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S.B. No. 896
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of and the appointment of certain
election officers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsections (c), (d), and (e), Section 32.002,
Election Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) The presiding judge and alternate presiding judge must
be affiliated or aligned with different political parties, subject
to this subsection. Before July of each year, the county chair of a
political party whose candidate for governor received the highest
or second highest number of votes in the county in the most recent
gubernatorial general election shall submit in writing to the
commissioners court a list of names of persons in order of
preference for each precinct who are eligible for appointment as an
election judge. The county chair may supplement the list of names
of persons until the 20th day before a general election or the 15th
day before a special election in case an appointed election judge
becomes unable to serve. The commissioners court shall appoint the
first person meeting the applicable eligibility requirements from
the list submitted in compliance with this subsection by the party
with the highest number of votes in the precinct as the presiding
judge and the first person meeting the applicable eligibility
requirements from the list submitted in compliance with this
subsection by the party with the second highest number of votes in
the precinct as the alternate presiding judge. The commissioners
court may reject the list if the persons whose names are submitted
on the list are determined not to meet the applicable eligibility
requirements.
(d) The county clerk, after making a reasonable effort to
consult with the party chair of the appropriate political party or
parties, shall submit to the commissioners court a list of names of
persons eligible for appointment as presiding judge and alternate
presiding judge for each precinct in which an appointment is not
made under Subsection (c). The commissioners court shall appoint
an eligible person from the list who is affiliated or aligned with
the appropriate party, if available.
(e) The commissioners court shall fill a vacancy in the
position of presiding judge or alternate presiding [election] judge
for the remainder of the unexpired term. An appointment to fill a
vacancy may be made at any regular or special term of court. Not
later than 48 hours after the county clerk becomes aware of a
vacancy, the county clerk shall notify the county chair of the same
political party with which the original judge was affiliated or
aligned of the vacancy. Not later than the fifth day after the date
of notification of the vacancy, the county chair of the same
political party with which the original judge was affiliated or
aligned shall submit to the commissioners court in writing the name
of a person who is eligible for the appointment. If a name is
submitted in compliance with this subsection, the commissioners
court shall appoint that person to the unexpired term. If a name is
not submitted in compliance with this subsection, the county clerk
shall submit to the commissioners court a list of names of persons
eligible as an appointee for the unexpired term. The commissioners
court shall appoint an eligible person from the list who is
affiliated or aligned with the same party, if available.
SECTION 2. Subsections (a) and (f), Section 32.007,
Election Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) If neither the presiding judge nor the alternate
presiding judge can serve in an election and their inability to
serve is discovered after the 20th day before a general election or
the 15th day before a special election [so late that it is
impracticable to fill the vacancy in the normal manner], the
presiding officer of the appointing authority or the authority if a
single officer shall appoint a replacement judge to preside at the
election, subject to Subsection (f). If the appointing authority
is unavailable, the authority responsible for distributing the
supplies for the election shall appoint the replacement judge.
(f) A person who is appointed as a replacement for a judge
originally appointed under Section 32.002 must be affiliated or
aligned with the same political party as was the original judge, if
possible, and the appointing authority shall make a reasonable
effort to consult with the party chair of the appropriate political
party before making an appointment under this section.
SECTION 3. Section 32.034, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) If a presiding judge has not been appointed at the time
the county chair of a political party is required to submit a list
of names for the appointment of a clerk under this section, the list
of names shall be submitted to the county chair of the political
party whose candidate for governor received the most votes in the
precinct in the most recent gubernatorial election and to the
commissioners court. The county chair, or the commissioners court
in a county without a county chair, shall appoint clerks from the
list in the same manner provided for a presiding judge to appoint
clerks by this section.
SECTION 4. Section 32.072, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) With respect to designating the working hours of and
assigning the duties to be performed by the election clerks, the
presiding judge, to facilitate and protect the integrity of the
voting process, shall treat all election clerks serving at the
polling place uniformly.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 896 passed the Senate on
April 22, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 896 passed the House on
May 9, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor