CHAPTER 277. PETITION PRESCRIBED BY LAW OUTSIDE CODE - Texas Statutes

ELECTION CODE

TITLE 16. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

CHAPTER 277. PETITION PRESCRIBED BY LAW OUTSIDE CODE

Sec. 277.001. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter applies to

a petition authorized or required to be filed under a law outside

this code in connection with an election.

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 54, Sec. 16(c), eff. Sept. 1,

1987. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 728, Sec. 81, eff.

Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.

1235, Sec. 25, eff. September 1, 2009.

Sec. 277.002. VALIDITY OF PETITION SIGNATURES. (a) For a

petition signature to be valid, a petition must:

(1) contain in addition to the signature:

(A) the signer's printed name;

(B) the signer's:

(i) date of birth; or

(ii) voter registration number and, if the territory from which

signatures must be obtained is situated in more than one county,

the county of registration;

(C) the signer's residence address; and

(D) the date of signing; and

(2) comply with any other applicable requirements prescribed by

law.

(b) The signature is the only information that is required to

appear on the petition in the signer's own handwriting.

(c) The use of ditto marks or abbreviations does not invalidate

a signature if the required information is reasonably

ascertainable.

(d) The omission of the state from the signer's residence

address does not invalidate a signature unless the political

subdivision from which the signature is obtained is situated in

more than one state. The omission of the zip code from the

address does not invalidate a signature.

(e) A petition signature is invalid if the signer signed the

petition earlier than the 180th day before the date the petition

is filed.

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 54, Sec. 16(c), eff. Sept. 1,

1987. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 728, Sec. 82, eff.

Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1349, Sec. 73, eff.

Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1316, Sec. 43, eff.

Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.

1107, Sec. 1.25(a), eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 277.0021. MEANING OF QUALIFIED VOTER. A reference in a law

outside this code to "qualified voter" in the context of

eligibility to sign a petition means "registered voter."

Added by Acts 1989, 71st leg., ch. 483, Sec. 1 , eff. Sept. 1,

1989.

Sec. 277.0022. WITHDRAWAL OF SIGNATURE. (a) A signer may not

withdraw the signature from a petition on or after the date the

petition is received by the authority with whom it is required to

be filed. Before that date, a signer may withdraw the signature

by deleting the signature from the petition or by filing with the

authority with whom the petition is required to be filed an

affidavit requesting that the signature be withdrawn from the

petition.

(b) A withdrawal affidavit filed by mail is considered to be

filed at the time of its receipt by the appropriate authority.

(c) The withdrawal of a signature nullifies the signature on the

petition and places the signer in the same position as if the

signer had not signed the petition.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 728, Sec. 83, eff. Sept. 1,

1993.

Sec. 277.0023. SUPPLEMENTING PETITION. (a) Except as provided

by Subsection (b), a petition may not be supplemented, modified,

or amended on or after the date it is received by the authority

with whom it is required to be filed unless expressly authorized

by law.

(b) If a petition is required to be filed by a specified

deadline, the petitioner may file one supplementary petition by

that deadline if the original petition contains a number of

signatures that exceeds the required minimum number by 10 percent

or more and is received by the authority with whom it is required

to be filed not later than the 10th day before the date of the

deadline. The authority shall notify the petitioner as to the

sufficiency of the petition not later than the fifth regular

business day after the date of its receipt.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 728, Sec. 83, eff. Sept. 1,

1993.

Sec. 277.0024. COMPUTING NUMBER OF SIGNATURES. If the minimum

number of signatures required for a petition is determined by a

computation applied to the number of registered voters of a

particular territory, voters whose names appear on the list of

registered voters with the notation "S", or a similar notation,

shall be excluded from the computation.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 797, Sec. 43, eff. Sept. 1,

1995.

Sec. 277.003. VERIFYING SIGNATURES BY STATISTICAL SAMPLE. If a

petition contains more than 1,000 signatures, the city secretary

or other authority responsible for verifying the signatures may

use any reasonable statistical sampling method in determining

whether the petition contains the required number of valid

signatures, except that the sample may not be less than 25

percent of the total number of signatures appearing on the

petition or 1,000, whichever is greater. If the signatures on a

petition circulated on a statewide basis are to be verified by

the secretary of state, the sample prescribed by Section 141.069

applies to the petition rather than the sample prescribed by this

section.

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 54, Sec. 16(c), eff. Sept. 1,

1987.

Sec. 277.004. EFFECT OF CITY CHARTER OR ORDINANCE. Any

requirements for the validity or verification of petition

signatures in addition to those prescribed by this chapter that

are prescribed by a home-rule city charter provision or a city

ordinance are effective only if the charter provision or

ordinance was in effect September 1, 1985.

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 54, Sec. 16(c), eff. Sept. 1,

1987.