By: Brimer S.B. No. 757
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the application for a candidate to be placed on the
general primary election ballot.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsections (b) and (e), Section 172.021,
Election Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) An application must, in addition to complying with
Section 141.031, be accompanied by the appropriate filing fee or[,
instead of the filing fee,] a petition in lieu of the filing fee
that satisfies the requirements prescribed by Section 141.062. A
political party may not require payment of a fee as a condition to
applying for a place on the ballot as a candidate for county chair
or precinct chair.
(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 850,000, 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 [instead] 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.
SECTION 2. 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, 2003.