Late at night on May 24, the Texas House passed SB 100 on second reading, after amending it. The bill, as amended, retains the primary in March, but moves the runoff primary from April to May. Because the petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates is tied to the date of the runoff primary, the bill has the effect of moving the petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates from early May to June 21, 2012.
The presidential independent petition deadline, however, is not tied to the date of the runoff primary, so it remains on May 14, 2012. Texas already easily had the nation’s earliest independent presidential petition deadline; ever since 1987 it has been the only state with a petition deadline earlier than June. If any independent presidential candidate brings a lawsuit to challenge the May independent presidential deadline, Texas will be hard-pressed to explain why the independent presidential deadline should be 38 days earlier than the petition deadline for non-presidential independents.
Under the bill, newly qualifying parties are still required to tell the state that they expect to petition on or before January 2, 2012. But, the deadline for non-presidential independent candidates moves to December 12, 2011. If this bill passes, Texas is the only state that will have ever required independent candidates to notify the government that they intend to run, in the odd year before the election. Candidates (for office other than President) seeking the nomination of a party also will need to file a declaration no later than December 12, 2011, if SB 100 passes. Thanks to Jim Riley for details about the bill.
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On third reading, Representative Lon Burnam (D-Tarrant) said that the early filing deadline for other candidates would relieve him of having to worry over the Christmas holidays whether he would face opposition (under current law, the filing deadline is January 2).
On second reading, Rep. Carol Alvorado (D-Harris) had said that the early filing deadline would place the burden on candidates like her, which was preferable to confusing the voters. In fact, the burden is not on incumbents, but rather on possible challengers. Even though an independent candidate must declare in December, they may not begin to collect signatures for up to another 5 months, and the period for collection of signatures will either be 30 days or 107 days depending on the result of nomination contests of other parties.
Alvorado claimed that voters would be confused by a June runoff, even though Texas had a May primary and June runoff until 1986. And now voters who are supposedly used to voting in an early April runoff will not be confused by a late May runoff (which in 3 of 7 years will be held on the day after Memorial Day).
In addition, Texas retains a local (nonpartisan) election date earlier in May. In 2012, this local election day will be on May 12. Early (in-person) voting for the runoff will begin on the same day.
Depending on the candidates in the runoff, it may be illegal for independent candidates to solicit signatures from voters who are appearing at a local non-partisan election. Voters may have to go to two different voting locations, or vote in different places in the same location. They may be confused by the party affiliation rules, and believe that voting in a mayoral election disqualifies them from voting in a gubernatorial runoff, or vice versa.
Certainly sounds like a ‘cluster’ here in our fine state. But what can you expecte from our super-majority Republican led govt.
But props for shared stupidity from Democrats Alvorado and Burnam.