By: Hunter H.R. No. 1

R E S O L U T I O N

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of Texas, that, in accordance with Sections 9(b) and 11, Article III, Texas Constitution, the House of Representatives of the 89th Legislature shall elect a speaker of the house from its own membership as follows:

SECTION 1. NOMINATIONS. (a) The secretary of state shall call for nominations from the floor for the election of speaker of the house of representatives and shall recognize every member who desires to make a nomination. The order in which members shall proceed to make a nomination shall be determined by lot.

(b) Each member recognized for this purpose shall immediately advance to the front microphone and make the nomination in a nominating speech not to exceed five minutes in length.

(c) After all nominations have been made, the secretary of state shall declare nominations to be closed.

(d) The secretary of state shall recognize at any time a member whose name has been placed in nomination for the purpose of withdrawing as a nominee. A member who withdraws is not considered a nominee.

SECTION 2. SECONDS. (a) A person is not considered a nominee unless the nomination is seconded by at least one member.

(b) One seconding speech shall be allowed for each nomination in the order in which nominations were made, then other seconding speeches shall be allowed in rotation in the same order.

(c) No more than three seconding speeches shall be allowed for each nominee.

(d) A seconding speech may not exceed four minutes in length.

SECTION 3. VOTING PROCEDURES: VOTING MACHINE. (a) If after the close of all seconding speeches only one nominee remains for election to the speaker, the secretary of state shall recognize a motion to elect that nominee by acclamation. If no motion is made or five or more members make a written request for a record vote, the members shall record their votes from their desks on the voting machine with the yeas and nays taken as in other record votes of the house.

(b) If there are two or three nominees for speaker, the members shall record their votes from their desks on the voting machine with a different colored light on the machine indicating a vote for each nominee. The presiding officer shall draw lots to determine the color for each nominee.

(c) Before the close of voting on the voting machine, the presiding officer shall provide several warnings to the members that the voting period is about to close.

(d) A verification of a vote taken by voting machine shall be by roll call vote, with the members seated and the house at order, beginning with the members recorded as voting for the nominee with the most votes. During verification, a member may not change a vote unless it was erroneously recorded, and any member not having voted for a nominee may not cast a vote.

(e) If there are three nominees for speaker, a member who does not cast a vote for a nominee but who was recorded as present at the initial roll call taken under Section 301.004, Government Code, shall be recorded as "present, not voting" in the record of the vote.

SECTION 4. VOTING PROCEDURES: ROLL CALL VOTE. (a) If there are more than three nominees for speaker, the election shall be held in the manner provided for a roll call vote of the members with the chief clerk calling the members' names in alphabetical order. When the chief clerk reads aloud the name of a member, the member shall vote by stating the name of one of the nominees or state that the member is present, not voting. The chief clerk shall repeat the member's vote aloud and record the vote on a tally sheet.

(b) After all members have announced their votes, the chief clerk shall prepare a report containing the total votes received by each nominee and the total number of members who are present, not voting. The chief clerk shall provide a copy of the report to the secretary of state.

(c) A verification of a vote taken by roll call consists solely of ensuring that an announced vote was tallied correctly.

SECTION 5. RECORD VOTE. All votes taken shall be record votes with the vote of each member entered in the House Journal.

SECTION 6. RESULTS; RUNOFF. (a) The secretary of state shall announce the results of the election. If a nominee receives 76 or more of the votes cast, the secretary of state shall declare that nominee to be elected to the office of speaker of the house of representatives.

(b) If no nominee receives 76 or more of the votes cast, the two nominees receiving the largest number of votes in the initial vote shall be in a runoff conducted by voting machine as provided by Section 3 of this resolution. The secretary of state shall announce the results of the runoff and declare the nominee receiving 76 or more of the votes cast to be elected.

(c) If in a runoff between two nominees no nominee receives 76 or more of the votes cast, additional rounds of runoff voting shall occur between the same two nominees until one of the nominees in the runoff receives 76 or more of the votes cast.

SECTION 7. TIE VOTES. If in the initial vote no nominee receives 76 or more of the votes cast and it is not possible to determine the two nominees receiving the largest number of votes cast because of a tie vote, additional rounds of voting shall occur among the same nominees, other than a nominee who withdraws, until a nominee receives 76 or more of the votes cast, or if no nominee receives 76 or more of the votes cast, until it is possible to determine the two nominees who receive the largest number of votes cast.

SECTION 8. OATH. After the election, the secretary of state shall:

(1) direct the speaker-elect to proceed to the speaker's rostrum for the purpose of taking the constitutional oath of office; and

(2) proceed to the administration of the oath of office to the speaker-elect. The speaker shall take the chair immediately after taking the oath of office.