,- 

Honorable Luther C. Johnson 

County Attorney 

Anderson County 

Palestine, Texas 

Opinion No. O-4914 

Re: Is a ,vote of a majority of the members 

of the county executive committee required to select the demoop%tfC-nominee 

to be placed upon the ballot ofl the 

general election or would a vote of a 

majority of the members of the committee 

present at the meeting be sufficient to 

select the party nominee where the nominee selected by voters at the primary 

election declines the nomination prior 

to the general election? 

Dear Sir: 

We have your telegram oft October 13, 1942, requesting 

the opinion of this department on the above stated question. 

Article 3165, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, provides: 

"A nominee may decline and annul his nominatlon'by delivering to the officer with whom the 

certificate of his nomination is filed, ten days 

before the elec.tion, if it be for a city office, 

and twenty days in other cases, a declaration in 

writing, signed by hlm.before some officer authorized to take acknow,ledgements. Upon such declination (or in case.of death.of a nominee), the 

executive committee of a party, or a ma~jorlty of 

them for the State, district or county, as the 

office to be nomina,ted may require, may nominate a 

candidate to supply the vacancy by filing with the 

Secretary of State in the case of ,State or district 

officers, or with the county judge in the case of 

county or precinct officers, a certificate duly 
Honorable Luther C. Johnson,, page 2 (O-4914) 

signed and acknowledged by them, setting forth 

the cause of the vacancy, the name of the new 

nominee, the office for which he was nominated 

and when and how he was nominated. No executive 

committee shall ever have power of nomination, 

except where a nominee has died or declined the 

nomination as provided in this article.” 

We have failed to find any case, by any of the Appellate 

Courts construing the above mentioned statute wherein the question herein involved has been discussed or passed upon. However, 

the case of Walker, et al v. Hopping, 226 S.W. 146, construing 

a similar provision of Article 3107, Revised Statutes, 1911, 

(now Article 3118, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes),among other 

thlw , holds In effect that a statute providing that a vacancy 

in the office of chairman' or member of the county committee of a 

party shall be filled by a majority vote of the executive commit' 

tee, contemplates an act of the committee as a body, ,and, In the 

absence of some provlsion of law to the contrary, it would take 

a majority of the members of such committee to constitute a 

quorum which could act as the committee. 

It is stated in Words and Phrases, Permanent Edition, 

Volume 26, page 103: 

,"In construing a party rule giving the executive committee of the party the power to fill 

vacancies on the county ticket by a majority vote 

of all the executive committee, it was said by the 

court that it seems clear, taking the whole rule 

together, tha't the provisions for filling vacancies, 

on the ticket by a 'majority of all the executive 

committee' means, at the least, a majority vote of 

all the persons who are in fact members of the committee at the time the vacancy is filled. Ordinarily the phrase quoted might not receive such 

construction. We have so decided in two cases recently beforeus, but, of,course, the question in 

every case is, What do the words mean in a particular connection, and under the particular 

circumstances? In general, they mean a majority 

of the quorum (the quorum being a majority of the 

whole, body), but when the rule provides for a : 

different test, such decisions ceased to apply." 

In view of the foregoing, it is our opinion that in 

the absence of some provision of law to the, contrary, a majorlty of the members of an executive committee of a party constitutes a quorum which can act as the committee. In other 
Honorable Luther C. Johnson, page 3 (O-4914) 

words, if a majority of the members of the executive 

of a party are present, it will take a majority vote 

present to nominate a candidate. 

committee 

of those 

Trusting that the foregoing fully answers your inquiry, we are - 

- 

Very 

ATTORRRY 

truly yours 

GENERAL OF TEXAS 

BY 

S/ 

APPROVED Ott 14, 1942 

S/ Grover Sellers 

First Assistant Attorney General 

AW:db:bt 

Approved Opinion Committee 

by RWF, Chairman 

Ardell Williams 

Ardell Williams 

Assistant