Hon. Sidney Latham

Secretary of State Austin,Texas

Dear Slrt Opinion ~0~.O-6204 Rer Procedure of the Republican Party to have.lts candidates appear on the general electionballot **and** related questions.

We have your letter of reaent date requeatlng the opinion of this department on the"questlon stated therein. Said letter Is, In part, as follows:

"Articles

### 3154-3158, both Inclusive,RCS 1925, govern the aatlvltles of political parties InTexas which cast as many aa 10,000 and less than 100,000votes for Oovernor ln the preaedlng general election. The Republican Party lnTexas has generally fallen into this classlflaatlon, and has continued to funatlon during the year 1944, preparatory to the coming general eleatlon under the provisions of these articles.

"Inaccordancewith Article 

### 3155the Republican Party, on May 22, 1944, duly filed In this office
a certlflaate of Its decision to nominate State, dlstrlat and county offiaersby conventionrather than by prlmarg election.

"Pursuantto Article 3154 the Republican Party held a State convention and nominated certain candidates for State offices,which have been certified to thls office.

"Pursuantto Article 

### 3156 such Party held
numerous district conventions on the fourk~ Tuesday In August (August

### 26, 1944) and such dlstrlat conventions subsequently certified the nomination of various congressionaland legislative candidates to this offlae. Most of these certificateswere.

Hon. Sidney Latham, page 2

executedby the chairman of the district convention. It Is to be noted that Article 

### 3157provides that such certificationsare to be made by the chairman of the State or district committee. It Is to be, furthernoted that the time of the meeting of such district conventions Is fixedunder Article 

### 3156 by the language, 'onthe same days as herein prescribed for district conventionsof other parties'. This Is an apparent reference to former Article 

### 3135which fixed the time of meeting of district conventions for parties casting in excess of 100,000 votes as the fourth Saturday In August. This article, however,was repealed in 

### 1933.

"If the group of statutes first above referred to a¬ applicable to the Republican Partyby reason of their failure to cast as many 'ad:

10,000 votesat the last general election, then we Plnd no other applicable statutory provisions,.The only other enactmentswe find are Articles 

### 3100-3153governing parties In excess of ,100,000votes;" Articles 

### 3159to 3162governing ,nonpartlsan.and,

independentcandidates;and Artlcle 

### 3163governingpartieswithout State organisatlons. The Republican Partywould be excluded from the,first alassificatlon'bgreason of Its numberof votes cast; from the secondbecause it Is neither nonpartisan and~lts candidates are not independentcandidates;Andyfrom the thirdbecause It does have a State organization;nor does the
case of Morris vs. 

### Mlms,224 S.W. 

### 587, seem to be ln point since It applies only to new political parties.

"In the light of the above facts,will you please advise thisDepartment upon the following lnqulrlesr

"1i Can the Republican Party legally perform the functionsauthorizedby, and In accordance with, the provisions of Articles 

### 3154-3158, both inclusive, for the 194kgeneral electionwhen It cast less than 10,OoO votes forqovernor In the 1942 election?Hon. Sidney Latham, page 

### 3

'2. If you have answered question number 1 'Yes',then Is a nomlnat~lon made by a Republican District Conventionvalidwhen such aonventlonmet
on the fourth Saturday In August,but which time
was fixedby reference to Article 

### 3135whlah has been repealed?



### "3

. Is a certificationby a district aonventlon such as Is authorizedby Article 

### 3156sufficient If It Is executedby the chairman of the convention rather than by the chairman of the district committee
as requiredby Article 31577

"4

. If you have answered questionnumber 1 'No',then by what procedure can the Republican Party have its candidates appear on the general election ballot?"

o-2188: Cknerally speaking, It Is stated In our Opinion No.

