THEA~ORNEY GENERAL

OFTEXAS

Aus~riu 11. Texan

October 3, 1957

Mr. CokeR. Stevenson,Jr. Administrator Texas Liquor Control Board Austin,Texas OpinionNO. W-269

RE: In a local option electionwhere the polls close at 7:00 P.M. would it be legal for the election judge to stand a clerk at the end of any line of voters at 7~00 P.M. and then permit all of those in line ahead of that clerk to come inside and cast their ballots as,though they had been inside before the 7:00 P.M. closing time?

Dear Mr. Stevenson:

You have requested our opinion on the question of whether at the hour for closing thepolls in a local option election, the presiding judge of the electionmay place a clerk at the end of any line of voterspresent and waiting to vote, and allow all those in front of the clerk to vote in the election.

The Texas Liquor Control Act, under which local option electionsare held, provides that the "general election laws"are to be followed exceptwhere they conflictwith the provisions of the Texas Liquor Control Act, Art. 666, Sec. 36,Vernon's~PenalCode. The Texas Liquor ControlAct does not provide for the hours of opening and closing the polls but the Texas Election Code, Article 2.01 provides as follows:

In all elections,general, special,
or primary; the polls shallbe open from seven olclock a.m. to seven o'clockp.m. in all countieshaving a population of one hundredMr. Coke R. Stevenson, Jr.,page 2 (W-269)

thousand (100,000)ormore according to the last Federal Census and in all other counties the polls shallbe opened at 8 a.m. and remafning open until 7 p.m. The election shallbe held for one (1)day only."

The determinationof the questionwhich you have asked turns on what constitutes closing the polls. We have carefullyresearched the question and have been unable to find any decision in AmericanJurisprudencedefining "closing the polls" which is not based upon a statutory definition.

After a careful considerationof the purposes and intents of the Texas Election Code, as set forth in Article 1.01, it is our opinion that the word "polls"as used in Article 2.01 of the Texas Election Code refers to the place inwhich the election is to be held. Adams v. Corwin, 118Misc. 701, 195N.Y.S. 41, 42 '(1922). Accordingly, the provisionproviding that the polls shallbe opened at sevena.m.means that the place where the election is to be held is to be opened for the purpose of receiving the votes of the electors,and that the building or place wherein the election is to be held shall remain open until 7 o'clockp.m. When the building or place is to be closed, i.e., the "closingof the polls," it is our opinion that all persons at the polls who are present and waiting to vote shouldbe allowed to begin and complete the formal act of casting their ballots. We are of the further opinion that if the polling place is not sufficientto hold all persons who have presented themselves to vote at the time designated for the closing of the polls with due regard to the order and decorum of the election, the election judgemay allow the overflow to remain outside, taking suchprecautions as necessary to see that no persons ariving after seven o'clock join the group of persons waiting to vote. Onemanner of preventing late-comersfrom joining the groupwould be to stationa clerk outside to see that no personswho arrive after the hour for closingwere allowed to vote.

SUMMARY

The closing of thepolls withln the meaning of the Texas Election Code
means the closing of the room or buildingwhere the election is to be held, allowing all those at the polls waiting to vote, whether within orMr. Coke R. Stevenson,Jr., page 3 (Wb269)

without, to begin and complete the voting of their ballots. All other persons shouldbe excluded,and a propermethod of so doing is to stationa clerk at the end of the line of voters.

Very trulyyours,

JM:dmp

APPROVED:

OPINION COMMITTEE:
George P. Blackburn,Chairman C. K. Richards Leonard Passmore J. C. Davis

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY:

James N. Ludlum WILL WILSON Attorney General

BY ohn Minton