OROVER SELLERS

W- 1

Hontwable limier L. #Ions County Attamey Wheeler County Wheeler, Texas Dear Sir8 opinion i?o. 0-6054 Ret Vader the frcts,submitted and under Artlales 3111 and 3112, ver130~~nBnnotated Civil Statutes,doe8 the Chairman of the Whuteler County Democrat10 Executive Committeehave tha right to certify the name of the applioant em a oandldate for the oftLee of State Representative in and fer said aounty? Thin will acknewledgereoelpt et your letter, dated May 20th, whlei~

reada, In part, a6 tellers: tt

. . . "Hr. Grump a6 ChaIrman of the County Exeeutlve Demooratic cemmltteehas reaeivedan appllaatien from one Hr. R. L. Templeton for a plaoe on the ballot tobe Peed by and for Wheeler County In the oorlng iirst Demeeratlaprimary. Mr. Templeton la a oandldate for the offloe of Representative.
"Hr. Grump advises that there Is no district exeautiveaommitteeand the filinga in such paoes are made with the four county ahalrmen respeatlve1Y. In.the aase at hand no form of auknowledgment or verificationappears on the application. Maturally, Mr. Grump is anxious to have you pas8 upon this matter at your earliest eonvenlence,if' at all practical. There being no exact preoedentby aourt decision to the knowledgeor either the chairman OF I, it appears very Importantthat the former have the benefit of an opinion from you or gour staff In order th&t a generally satisfactory action on his part may performed. 1, "

. . ..HonorableHomer L. Roes, page 2

We further set forth the applicationin question as disclosed by your enoloaedbrlefr
"R. L. Templeton WellIngton,Texan *To thb:&halrman

of the DamooratlaRxecutlve Committee In **and** f'or Wheeler County; Texast'
"Dear Slrt
"I hereby make applloatlonto have my name placed on the ballot to be used at the Democratia **Primary** for the seleotian**of** Democratlonominees for State amd CeumtJr effioas at the election to be held throughoutthe State on July 22nd, 1944 as a candidatebar the offlee of' State Representative fer the 122nd Representative Mstrlot of Texas, aempoaed of Uelllmgsworth, Wheeler, Gray and Donleg Counties.
"In connectiontherewith I hereby enalose the sum 6f $1.00, flllng fee.
"I am twenty-four year6 of age and was born In Wellington,Colllngsworth County, Texas, where I have resided and had my oltlxenshipall of my life. I am a Democrat and pledge avself to support the nominees of the Demcbaratla Primary. "Respeotisllly

submitted,
R. L. Templeton (In writing) (signature)
R. L. Templgton (typed)
Poet office address; Wellington, Texas. " Articles 3111 and 3112, Vernon's AnnotatedCivil Statatee,respectfailly provides "The request tar

have the name of any person affillatlng

with any party plaoed on the official ballot for a genera3 primary as a oandidkt&?f'dr; the nominationof'

suoh pafty for any State offiae shall be governedby the following:

“1. Suoh request shall be In writing signed and duly acknowledged by the person deslrlng swoh notilnation,

or by twe)nty-i'lve

qnaliiledvoters. Zt shall state the ooanpation,oountg oi residenceHonorableHomer &. M~BB, paSe 3

and post-officeaddress of m~h pereen, and if made by him shall aleo state his age.

**“ 2**  Amy suoh request ehall **be** filed with the State &airman mot later than the first Wonday la Jume preeedlrgrlnah prinrry, and shall be aoneidered filed if aent to suoh oh8lz!man at hia port-offloe addrem by reglatered mall from'uy point In thin State. "

. . ..* (mlphqeis **aurs)** "Amy peraom desiringhis mame to’appear on the offlalalbalZi&t **an** a aandldatefor the namlnatlon for Chief JPrstlae or AeeoelateJuetiae of the Court of Clvll Appeals,or for Representative In Congress,of for,StateSenatorwhem rruoh Sen*torlal, Bl&rlot lu oompelled of one or more than bne CountJt, or for Representative, or dlrtrlat judge or dletrlat attorney In repreremtatlve or judlalal dle- ,:trlatra

cempoaedof one er more than me oounty, shall file with the ohalrmanof the ereoutlveooallttee'of the **party for**  the dlstrlat, said request with referennoe to'8 damdldate~for a State aomlnatloa, **or** if there be no ohalrmam**ef** aueh dletrlat exeautlve oommlttee,then with the ohairmanof eaah aounty composingeuah dl6trlot,net later than the third Monday In Hay preoedlng the gemeral primary. Suoh requestsm&y llkewlre be filed not later than eaid date by amy tuemty-five (25) qmallfiedvotere xesldent within suoh dirtriot, rlgned.andduly acknowledged. Immediately after raid date e&oh euah dletrlct chairmawshall aertlfy the namoe of all peracnlr for when emoh requestm,'have been filed to the oounty ahalrman of each oompty oompoelng suah dirtriot. **If** eald name Is not aubmlttedor filed within said time, same shall not be plaoed upon raid ballet." (Bhphasla**mm)** These ehaataente

were deelped to promote fair dealing, good faith **and** prevent lnjuetloe, by demylng frarrdulent or frlvoleus flllmge sf oandldates whloh might be made solely for the purpose of deaelvlng,the electorateand without any Intentionor hope on the part of the aamdldateof being macessful. The Legislature has seen fit to lay down these requialteaaB safeguards.

