On April 25, the Texas Senate passed SB 1705 on second reading, which means it is extremely likely to pass third reading very soon. It requires all parties to nominate by primary, except for newly-qualifying parties. The vote was 17-13, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. An amendment to make the bill effective in 2026, instead of 2024, was defeated.
The bill would require the Libertarian and Green Parties to nominate by primary instead of convention. In Texas, parties must administer their own primaries, which means finding primary polling places and staffing them. Parties are reimbursed for their costs, but the burden is still substantial.
For most of the twentieth century, the Texas Republican Party nominated by convention because it didn’t feel capable of administering statewide primaries for itself. Election administration experts have recommended that states not provide primaries for small qualified parties because they are a waste of taxpayer dollars. In particular, Dr. Joseph P. Harris of U.C. Berkeley, considered the nation’s leading expert on election administration starting in the late 1920’s, until his death in the early 1980’s, held this view, which he published in his book, “A Model Direct Primary System” in 1951.
