By Junell                                              H.B. No. 927
         76R1494 DRH-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to exempting certain counties from the requirement that
 1-3     presiding and alternate presiding election judges must be from
 1-4     different political parties.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Section 32.002, Election Code, is amended by
 1-7     amending Subsections (c), (d), and (e) and adding Subsections (f)
 1-8     and (g) to read as follows:            
 1-9           (c)  Except as provided by Subsection (f), the [The]
1-10     presiding judge and alternate presiding judge must be affiliated or
1-11     aligned with  different political parties, subject to this
1-12     subsection.  Before July of each year, the county chair of a
1-13     political party whose candidate for governor received the highest
1-14     or second highest number of votes in the county in the most recent
1-15     gubernatorial general election shall submit in writing to the
1-16     commissioners court a list of names of persons in order of
1-17     preference for each precinct who are eligible for appointment as an
1-18     election judge.  The commissioners court shall appoint the first
1-19     person meeting the applicable eligibility requirements from the
1-20     list submitted in compliance with this subsection by the party with
1-21     the highest number of votes in the precinct as the presiding judge
1-22     and the first person meeting the applicable eligibility
1-23     requirements from the list submitted in compliance with this
1-24     subsection by the party with the second highest number of votes in
 2-1     the precinct as the alternate presiding judge.  The commissioners
 2-2     court may reject the list if the persons whose names are submitted
 2-3     on the list are determined not to meet the applicable eligibility
 2-4     requirements.  If the list is rejected, the appointment shall be
 2-5     made for the full term in accordance with the same procedures
 2-6     provided for the filling of vacancies under Subsection (e) [(d)]
 2-7     based on the time of the rejection instead of the time that a
 2-8     vacancy occurs.  If a list of  names is not submitted in compliance
 2-9     with this subsection, the commissioners court shall appoint an
2-10     eligible person who is affiliated or aligned with the appropriate
2-11     party, if available.
2-12           (d)  The commissioners court shall fill a vacancy in the
2-13     position of election judge for the remainder of the unexpired term.
2-14     An appointment to fill a vacancy may be made at any regular or
2-15     special term of court.
2-16           (e)  Except as provided by Subsection (f), not [Not] later
2-17     than 48 hours after the county clerk becomes aware of a vacancy,
2-18     the county clerk  shall notify the county chair of the same
2-19     political party with which the original judge was affiliated or
2-20     aligned of the vacancy.  Not later than the fifth day after the
2-21     date of notification of the vacancy, the county chair of the same
2-22     political party with which the original judge was affiliated or
2-23     aligned shall submit to the commissioners court in writing the name
2-24     of a person who is eligible for the appointment.  If a name is
2-25     submitted in compliance with this subsection, the commissioners
2-26     court shall appoint that person to the unexpired term.  If a name
2-27     is not submitted in compliance with this subsection, the
 3-1     commissioners court shall appoint an eligible person who is
 3-2     affiliated or aligned with the same party, if available.
 3-3           (f)  In a county with a population of 20,000 or less, the
 3-4     county clerk shall recommend a presiding judge and an alternate
 3-5     judge for each  precinct and shall submit a list of the
 3-6     recommendations to the commissioners court.  The clerk  shall  also
 3-7     recommend  an  appointee  for each unexpired term.  The court shall
 3-8     consider the clerk's recommendation before making an appointment.
 3-9           (g) [(e)]  Subject to Section 32.003, the judges appointed
3-10     under this section shall serve in each election ordered by the
3-11     governor or a  county authority in which the regular county
3-12     election precincts are required to be used.
3-13           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
3-14     applies only to an election judge appointed on or after that date.
3-15           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-16     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-17     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-18     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-19     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.