### THE A'ITOIRNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

Honorabft FrankX. Vance
~’ County Attorney Medina County Courthouse Honda, Ibaa Opinion No. 

### WW-1377 Re: Whether an Independent candidate whohas failed to timely 1114 an affidavit as required by Station 

### 3, Art. 13.47a, !kaa Election Code, mayhave his name printed on the General AlecDear Mr. Vanosr tion ballot. Youhave asked whether or not &dependent candidates for county andprecinct offioes are entitled to have their namea printed on the General Eleotion ballot, ?ihentheg have flailed to oompaywith Seotlon 

### 3, Axt. 

### 13.47a, Texa6 Eleotlan Code, whioh mpulres the filing of anaffidavit of their Intention to run as 

### Indtptndsnt oandidatse with the County Judge on OFbefore the first Mondayin February of elsotlon year. In your Iettep you atate:

“All county andprecinct offficera of MedinaCounty, except one precinct, run fop eleotidn as tIndependentf candidatta in the general election in November, andhave been doing this for manyyears. !lhle ie being done as provided in Art. 

### 13b53 of the Election Code through a petition of vottrs rithin 30 days aftelr the pxQaalry,

“Nowa question has arisen, as Borne olalm that Art.’ 13.&a (newprovision) of the Eleotlon Code rcsqutres that candldatta muat,file their agplloaCion to get their name8on the ballot in February * All candidates (Independent) hagia,f;le$ anapplication, but not laut

e* &phasia addegH. 8. 239# Chapter 90, page 

### 273,Sac. 1was enacted by the 57th Legislature at its Regular Session ln 1961, andhaa been codified aI)AN. 13+47a, Ttxas Eltction Code, Sectionr 1 and2\
.

. Xonorable Frenk X, Vance, page 2 Opinion No, WW-1377

of Art. 13.47a are applicible to parties whioh nominate their candidatos by convention, anddo not ooncern Independent candi-

,dates. Stations 3ahd 4 of Art. 13.47a, Texas Election Code, mad as follows:

“Sac* 3. As a condition precedent to having a aandIdatess nameQrlnted on zhe official ballot under Artiole 13.5g or Article 230mt. this Code, there must, In requirements of those two (2) Artlolee fll d With the peroon with whomthi wkttti ~vvllostlon must, thereunder, be tiled; an affidavit, dulr aoknowledged by the person desiring his nameto be plaoed on the ballot stating his ooougltlon, 

### aountyof refddenoe, post offlod address, l

%e. andthe offloe for whloh

:.
..% he Intehddr-t6 run.

“Sec. 4, lhtrequirements of Sections 1 end 3hereof shall not apply 

## tonOmlneCt8 fop unexpksed ,termewherb the vacancy In office bccumtd aubsequtnt to the tenth day preceding the deadline for filing aa prescribed herein,’ Art. 13.12, Blleotfon Code, reads In part aa follows:

”a 00

“2. Anyouch rtqueat shall be flbed with the county ohalrman In oaae of ’ ioikip andprecinct offloers; shall be file4 not later thanau”,hf;;;eetII 0

Articles 13*50,to 13.53> Inclusive, Eleotlon Code, govern the filing of IndepeRdent candfdates. Art, 13.50 pertains to Independent candIdatea for stats anddiatriot office. Art. 13.51 sets out the oath to the applIsatIonO Art. 13.52 pertalns to the Independent candidates8 consent to run, Art, 13.53 etatee that Independent candidates for county offloe ehall’flle their

