S.B. No. 44
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to requirements relating to an application for a place on
  the ballot.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 141.032(c), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (c)  If an application is accompanied by a petition, the
  petition is considered part of the application, and the review
  shall be completed as soon as practicable after the date the
  application is received by the authority. However, the petition is
  not considered part of the application for purposes of determining
  compliance with the requirements applicable to each document, and a
  deficiency in the requirements for one document may not be remedied
  by the contents of the other document. Unless the petition is
  challenged, the authority is only required to review the petition
  for facial compliance with the applicable requirements as to form,
  content, and procedure.
         SECTION 2.  Section 141.034, Election Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  An application for a place on the ballot may not be
  challenged for compliance with the applicable requirements as to
  form, content, and procedure after the day before any ballot to be
  voted early by mail is mailed to an address in the authority's
  jurisdiction [the beginning of early voting by personal appearance]
  for the election for which the application is made.
         (c)  A challenge must state with specificity how the
  application does not comply with the applicable requirements as to
  form, content, and procedure. The authority's review of the
  challenge is limited to the specific items challenged and any
  response filed with the authority by the challenged candidate.
         SECTION 3.  Section 172.021, Election Code, is amended by
  adding Subsections (e) and (g) to read as follows:
         (e)  A candidate for an office specified by Section
  172.024(a)(8), (10), or (12), or for justice of the peace in a
  county with a population of more than 1.5 million, who chooses to
  pay the filing fee must also accompany the application with a
  petition for a place on the primary ballot as a candidate for
  judicial office that complies with the requirements prescribed for
  the petition authorized by Subsection (b), except that the minimum
  number of signatures that must appear on the petition required by
  this subsection is 250.  If the candidate chooses to file the
  petition authorized by Subsection (b) in lieu of the filing fee, the
  minimum number of signatures required for that petition is
  increased by 250.  Signatures on a petition filed under this
  subsection or Subsection (b) by a candidate covered by this
  subsection may not be obtained on the grounds of a county courthouse
  or courthouse annex.
         (g)  A candidate for the office of chief justice or justice,
  supreme court, or presiding judge or judge, court of criminal
  appeals, who chooses to pay the filing fee must also accompany the
  application with a petition that complies with the requirements
  prescribed for a petition authorized by Subsection (b), except that
  the minimum number of signatures that must appear on the petition
  required by this subsection is 50 from each court of appeals
  district.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 44 passed the Senate on
  February 28, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and
  that the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 16, 2017, by
  the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 44 passed the House, with
  amendments, on May 9, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 144,
  Nays 1, one present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor