Hon. Artie Stephens OpinionNo, O-2420

County Attorney Re: Voting for precinct officers Hopkins County in July, following the changingof %lphur Springs,Texas commissioners precincts in FebruWY. Dear Sir:

Your recent letter, requestinga legal opinion of this Department states that the commissioners court of your county on the 5th day of February l%O changed the commissionersprecincts of the countywith td result that some citizens are now within a different commissioners precinct, and will have resided therein less than six months prior to the July primaries, You ask may these citizensvote for precinct officers in such commissioners precinct.

We assume that these individuals are otherwisequalified voters and further that no changewas made in the eleation precinctswhich codd be done only in conformity with Article 2933, Revised Civil Statutes,

It has been consistently held by this Department that the Constitution and statutes of Texas do not require that a voter shall have resided six months within a precinct of a county; to be eligible to vote, but that the six months requirementis compliedwith if the voter has resided such time within the county. Letter opinions of the Attorney General., vol. 382, p. 617 and p. 623; vole 362, pe 613.

In conferenceOpinionNo. 2116, by AssistantAttorney ,Genersl

John Maxwell approvedby AttorneyGeneral Co M. Cureton July 16 1919 tOpinionsof Attorney General,Vol. 53, page 271j it was declar&d: "If a voter has in fact moved into a new precinctwithin the same county in good faith to reside in such precinct and to acquire a residence therein, such voter is entitled to vote at any general electionheld subsequentto his acquiringhis new residenceas aforesaid."

These opinions are entirely sound in their holdings that a voter who has residedwithin the county for six months, may vote in E

he precinct'within the county to which he removes, notwithstanding

such removalmay be at a time less than SixHon. Artie Stephens,page 2

months prior to the election* In such case' there is no doubt that such voter could vote for precinct officers of~the precinct to which he has removed. Indeed, Article 2967, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, makes specificprovisionfor the situation where a citizen,,who has receivedhis poll tax receipt
or certificateof exemption,removes to anotherprecinct in the
same county.

The question submittedby you, however, relates to the fact situation where the voter himself does not remove to anotherprecinct,but where he is, so to speak Uremoved'4 to the differentprecinct by the action of the commissioners' court in altering the precincts in the county. There is no statutory regulation of this situationanalogousto Article 2967, supra, relating to the removal of the citizen himself to anotherprecinct.

We are constrainedto the opinion,however, that the citizen so removed by the action of the commissioners8 court is not precluded from voting, in a primary electionto be held less than six months thereafter,on the precinct officers of the new precinct in which he finds himself after the action of the commissioners' court. As before pointed out, neither the Constitution

nor the Statutes of Texas require,as a prerequisite for voting for precinct officers,that the citizen shall have residedwithin the precinct for at least six months prior theretoo In the absence of such requirement,it is our opinion that a citizen,otherwisequalified,may vote for the precinct officers of the precinct in which he resides,

Accordingly,

you are respectfully advised that it is the opinion of this Departmentthat the citizensresidingwithin the commissioners precincts,as changedby the commissioners court of your county on the 5th day of February, 1940, if otherwise qualified,may vote for the precinct officers thereof in the July primaries of 1940,

APPROVED JOL 12, 1940 /s/ Grover Sellers FIRST ASSISTART ATTORNEY GENERAL

APPROVED:OPINION COMMITTEE BY: BWB,CHAIRMAN

&CLS@BB:wb Yours very truly

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

By /s/ Zollie Co Steakley Zollie C, Steakley,Assistant

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