Highlights 77th Texas Legislature - Senate

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STATE AFFAIRS/ElectionsElections
77 th Texas Legislature
Candidates for the Texas Supreme Court or Court of Criminal Appeals - H.B. 1117
by Representative Goodman
Senate Sponsor: Senator Harris
Current law does not require a candidate for the Texas Supreme Court or Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
to file signatures with the filing fee for a place on the general primary election ballot for either court. H.B.
1117 requires that candidates submit 100 signatures of registered voters from a minimum number of
senatorial districts with the filing fee. If candidates for these offices submit 100 signatures each from five
state senatorial districts, it would indicate a measure of statewide and regional support for their candidacy.
Review of Current Election Process - H.B. 1419
by Representative Jesse Jones, et al.
Senate Sponsor: Senator Whitmire
The close outcomes of several recent elections suggest that a review of the current election process to
determine the accuracy of voting systems may be appropriate in the near future.
Requires the secretary of state to:
• Reexamine the voting system of each county in Texas.
• Study the effectiveness of adopting a uniform voting system statewide.
• Study innovative voting technologies and approaches to voting.
• Report the conclusions of those studies to the governor and the legislature.
Automatic Recount in a Tied Election - H.B. 1599
by Representatives Danburg and Madden
Senate Sponsor: Senator Shapiro
Requires the election authority to request an automatic recount if there is a tied election, the cost of which
is to be paid by each political subdivision or county executive committee, as applicable.
Requires the election manager to have the ballots examined to detect any irregularly marked ballots, and to
determine whether the ballots are ready for counting and can be properly counted. Requires the manager
to have each irregularly marked ballot duplicated to indicate the intent of the voter, if the voter's intent is
clearly discernable.
Senate Research Center 270