By: Parker  S.B. No. 1089
         (In the Senate - Filed February 22, 2023; March 9, 2023,
  read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  March 21, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 10,
  Nays 0; March 21, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to repealing the ability to declare certain unopposed
  candidates for office as elected.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 2.051(a), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Section [Sections] 2.055 [and
  2.056], this subchapter applies only to an election for officers of
  a political subdivision other than a county in which write-in votes
  may be counted only for names appearing on a list of write-in
  candidates and in which each candidate for an office that is to
  appear on the ballot is unopposed, except as provided by Subsection
  (b).  For purposes of this section, a special election of a
  political subdivision is considered to be a separate election with
  a separate ballot from:
               (1)  a general election for officers of the political
  subdivision held at the same time as the special election; or
               (2)  another special election of the political
  subdivision held at the same time as the special election.
         SECTION 2.  Section 52.092(a), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Section 2.053(c) [or 2.056(e)],
  for an election at which offices regularly filled at the general
  election for state and county officers are to appear on the ballot,
  the offices shall be listed in the following order:
               (1)  offices of the federal government;
               (2)  offices of the state government:
                     (A)  statewide offices;
                     (B)  district offices;
               (3)  offices of the county government:
                     (A)  county offices;
                     (B)  precinct offices.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 2.056 and 124.003(e), Election Code,
  are repealed.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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