By: Miller (Senate Sponsor - Bettencourt) H.B. No. 2157

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2017; May 10, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; May 18, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 18, 2017, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the requirements for a candidate's application or petition for a place on the ballot.

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

SECTION 1. Section 141.031(a), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A candidate's application for a place on the ballot that is required by this code must:

(1) be in writing;

(2) be signed and sworn to before a person authorized to administer oaths in this state by the candidate and indicate the date that the candidate swears to the application;

(3) be timely filed with the appropriate authority; and

(4) include:

(A) the candidate's name;

(B) the candidate's occupation;

(C) the office sought, including any place number or other distinguishing number;

(D) an indication of whether the office sought is to be filled for a full or unexpired term if the office sought and another office to be voted on have the same title but do not have place numbers or other distinguishing numbers;

(E) a statement that the candidate is a United States citizen;

(F) a statement that the candidate has not been determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be:

(i) totally mentally incapacitated; or

(ii) partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote;

(G) a statement that the candidate has not been finally convicted of a felony from which the candidate has not been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities;

(H) the candidate's date of birth;

(I) the candidate's residence address or, if the residence has no address, the address at which the candidate receives mail and a concise description of the location of the candidate's residence;

(J) the candidate's length of continuous residence in the state and in the territory from which the office sought is elected as of the date the candidate swears to the application;

(K) the statement: "I, __________, of __________ County, Texas, being a candidate for the office of __________, swear that I will support and defend the constitution and laws of the United States and of the State of Texas";

(L) a statement that the candidate is aware of the nepotism law, Chapter 573, Government Code; and

(M) a public mailing address and any available electronic mail address at which the candidate receives correspondence relating to the candidate's campaign.

SECTION 2. Section 141.065, Election Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(a) Each part of a petition must include an affidavit of the person who circulated it, executed before a person authorized to administer oaths in this state, stating that the person:

(1) pointed out and read to each signer, before the petition was signed, each statement pertaining to the signer that appears on the petition;

(2) witnessed each signature;

(3) verified each signer's registration status; and

(4) believes each signature to be genuine and the corresponding information to be correct.

(c) A single notarized affidavit by any person who obtained signatures is valid for all signatures gathered by the person if the date of notarization is on or after the date of the last signature obtained by the person.

SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections 141.031(a) and 141.065(a), Election Code, apply to an application for a place on the ballot made or a petition circulated on or after the effective date of this Act. An application for a place on the ballot made or a petition circulated before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the application is made or the petition is circulated, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.

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