On May 27, the Texas Senate rejected the House’s version of SB 100, the bill that adjusts various primary dates, and petition deadlines for independent candidates. The House had passed a version that keeps the first primary in March but moves the runoff primary from April to May. The latter change had the indirect result that the independent candidate petition deadline (for office other than President) moved from May to June.
Texas needs to make some change, in order to be in compliance with the federal government’s law requiring states to mail overseas absentee ballots at least 45 days before the election. Another proposal might be to eliminate the runoff primary. Still another proposal might be to move the primary from March to April. Existing law has too little time between the primary and the runoff primary.
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The conflict between the House and Senate versions is not over the date of the primary and runoff.
Current law has a filing deadline in early January, a primary in early March, and a runoff in early April. There is not only too little time between the primary and the runoff, but between the filing deadline and the primary to allow a 45-day mailing period.
The Senate version of SB 100 would have had a mid-December filing deadline, kept the early March primary, and had a late May runoff. The runoff steps on the May uniform election date for local elections. This forces local elections to May of odd years, to November of even or odd years, or to scramble for voting equipment in May of even years.
The House committee substitute would have had kept the current early January filing deadline, had a primary in early April, and a late June primary. This would have somewhat straddled the local elections in May.
On the House floor, the schedule was amended to an early December filing deadline, the current early-March primary, and a late-May runoff stepping on the May local elections. This is the same schedule as the Senate had approved, other than the filing deadline was moved a week earlier.
The House version had adjusted some other deadlines, such as withdrawal deadlines, which are defined based on the primary date, but actually are more dependent on the filing date (eg if an incumbent seeking re-election withdraws, there is an extended filing period). But the House version had assumed an early-January filing deadline and an April primary, which is a longer period than the December-March schedule.
So the “disagreement” between the Senate and the House was not over the main schedule, but over other details, which the Senate version had ignored, and the House version had the wrong adjustments. The conference committee report adopts the House schedule:
Primary filing deadline 2nd Monday in December (13 months before beginning of the term). This is also the deadline for declaration of independent candidates (except for President, whom no declaration is required). The filing deadline for convention-nominating parties remains January 2nd.
Primary remains the 1st Tuesday in March. This is also the date of precinct conventions for both primary-nominating and convention-nominating parties. There is separate legislation that would permit precinct conventions to be held as late as the following Sunday. After the primary is also the earliest date for collection of signatures for independent candidates (including presidential candidates), unless there is a runoff for the office that the candidate seeks).
The uniform election date remains the 2nd Saturday in May, except for elections conducted by counties in even years. This means that it can not be used for special elections. Vacancies in Congress that occur after about September of the odd-year would not be filled until November of the even year. If they require a runoff, the runoff would be after the beginning of the next term.
The runoff will be the 4th Tuesday in May (the day after Memorial day, 3 out of 7 years). Early voting for the runoff will overlap the uniform election date in some years.
The filing deadline for independent (non-presidential) candidates is 30 days after the runoff. This has the effect of changing the filing deadline from early May to late June, and potentially extending the signature collecting period from 2 months to 3-1/2 months, albeit with a 4 month delay between the declaration of candidacy and the petition-gathering period.
However, if there is a runoff for the office there would be 5-1/2 months between the declaration of candidacy, and when signatures may be collected, and then a 30-day collection period and then 4-1/2 months before the general election.
There is a related constitutional amendment. Under the Texas Constitution, certain office holders who file for another office with more than one year remaining on their current term, must resign their office. This was intended to prevent persons who were in the middle of a 4-year term, running for another office, two years in. Without, this provision, if they lost, they could keep their current office, and if they won there would be a vacancy.
But since the filing deadline will now be more than a year before the end of the current term, candidates who simply want to run for another office, will have to resign. The constitutional amendment that will fix this problem won’t be voted on until just before the filing period begins this November. If the voters turn down the amendment, then the Texas Constitution will likely be ruled to be in violation of the US Constitution.
An advantage of a Top 2 Open Primary is that you don’t have all the conflicting and arcane rules for different classes of candidates. For example, an August primary could be used, and it would be possible to make county and judicial offices non-partisan.
Incidentally, John Tower was elected in the runoff of a Top 2 Open Primary, 50 years ago on May 25, 1961.