Accordingly, so long as the Secretary of State's interpretation of an Election Code provision is a reasonable one that does not do violence to the statutory language, this office will defer to it. See Tarrant Appraisal Dist. In this instance, the interpretation offered by the Elections Division is a reasonable one. Grammar and sense in that instance are not offended. Nor are we persuaded by your argument that the Secretary of State's reading renders the provision surplusage in the context of a general election because by that point, the parties will have chosen their county chairs.
Early voting occurs in both primary and general elections.
The relatives of opposed candidates for the office of county chair may not serve on the board during those elections in which their relatives have opposition. The legislature might have distinguished primary and general elections in this context more explicitly had it wished, but the fact that it did not wish to do so does not alter the statute's meaning or render it meaningless. Because the interpretation of the language of section 32.054 of the Election Code offered by the Office of the Secretary of State is reasonable and does not contradict the statutory language, we defer to it. The wife of the chairman of the San Jacinto County Republican Party, the chairman not being an opposed candidate for that office, is not prohibited by section 32.054 of the Election Code from serving as a judge on the Early Voting Ballot Board. The wife of the chairman of the San Jacinto County Republican Party, the chairman not being an opposed candidate for that office, is not prohibited by section 32.054 of the Election Code from serving as a judge on the Early Voting Ballot Board.