| TO: | Honorable Mary Denny, Chair, House Committee on Elections |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB1476 by Truitt (Relating to the election of certain unopposed candidates.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
The bill would allow the secretary of state for an office of state government (statewide and district offices), or the county clerk for an office of county government (county and precinct offices), to declare a candidate in a general election for a state or county office as elected if the candidate is the only person whose name is to appear on the ballot for that office and if write-in votes may be counted from a specific list of write-in candidates, but no names are on the list. The offices and names of the candidates declared elected shall be listed on the ballot under the heading, "Unopposed Candidates Declared Elected."
The secretary of state by rule may prescribe any additional procedures as necessary to accommodate a particular voting system or ballot style and to facilitate the efficient and cost-effective implementation of the amended statute.
The bill would take effect on the date on which the constitutional amendment proposed by the Seventy-eighth Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, authorizing the legislature to permit a person to take office without an election as described takes effect. If the constitutional amendment is not approved by the voters, the bill would have no effect.
| Source Agencies: | 307 Secretary of State
|
| LBB Staff: | JK, GO, DLBa
|