Therefore,beferelanyoamdldatemay submit hlmaelf to the qualifiedvoters of this State, he must aomply with the prerequisiteseet forth In **the** Artlole 3111, eupra. SUCh requirement5

are mamdatery. See oases elted, 20 G.J. #1X3, p. 115; 290,J.S. #114, p., 153, lndlaatlngthat It Is 80 held umlvereally.HonorableHcmer L. lioea, Rage 4

And in HccCloin

v. Betts, et al., (Civ.App. 1936) 95 S. W. (2d) 1311, the aourt said:

‘We have aarefullJr 6xulned relator’8application to have hie name planned on said ballot, a.S above stated, **and find**  that It contains everg matter requiredbr law. The only arltlalar,a6 to It6 legal mffioleno~; that osuld be rimed 16 that relator did mat aokmGrle4ge hi8 request-erappllaatlon for hi8 nane tb be )la@ed 06 the ballot aa required by Wbdlrlrl6n 1 of art1016 3111, B.S. 1925. 3kt he did vsrlfy 6ame br swearing that~all,offhi faot6 stated in hi6 amUoatiun were true. lRe purpose of requiringthat ruoh appl1eatlonbe aaknouledged 16 to lnrrre t&e a99lloant~rgood faith, and purpeee In makiw the **riqaest,** and a6 relator duly verified **by** oath thr osntermbr of his amlloatit% it wir ‘a iubrtmtlrl and rrffiolentoOipllanoo with the mtatmte. ” (siii
In oonrtmlng a rtatutory wo rd lr phra6e the otmrt mag t&e Into mnrPrideratlon the meanly ot the 6ame or 818llar languageumed eleewhere In thr **Act or**  in **anether** of similar mature. See oa8e6 alted, 39 Tex, Jurlr. #108, p. 201.

Artlole 3113, Vernmm~s A8iaotated dlvil Statutes, re*Qi3,

in part, an rdbw8: ‘(Any perusn **Qe6lriry** Al8 **name**to appear on ths officialballot for the laseral primary, a6.a oandldatefer the noalnatlsn for any @ifice to be filled by the qualifleUvoters of a’aounty or c’ portion thereof, or for oounty ahairman,shall file with the aounty ohalnranof the county of his reeldenoe,not later than SatEzr&ay~before the third Monday in June preceding stpoh primary, a written r6quest for his name ta, be printed on 6lzehoffloial ballot UB a aandldatefor the nminatlon or positionnamed titerein, giving his ocawpationand mat-office addreee.nlvlnn street and number of his reaideme, if witGin a-aity or town, euoh reAnd in Punahard,et al., v. Masterson,et al, 100 Tex. 479, 101 S. W. 204, the Supreme Court ealdr

I, Therefore,

when an aaknowledgpaent is pre&iied, without dealarlngof what the acknowledgmentshall aonsiat, It is mea&Itthat the grantor In a deed must appear beiore a duly authorizedsitleer and .state that he exeeuted th%, .

HonorableHomer L. l4s66, page 5

. . lThlewerd “aokmowi*adge ’ besides ZFiegal a&se in whlah It has fer a&turiea been used, has alrao

a c~mmo~reanlng, umdersfaodby every one, which wmlf@rml~r ralata6 to lsomething pact. It la a 6OnfesaiQnor aQml66ien of 8ome ’ prIorMa&. I Reames v. Amber, 4 Leigh (Va.) 557.

. . . The personla authorizedto take achnawledgments are emumerated~ln

Artlole 6602, Vernon86 AnnotatedCivil Statutes. lkvlew of the foregoing, It followsl that %he applloamt has nch cemp~&ed with the pmVf.6ien6 of Artlalea 3111 and 3112, supra, In &at he ha6 not made the required aaknewledgment or verlflaatiom~nor ha6 he made a Hmubatantialaomplianoe” therewit&. Furthermore,the applleamthas not set ferth hle oooupatlenon the applloatlona6 raqulredby eald artlaler

. In mar opinion, therefore,the ohalkmanof the ‘WheelerC@lanty

Detieoratlo

ExeoutlveCommitteedoes not have the right to sertlfy the name a? the applloant'for 4 pla@e Is a oandldatefor the &floe of State.~Representatl+e, 122nd Dlstrlot of Texir, 6n the ballot to be used In the Demoaratla Primary to be held om July 22, 194, In and for suoh ooumty.

Trurtlng thlB ratlrf*otorl.lj amawern your Inquiry, we are Very truly yours, A!i’TORNRY

dEwIDRAL

OF TXXAS



# BY /s/
EHlf:db APPRQVBD J-UN

7, a944 Qrover Sellers **ATTORNRY**

QEWEBAL OF TEXAS **Fred** C. Chandler Fred 0. Ohmdler A6616tamt
Baton N. Hyder, Jr. Hlton N. Ryder, Jr.

APPRQVBD OPINION COlUIUITTEE BY /s/ BWB CNAIRNAN”