1 SECTION 6. Section 172.089, Election Code, is amended to
4-2 read as follows:
4-3 Sec. 172.089. ORDER OF PARTY OFFICES ON BALLOT. The party
4-4 offices of state chairman, state vice-chairman, a member of the
4-5 state executive committee representing a senatorial district,
4-6 county chairman, and precinct chairman shall be listed in that
4-7 order on the primary election ballot after the public offices [with
4-8 the office of county chairman listed first].
4-9 SECTION 7. Section 172.112, Election Code, is amended to
4-10 read as follows:
4-11 Sec. 172.112. WRITE-IN VOTING. Write-in voting in a primary
4-12 election is not permitted except in the general primary election
4-13 for party [the] offices [of county chairman and precinct chairman].
4-14 SECTION 8. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-15 (b) The terms of all members of a state executive committee
4-16 of a political party nominating by primary election serving on the
4-17 effective date of this Act end on the 20th day after runoff primary
4-18 election day, 1998.
4-19 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
4-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.