On December 8, Texas Representative Drew Springer (R-Muenster) introduced HB 464, which would require candidates nominated by minor party convention to pay the same filing fees that major party candidates must pay to get on a primary ballot.
Traditionally, major political parties in Texas paid for their own primaries, and were only able to afford them by charging filing fees to candidates who filed to run in a primary. In 1972 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Texas filing fees for candidates who were unable to afford them, so Texas government started paying for the administrative costs of primaries. Candidates who can’t afford filing fees but want to run in a primary may submit a petition in lieu of filing fee.
Texas has never required independent candidates, or candidates nominated in a party convention, to pay filing fees. The bill says the filing fees would be paid into the general state fund. This bill, if enacted, would be very injurious to the Libertarian and Green Parties, which are ballot-qualified and always nominate by convention. Representative Springer is in his second term. He has never faced any opponent on the general election ballot. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.
But minor parties and Independent candidates still have to obtain a certain number of signatures to FIRST get to the point of (in the case of a 3rd party) holding a convention, right?
The major parties just keep piling and piling it on 3rd parties and Independent candidates.
Filing fees, should be the ONLY requirement for any 3rd party or Independent candidate to get a space on a General Election Ballot.
North Carolina did the same thing, and it resulted in a drastic drop in the number of candidates that the LP was able to put up.
And the men (and women) who pass such laws, lay down and go to sleep each night with a clear conscience.
What part about the word equal do some people not understand?
Anti-third party? No. Wanting to take even more money from the average taxpayers? Oh, yes!
When the Democratic and Republican parties start paying for their own primaries we can have a discussion on filing fees.
What a jerk Springer is.
NO primaries. NO fees.
EQUAL nominating petitions — general election ballots only.
P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
I don’t care if the taxpayers have to pay for the Democratic and Republican primaries, as long as they will allow 3rd party nominees and Independents to have to a pay a reason filing fee and no petition signatures required.
This is one trade off I can live with.