Court Opinion

ID: 9665965
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 01:00:34.918327+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:21.331326
License: Public Domain

ENOCH, Justice,
joined by PHILLIPS, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
The Republican Party District Executive Nominating Committee wanted Rex Davis to be that party’s candidate for the office of Chief Justice of the Tenth Court of Appeals *585in the general election and nominated him as its candidate in June 1996. The Chairman of the district executive committee did not know that Texas law required him to certify the party’s nominee to the Secretary of State by September 6, 1996. Because the Court excuses the party chairman’s confessed ignorance of the law and rewrites the Election Code to do away with the statutory requirements for placing a candidate on the general election ballot, I dissent.
Davis argues, and the Court agrees, that section 145.037 of the Texas Election Code imposes a mandatory duty on the chairman of an executive committee to certify Davis’s name to the Secretary of State. That section provides:
For the name of a [ ] nominee to be placed on the general election ballot, the chairman of the executive committee making the [ ] nomination must certify in writing the nominee’s name for placement on the ballot as provided by this section.
Tex. Elec.Code § 145.037(a) (emphasis added). As is evident from the plain language of this provision, section 145.037 only defines what a party must do if it wants its nominee to be placed on the general ballot. It does not mandate a ministerial duty on the party chairman to certify a nominee. Here the Republican Party District Executive Nominating Committee wanted its nominee to be on the general election ballot, but its chairman did not do what was statutorily required to place Davis on the ballot.
Were section 145.037 like other provisions requiring certification of candidates, I would be more inclined to agree with the Court. Section 172.117 requires the county chairman to certify primary candidates nominated for county or precinct office; section 172.122 requires the state chairman to certify as the party’s nominee each primary candidate nominated for statewide or district office. Tex. Elec.Code §§ 172.117, 172.122. The mandatory nature of the duty imposed by these statutes is clear. Section 172.117 provides:
(a) The county chairman shall certify in writing for placement on the general election ballot the name and address of each primary candidate who is nominated for a county or precinct office.
(b) Not later than the 20th day after the date the local canvass is completed, the county chairman shall deliver the certification to the authority responsible for having the official general election ballot prepared.
Tex. Elec.Code § 172.117 (emphasis added). Section 172.122 similarly provides:
(a) The state chairman shall certify in writing as the party’s nominee the name and address of each primary candidate who is nominated for a statewide or district office.
(b) Not later than the 20th day after the date the state canvass is completed, the state chairman shall deliver the certification to the secretary of state.
Tex. Elec.Code § 172.122 (emphasis added). Sections 181.068 and 182.007 contain identical language requiring party certification of candidates nominated by conventions for placement on the general election ballot. See Tex. Elec.Code § 181.068(a), (b) (“presiding officer of each convention ... shall certify” each candidate nominated by the convention and “shall deliver” the certification to the Secretary of State or responsible authority)(emphasis added); § 182.007(a), (b) (“county chairman shall certify” the political party’s nominees and “shall deliver*’ the certification to the responsible authority)(emphasis added). There is no similar statutory provision in the Election Code mandating party certification of candidates nominated by party executive committees. Had the Legislature intended to mandate party certification of their executive committee nominees, sections 172.117, 172.122, 181.068, and 182.007 unequivocally demonstrate that the Legislature knew how to do so.
The Court’s reliance on LaRouche v. Hannah, 822 S.W.2d 632 (Tex.1992) is misplaced. Like sections 172.117, 172.122, 181.068, and 182.007, section 172.028 explicitly mandates certification for placement on the primary election ballot all candidates who file an application that complies with section 172.021(b) of the Election Code. Tex. Elec. Code § 172.028(a). Section 172.028 provides:
*586(a) [T]he state chairman shall certify in writing for placement on the general primary election ballot the name of each candidate who files with the chairman an application that complies with Section 172.021(b).
Id. (emphasis added). Section 145.037 does not contain even remotely similar language to section 172.028. On its face, LaRouche is inapposite.
We have in the past limited mandamus in election contests where there was at least attempted compliance with the statutory requirements for placement on the ballot. In LaRouche, for example, Lyndon LaRouche timely filed his application for the primary election as a presidential candidate with the State Democratic Party Chairman. 822 S.W.2d at 633. And in Painter v. Shaner, 667 S.W.2d 123, 124 (Tex.1984), a candidate for sheriff attempted to timely file his application with the county party chair but could not do so because the party’s offices were closed on the date of the statutory deadline. See also Walles v. McDonald, 889 S.W.2d 236, 237 (Tex.1994) (mandamus to place independent candidate on general election ballot granted where candidate attempted to timely file application at county court house by January 3,1994, but court house was closed for a local holiday); Slagle v. Hannah, 837 S.W.2d 100, 102-03 (Tex.1992) (mandamus granted where candidate had no reasonable opportunity to comply with deadline). We have never granted mandamus where there was no attempt to comply with the statutory deadlines for placing a candidate on the ballot.
The Court’s reading of section 145.037 rewrites section 145.037 to eliminate any requirement of timely certification. As written, section 145.037 says, to paraphrase, “if you want your party’s candidate on the ballot, you must certify his nomination 60 days before the election.” Tex. Eleg.Code § 145.037(a), (d), (e). The Court’s construction eliminates the conditional so that section 145.037 now reads, in effect, “you must certify your party’s candidate.” The Court’s reading turns the statute on its head. Section 145.037, as written by the Legislature, requires compliance to place a candidate on the general election ballot; section 145.037, as rewritten by the Court today, mandates a place on the ballot for noncomplianee.
I would deny the petition for writ of mandamus.