By: Schwertner S.B. No. 994

(In the Senate - Filed February 16, 2023; March 3, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; March 13, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; March 13, 2023, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the declaration of a candidate's ineligibility on the basis of failure to pay a filing fee or submit a petition in lieu of a filing fee.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 145.003(b) and (f), Election Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) A candidate in the general election for state and county officers may be declared ineligible before the 30th day preceding election day by:

(1) the party officer responsible for certifying the candidate's name for placement on the general election ballot, in the case of a candidate who is a political party's nominee; [or]

(2) the authority with whom the candidate's application for a place on the ballot is required to be filed, in the case of an independent candidate; or

(3) the secretary of state, if the candidate is ineligible under Subsection (f)(3).

(f) A candidate may be declared ineligible only if:

(1) the information on the candidate's application for a place on the ballot indicates that the candidate is ineligible for the office; [or]

(2) facts indicating that the candidate is ineligible are conclusively established by another public record; or

(3) the candidate fails to pay the filing fee or submit a petition in lieu of a filing fee.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.

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