81R7839 JRJ-F

By: Gallego H.B. No. 3134

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the appointment of election judges and clerks.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 32.002(c), (d), and (e), Election Code, are amended to read as follows:

(c) The presiding judge and alternate presiding judge must be affiliated or aligned with different political parties, subject to this subsection. Before July of each year, the county chair of a political party whose candidate for governor received the highest or second highest number of votes in the county in the most recent gubernatorial general election shall submit in writing to the commissioners court a list of names of persons in order of preference for each precinct who are eligible for appointment as an election judge. The county chair may supplement the list of names of persons until the 20th day before a general election or the 15th day before a special election in case an appointed election judge becomes unable to serve. The commissioners court may [shall] appoint a [the first] person meeting the applicable eligibility requirements from the list submitted in compliance with this subsection by the party with the highest number of votes in the precinct as the presiding judge and a [the first] person meeting the applicable eligibility requirements from the list submitted in compliance with this subsection by the party with the second highest number of votes in the precinct as the alternate presiding judge. The commissioners court may reject the list if the persons whose names are submitted on the list are determined not to meet the applicable eligibility requirements.

(d) The county clerk may [, after making a reasonable effort to] consult with the party chair of the appropriate political party or parties, and shall submit to the commissioners court a list of names of persons eligible for appointment as presiding judge and alternate presiding judge for each precinct in which an appointment is not made under Subsection (c). The commissioners court shall appoint an eligible person from the list who is affiliated or aligned with the appropriate party, if available.

(e) The commissioners court shall fill a vacancy in the position of presiding judge or alternate presiding judge for the remainder of the unexpired term. An appointment to fill a vacancy may be made at any regular or special term of court. The county clerk should notify the county chair of the same political party with which the original judge was affiliated or aligned of a vacancy not [Not] later than 48 hours after the county clerk becomes aware of the [a] vacancy [, the county clerk shall notify the county chair of the same political party with which the original judge was affiliated or aligned of the vacancy]. If the county clerk notifies [Not later than the fifth day after the date of notification of the vacancy,] the county chair of the same political party with which the original judge was affiliated or aligned of the vacancy, the county chair may [shall] submit to the commissioners court in writing the name of a person who is eligible for the appointment not later than the fifth day after the date of notification of the vacancy. If a name is submitted in compliance with this subsection, the commissioners court may [shall] appoint that person to the unexpired term or [. If a name is not submitted in compliance with this subsection, the county clerk shall submit to the commissioners court a list of names of persons eligible as an appointee for the unexpired term. The commissioners court shall] appoint an eligible person who is affiliated or aligned with the same party, if available, from a list of names of persons eligible as an appointee for the unexpired term submitted by the county clerk [the list who is affiliated or aligned with the same party, if available].

SECTION 2. Sections 32.034(b), (c), (d), and (e), Election Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) The county chair of a political party whose candidate for governor received the highest or second highest number of votes in the county in the most recent gubernatorial general election may, not later than the 45th [25th] day before a general election or the 20th [10th] day before a special election to which Subsection (a) applies, submit to a presiding judge a list containing the names of at least two persons who are eligible for appointment as a clerk. If a timely list is submitted, the presiding judge shall appoint at least one clerk from the list, except as provided by Subsection (c).

(c) If only one additional clerk is to be appointed for an election in which the alternate presiding judge will serve as a clerk, the clerk may [shall] be appointed from the list of a political party with which neither the presiding judge nor the alternate judge is affiliated or aligned, if such a list is submitted. If two such lists are submitted, the presiding judge may [shall] decide from which list the appointment will be made. If such a list is not submitted, the presiding judge is not required to make an appointment from any list.

(d) The presiding judge may [shall] make an appointment under this section not later than the fifth day after the date the judge receives the list and may notify [shall deliver written notification of the appointment to] the appropriate county chair.

(e) If a presiding judge has not been appointed at the time the county chair of a political party is required to submit a list of names for the appointment of a clerk under this section, the list of names shall be submitted to the county chair of the political party whose candidate for governor received the most votes in the precinct in the most recent gubernatorial election and to the commissioners court. The county chair, or the commissioners court in a county without a county chair, may [shall] appoint clerks from the list in the same manner provided for a presiding judge to appoint clerks by this section.

SECTION 3. Section 32.051, Election Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), [or] (e), or (f), to be eligible to serve as a judge of an election precinct, a person must:

(1) be a qualified voter of the precinct; and

(2) for a regular county election precinct for which an appointment is made by the commissioners court, satisfy any additional eligibility requirements prescribed by written order of the commissioners court.

(f) A person who has been placed on probation, deferred adjudication, or community supervision for a misdemeanor offense is not eligible to serve as a judge of an election precinct during the term of the probation, deferred adjudication, or community supervision.

SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an election judge or clerk appointed for an election ordered on or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.