By Maxey                                              H.B. No. 1765
         76R7186 DRH-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the use of alternate methods of voting to elect the
 1-3     members of the governing body of certain home-rule municipalities.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 26, Local Government Code,
 1-6     is amended by adding Section 26.0415 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 26.0415.  METHOD OF ELECTION OF GOVERNING BODY IN
 1-8     CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES.  A municipality with a population of more
 1-9     than 450,000 may by charter provide for the election of the members
1-10     of its governing body by any voting method, including the use of
1-11     majority vote, cumulative voting, instant run-off voting,
1-12     proportional voting, or preferential voting.
1-13           SECTION 2.  Section 275.001, Election Code, is amended to
1-14     read as follows:
1-15           Sec. 275.001.  APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER.  This chapter
1-16     applies only to a city with a population of 200,000 or more but
1-17     does not apply to a city adopting a method of voting under Section
1-18     26.0415, Local Government Code.
1-19           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect on the date on which the
1-20     constitutional amendment proposed by the 76th Legislature, Regular
1-21     Session, 1999, relating to the removal of restrictions on the types
1-22     of voting methods that may be used to elect the governing body of a
1-23     municipality takes effect. If the amendment is not approved by the
1-24     voters, this Act has no effect.
 2-1           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-2     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-3     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-4     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 2-5     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.