|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the selection of presidential electors. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 192.002(a), Election Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
(a) To be eligible to serve as a presidential elector, a |
|
person must: |
|
(1) be a qualified voter of this state; |
|
(2) be a resident of the congressional district the |
|
person is chosen to represent, if the person is an elector |
|
designated under Section 192.003(b)(2); and |
|
(3) [(2)] not hold the office of United States |
|
senator, United States representative, or any other federal office |
|
of profit or trust. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 192.003, Election Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
Sec. 192.003. METHOD OF BECOMING ELECTOR CANDIDATE. (a) |
|
To become a presidential elector candidate, a person must be |
|
nominated as a political party's elector candidate in accordance |
|
with party rules or named as an elector candidate by an independent |
|
or write-in candidate for president. |
|
(b) The presidential elector candidates must be designated |
|
as follows: |
|
(1) two persons to serve as at-large electors from the |
|
state; and |
|
(2) one person to serve as an elector from each |
|
congressional district. |
|
SECTION 3. Section 192.005, Election Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
Sec. 192.005. VOTE REQUIRED FOR ELECTION. An elector |
|
candidate is elected if: |
|
(1) for the persons designated under Section |
|
192.003(b)(1), the candidates for president and vice-president |
|
that correspond to the electors receive the most votes in the state; |
|
and |
|
(2) for a person designated under Section |
|
192.003(b)(2), the candidates for president and vice-president |
|
that correspond to the elector receive the most votes in the |
|
congressional district the elector represents [The set of elector |
|
candidates that is elected is the one that corresponds to the |
|
candidates for president and vice-president receiving the most |
|
votes]. |
|
SECTION 4. Section 192.007, Election Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
Sec. 192.007. REPLACEMENT AFTER ELECTION. (a) The |
|
electors meeting to vote for president and vice-president may |
|
appoint a replacement elector as provided by Subsection (b) [by a |
|
majority vote of the qualified electors present] if: |
|
(1) the vacancy occurred before presidential election |
|
day and a replacement was not chosen under Section 192.004; |
|
(2) on or after presidential election day, an elector |
|
is declared ineligible or dies; or |
|
(3) the vacancy is declared under Section 192.006(c). |
|
(b) A replacement elector is chosen by the majority vote of |
|
the qualified electors present that correspond to the same |
|
candidates for president and vice-president that received the most |
|
votes in the area for which the replacement elector is chosen. If |
|
there are no qualified electors present that correspond to the same |
|
candidates for president and vice-president that received the most |
|
votes in the area for which the replacement elector is chosen, a |
|
replacement elector is chosen by the majority vote of all the |
|
qualified electors present. |
|
(c) The chair of the electors shall notify the secretary of |
|
state of the name and residence address of a replacement elector |
|
immediately on the replacement's appointment. |
|
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |