On January 13, the Texas Supreme Court refused to reinstate David Rogers to the Republican primary ballot. He us the only opponent of an incumbent member of the Texas Supreme Court in the primary. See this story. In re David Rogers 26-0010. Rogers had a miniscule error in his petition, which required 50 signatures in each of the 15 state appeals districts.
At one time supporters of a candidacy had to swear an oath:
“I know the contents of the foregoing application; I have participated in no primary election which has nominated a candidate for the office for which I desire Andrew Jackson Houston to be a candidate; I am a qualified voter at the next general election under the constitution and laws in force, and have signed the above application of my own free will.”
At that time, a “qualified voter”, was a person who had paid their poll tax. Nowadays, it is an eligible voter who is registered to vote.
The oath had to be sworn before an official authorized to administer oaths (e.g. a notary public). This meant that the circulator had to be a notary. The law has now been changed. The circulator must read a statement to the signer that conforms to the oath. The circulator then executes an affidavit that they had done so before each signer had signed their name. Only one affidavit is required so long as it is administered after the signers had signed the petition. In 2023, Brian Walker, had 89 pages in one petition part collected from April through November 2023 throughout the state, when he appeared before a notary public.
“I know that the purpose of this petition is to entitle Brian Walker to have their name placed on the ballot for tho office of Texas Supreme Court Place 4 for the Republican Primary election. I understand that by signing this petition I become ineligible to vote in a primary election or participate in a convention of another party, including a party not holding a primary election, during the voting year in which this primary election is held.”
It still has the form of the oath. But if the circulator is speaking, “I know that …”, wouldn’t an ordinary person believe that it is something that the circulator knows or believes. Would an ordinary person signing a petition in April 2025 know that “voting year” is a reference to a primary in March 2026 for a general election in November 2026 for a term of office that begins in January 2027?
Why does the State of Texas require petitions for a judicial candidate of the Republican or Democratic Party to be circulated in 2025, while an independent candidate for the same judicial office can not circulate their petition until 2026 (a year later), and a judicial candidate of the Libertarian or Green Party does not require a petition at all. All it is a gotcha procedure for the Eric Opiela’s, Andy Taylor’s, John Scott’s, Chad Dunn’s, and Marc Elias’s of the world to make lots of money.
The circulator then appears before a notary public or other person who may administer oaths and swears that “I called each signer’s attention to the above statements and read them to the signer before the signer affixed his or her signature to the petition. I witnessed the affixing of each signature. The correct date of signing is shown on the petition. I verified each signer’s registration status and believe that each signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name is signed and that the corresponding information for each signer is correct.”
The notary public who is witnessing this affidavit, presumably enters the county where the oath-taking took place, the date, and who swore the oath.
“STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF __________ BEFORE ME, the undersigned, on this __/__ /__ (date) personally appeared ___________, (name of person who circulated petition,) who being duly sworn, deposes and says: “the oath” SWORN TO AND SUBSCRIBED BEFORE ME THIS DATE”
“ME” in this context refers to the notary public. Why would a circulator know where they were at? Signatures on a petition page or part are not limited to a single appellate district or county. In this particular case the notary was over 200 miles away from where the signatures were gathered. In 2023, Brian Walker gathered signatures all over the state and over a period of eight months, and only had to swear once that he had personally witnessed hundreds of signatures. He swore the oath in Tarrant County. Perhaps the notary would have the circulator print their own name in the blank, maybe not. It is the notary’s responsibility to make sure the circulator is who they claimed to be. Someone goofed up and wrote “Randall” in two blanks. The blank for the circulator’s name is just below the words “COUNTY”.
The notary has no personal knowledge of whether the circulator actually circulated the petition. They only know that the circulator showed up and presented a photo ID, swore the oath and signed the affidavit. The notary also signs the affidavit, indicates their office, and stamps the petition.
The distribution requirement violates ‘Moore vs. Ogilvie’. The litigation over the petition appears to always be in smaller, more remote appellate districts.
Non-judicial statewide offices such as governor do not require a supplemental petition. There are 11 candidates for governor in the Republican Primary, 9 candidates for governor in the Democratic Primary. These are apparently not crowded nor subject to voter confusion.
Judicial candidates do have specific requirements (e.g., practiced law in Texas for 10 years). But a petition does not establish that fact. Practicing law does not require appearing in court. Some candidates may have appeared in an appellate court, though it is unlikely that any have been to all 15 appellate courts.
The 15th Court of Appeals has statewide jurisdiction. It (apparently) requires a petition, but there is no distribution requirement, even though it elected statewide.