On January 7, a Texas state trial court in Houston ordered that George Powell’s name be added to the Democratic primary ballot in a judicial race. Powell had been told that he should pay $1,500 filing fee to the party in order to be on the ballot, and he did so. Then the Democratic Party rejected his application because the actual amount of the fee was $2,500. The court said the party accepted and cashed his check, and he had relied on the party’s statement that the fee was $1,500, so it is too late to exclude him. See this story.
Nom Pets ONLY
Another example that WHATEVER some party or official HACK says may be illegal.
Ballot/candidate/nominee access since day 1 has been a WAR activity.
Now small/large armies of lawyers ready for court WAR cases.
@DR,
How many signatures?
Part of THE Save Democracy Amdt —
(1) All elected officers shall be registered Electors in addition to any other qualifications in this constitution.
(2) A person may hold only 1 elected or appointed office.
(3) All incumbents and all other candidates shall respectively file a declaration of candidacy by [5] P.M.][203] and [196] days before the election day.
(4) The names of all candidates shall be put on the general election ballots only by nominating petition forms signed by Electors in the area involved equal to not more than [0.1] percent of the number of Electors who voted in the last regular election in such area which shall be filed and verified respectively by [105] and [70] days before the election day.
(5) Form- [9, 10 or 12] point type, [3.5 by 4.25 inches]
NOMINATING PETITION – [PARTISAN] (for legislative offices) [NONPARTISAN] (for executive/judicial offices)
I nominate (candidate’s name and address) (of the (one word party name – not more than [16] capital letters) Party) for (office) in (election area) at the (date) election.
Elector signature, printed name, address and date signed.
Return to- (address)
(6) No filing shall be withdrawn.
(7) Candidates shall have their party’s name in (5) or NONPARTISAN [and may by law have a symbol] next to their names on the ballots.
@DR,
In this case that would be 1207 signatures, more than the current in lieu of requirement.
Harris County has more population than Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb combined.
BACK TO GRADE 1 READING —
NOT MORE THAN [0.1] percent
@DR,
1207754 x 0.1% = 1207.754.
1207 < 1207.754
Max 0.1 pct = Max 1 in 1000
Too difficult for each SERIOUS candidate — with (5) Forms online, in paper media ???
The case illustrates the problems with the SOS scheme implementing TEC 141.041.
Judge George Powell appeared at the offices of the Harris County Democratic Party on December 9, near the filing deadline. He had a discussion with the party worker/notary who was assisting the county party chair. In particular, as a criminal district judge, he did not want to disclose his residential address on a public record. His driver’s license has the address of the courthouse. After some discussion it was decided that he could use the address on his application. In his deposition, the party worker stated that he regularly assisted candidates to complete their application correctly (e.g. to not put a birthday in the wrong box).
The worker verified that Powell’s petition had sufficient signatures. In larger counties, judges must file a petition in addition to the filing fee. The filing authority is only required to facially validate an application (4 squares of the paper), so the worker only counted signatures.
Powell asked what the filing fee was, and was told $1500. In larger counties the fee is $2500. Powell took out his checkbook and wrote a check for $1500 payable to the county party. The money was deposited in the party’s primary fund which is used to pay expenses of the primary, including money paid to the party chair, and poll workers (a patronage position – Democrats don’t work at Republican primaries and vice versa). The money is also spent on paper and ink for ballots. The reason for the December filing deadline is that under federal law that absentee ballots must be sent out overseas in mid-January.
Another candidate was told that she could not pay her filing fee with a credit card (a likely violation of the 26th Amendment). Powell offered to pay the fee, but was told by a party lawyer, it had to be a loan. He wrote on the memo line that it was a loan, and wrote a check for $2500 (the other candidate had been told the correct fee). It turned out the other application was faulty. But the county party had accepted the filing fees.
A Libertarian candidate would file with the state party chair. The candidate would have to travel to Austin. He would also have to file with the SOS office in Austin. It is coincidental that the two offices are in Austin. The Green Party HQ is in Houston.
Assuming the Libertarian state party chair was as helpful as the Democratic county party chair, he could help fill out the application. But he could not accept a filing fee or even validate the in lieu of petition. The party might have to ask the SOS for the petition with its lists of Libertarian Party supporters. The candidate would have to then rush over to the SOS office before the 6 PM deadline in Austin traffic hoping that there is not rush hour traffic in Austin. Weird things happen in Austin, but a lack of rush hour traffic is not one of them.
He would have to remember to bring a copy of his application. It is unknown whether this is a copy of the notarized version or the one that the state chair accepted. He might have to ask the amount of the filing fee, which the SOS might not know. He might have to rush out to an ATM which might not permit withdrawal of $2500. A check will be made out to the State of Texas. It will not be used for election administration, or even spent in Harris County. It might be spent on a belt buckle for Sid Miller. And the benefit would be placement on a ballot that will not be printed for another 9 months. The candidate may or may not be nominated. Democrats nor Republican nor independent candidates pay a filing fee to appear on the general election ballot.
Again – are the 2020 Texas regime tyrants even worse than the 1836 Mexico regime tyrants ???