i

I

IHonorablr PrankX. Vance, page 3 Opinion No. W-1377

application with the County Judge, accompanied by the petition of voters equal to 5s of all whovoted in the county in the laat Qeneral tlection. Precinct offices are not mentioned in Art. 13.53, but Dancyv. Hunt, 294 S,W.2d 159 (Civ.App. 1956, error reS. n.F.8.‘) h ld th t Independent candidates for precinct office murt pre&taa pttition signed by enough voters to be equal to 5# OSall whovoted in the precinct in the last Oeneral Election. Note that Sec. 3, Art. 13.47a, Election Code, doea not affect th6 procedures laid downin Arts 13.50 and 13.53. Art. 13.47a atetea that an affidavit of intention to run, containing certain speciiied information must be filed “with the person with .whomthe rrltten application must, thereunder ,&ta. 13.50 and 13.59, be ?lled,” and such affidavit is “In additiontD the requirements of those two (2) Artlclea.” After filing the afTidavlt oi intention to run on or before the first Mondayin February, the In&ependerit*~candidate atill has until 30days after the Second Primary UnderArt@. 13.50 and 13.53 in which to file his petition algned by the required numberof voters. Heretofore, it ha8been possible for a proepective Independent canbidate to wait until both the First andSedond Primaries

. Wereover in order to determine whether he wanted to face in the General Zleotion one or more party candidate% whohad been aelected in the party primaries. Now, a candidate for office as an Independent candidate must file at the earn8t-8 party candidates must file. IhFreafter, the party candidate makeshia race in the primary electYcJh8 or at the party convention (If his party is not required to hold a primary election), while the Independent candidate goes about rounding up signaturea for his petition. In comecounties in Texas* it has been the practice for all candidates to run as Independent candidates. The 1962 Qeneral Election ia the first General Election to be affected by Art. 13.47a, and the effect of this act wannot noted by somecandidates until it was too late to comply with the provision oalllng 

### forthe affidavit of intention to run to be filed by the first Mondayin Februarys This Is unfortunate, but the statute ir etate-wide in its application, without regard to the practice which has been heretofore followed. Set, 3p Art. 13.47a states that the filing of the affidavit by the first Mondayin February Is “a condition precedent to having a candidate’s nameprinted on the official ballot” aa an Independent candidate, Wehold, therefore, that where the race is to be madefor an office, the,term of which begins on January l8 1963, Independent candidates musthave filed the aiiidavft o? intention to run required in Seo. 3* Art. 13.47a,Honorable FrankX. Vance, page 4 Opinion No. W-1377

Blection Code, on or before the first Mondayin February, 1962, &order to have their namesprinted on the General Election bal-

. Under Sec. 4, Art. 13.47a, Election Code, the requirement for the affidavit, and Its timely filing, is not required If the race is to fill anunexpired 

### term,where the vacancy in offlce (death, resignation or removal from office of the oiflce holder) occurred aster the tenth day preoedlng the flrat Mondayin February
. Therefore, if any races In Medina County are Sor county or precinct office to fill out the unexpired term of an office holder whose term of office does not 

### expkreuntil December 31, 1964, andwhich ofiice holder died, reelgned, or was removed from office, alter January 25, 1962, then the requirement in Sec. 3, Art. 13.47a, Election Code, 

### foran affidavit, timelaf filed, is not applicable. SUMMARY

Wherea county or precinat oiflce is to be filled at the General Election for a full four year term, anIndependent candidate must have Siled his affidavit o? intention to run for such oftice with the County Judge on or **before** the Slrat Mondayin February of the selection year, in order to have his nameprinted 

### onthe General Election ballot, a8required by Sec. 3,,Art. 13*47a, Election Code. The timely filing of &pahaffidavit is a requirement uhioh la in addition to all other requirements ior Independent oandfdates found in Arts. 13.50 to 13.53, %nolusive, Election CodeD Where only an unexpired term of a counts or precinct oifice is to be:fflled at tire Qcneral Election, andsuch vacancy in oifice occurred subsequent to the **tenth** day preceding the Plrat Monday in February o? the election years the aflidavit referred to in Sec. 3, Art. 13.47a, Election Code, is not required, See, 4, Art, 13.47a, Election Code. Yours very truly, WILL WILSON Attorney General oi Texas

Amlatant

,.. .. .

Honorable FrankX. Vatice, page **5**

8tF:rk 

### APPROVBD: OPINIONCOMMITTl$Ei: U. V. Geppert, Chairman Gordon Zuber Frank Booth Bob Patterson Pat Bailey


### ReVIEWEDFORTHEATTORNRYGENRRAL BY: LeonardPasrmore OpinionNo.**W-1377**