,I

. . . 'Section21 of Article N directs the Secretary of State to 'performsuch other duties as may be required of him by law'. In so far as these duties relate to elections, these dutles,are enumerated In the statutes comprising Title 50 of the Revised Civil Statutes, and Title 

### 6 of the Penal Code. Article 2925, Revised Civil Statutes, dlreats him to 'prescribe forms of all blanks' for ballots, etc., 'and furnish same to county judge'. Articles 2926 and 2979 provide that the death of any state or district officer or nominee shallbe certified to the Secretary of State. Article 2928 prohibits the Secretary of State from Issuing certificates of election or appointment to anyone *who Is not eligible to hold such offlce under the Constitution'

. . . Article 2982 requdres the Secretary of State to hold a drawing to determine the order in which proposed constitutionalamendments shall appear on the ballot. Article 2997a directs the Secretary of State to examine and approve votingmachines. Articles 3026a and 3033 direct county judges to mall election returns to the Secretary of State, and Article 3034 provides that he shall open and count the returns of elections. Article 

### 3155requires state committees of polltlaal partieswhose nominee for governorpolled between 10,000 and 100,000 votes at the last election to certify to the Secretary of State whether theywill. . ,

Hon. Sidney Latham, page 4

nominate their candidateby convention or primary election. Article 

### 3157requires such nominations to be certified to the Secretary of State. By Article 3159, non partisan or independentaandldates are directred to make application to the Secretary of State to have their names placed on theballot, and Article 

### 3161directs the Secretary of State to relay the names to the county clerks. Articles 

### 3168-3173provide for reports of campaign expenditures to be made to the Secretary of State.

"This enumerationof the statutoryduties of the Secretary of State relating to elections Indicates that all of his said duties,aremlnlsterlal in character. Nowhere do we find any discretionarypower lodged in the Secretary of State to authorizehim to refuse a place on the ballot to the duly designatednominees of any political party."

As stated In the case of Morris v. Mlms, 224 S.W. 

### 587:

"Our election laws provide for the nomination of candidatesby politicalpartieswhose candidate for governor received as many as 100,000 votes at the last preceding general election,and also for the nomination of candidatesby politicalparties whose candidate for governor received, at the last preceding general election,more than 10,000 and less than 100,000 votes. The firstmust be by primary electionheld in the manner prescribed.The secondmay be by primary election, or by nominating convention,at the option of such party. AS such party elects to make,its nominationby party conventions, It is required to notify the Secretary of State of such fact, and thereafter to hold its aonvention~

at the time and in themanner prescribed by statute."

There are no other provisions of our statut;s'rilatlng'asto how nominations shallbe made by a party oonvention, except Article 

### 3163, which provides,

that persons participating In such party primary convention shallhave paid their

PO11 tax, and shall not have participated in the conventionor primary of any other party held on the same day."Hon. Sidney Latham, page 

### 5

Articles 

### 31.54-3158, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, pertain to political parties,whose nominee forgovernor in the preceding general election received as many as 10,000, and less than 100,000 votes. The RepublicanNominee for Governor received less than 10,000 votes In the 1942 tieneral Election. APparentlg, the Republican Party has followedArticles 

### 3154-3158, supra, inmaking nominations this year, although the nominee for governor of said party received less than 10,000 votes in the 1942 Qeneral Election. This being true, It Is our opinion that the same principles of law announced In the case of Morris
vs. Mims. supra, is appllaable to the present situation of the Republican Party and that such Party can legally perform the functions authorlaedby, and in accordancewith, the provisions of Articles 

### 3154-3158,supra. Ferguson, 

### 53 S.W.28 

### 753). (See the case of Sterling vs.

The statutesprescribe no method by which a party may make nominations,whose nominee for governor in the last preceding general election received less than 10,000 votes. Such being the case, It Is our opinion, that such party has the right to pursue any reasonablemethod Inmaking its nomlnations, not prohibitedby law. Therefore
, your second and third questions are answered In the affirmative. As we have answered your third question In the affirmative, Itbecomes unnecessary to discuss your fourth question.

Yours very truly,

ATTORNEY OENERAL OF TEXAS

By: /s/ ArdellWilliams

Assistant AWirt

APPROVEB SEP. 

### 25, 1944
/s/ GROVER SELLERS ATTORNEY OENERAL OF TEXAS APPROVED Onlnlon Committee 

# 6: /s/%B

chairman