| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the process of applying for a place on a 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 by the candidate in the |
|
|
physical presence of [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) an indication that the candidate has either |
|
|
not been finally convicted of a felony or if so convicted has 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 at which the |
|
|
candidate receives correspondence relating to the candidate's |
|
|
campaign, if available, and an electronic mail address at which the |
|
|
candidate receives correspondence relating to the candidate's |
|
|
campaign, if available. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 141.065(a), Election Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(a) Each part of a petition must include an affidavit of the |
|
|
person who circulated it, executed in the physical presence of |
|
|
[before] a person authorized to administer oaths in this state, |
|
|
stating that the person who circulated the petition: |
|
|
(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. |
|
|
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
|
|
an application or affidavit submitted on or after the effective |
|
|
date of this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |