Relating to the appointment of election clerks.

89(R) SB 108 - House Committee Report version - Bill Text

By: Hall

S.B. No. 108

(Toth)

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the appointment of election clerks.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 32.001, Election Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as

follows:

(b) The alternate presiding judge shall serve as presiding

judge for an election if the regularly appointed presiding judge
is

not present at a polling location or otherwise
cannot serve.

(c)

A person may not prevent an alternate presiding judge

from freely occupying or observing the area in which voters are

being accepted for voting.

SECTION 2. The heading to Section 32.031, Election Code, is

amended to read as follows:

Sec. 32.031.
JUDGES
[
PRESIDING JUDGE
] TO APPOINT CLERKS.

SECTION 3. Section 32.031(a), Election Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(a) The presiding judge
and alternate presiding judge
for

each election precinct shall
each
appoint [
the
] election clerks to

assist the
judges
[
judge
] in the conduct of an election at the

polling place served by the
judges
[
judge
].

SECTION 4. Section 32.033, Election Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 32.033. NUMBER OF CLERKS. (a) The authority that

appoints the election judges shall prescribe the maximum number of

clerks that each presiding judge
and alternate presiding judge
may

appoint for each election. The authority may prescribe different

maximums for different types of elections.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the presiding

judge
shall appoint at least one clerk and the alternate presiding

judge
shall appoint at least
one clerk
[
two clerks
] for each

precinct in each election
. The presiding judge
and
alternate

presiding judge
may
each
appoint as many additional clerks, within

the prescribed limit, as are necessary for the proper conduct of the

election.

(c) In each election ordered by the governor or a county

authority in which the regular county election precincts are

required to be used, the presiding judge
and alternate presiding

judge
shall
each
appoint clerks for each precinct in the number,

within the prescribed limit, the
judges consider
[
judge considers
]

necessary for the proper conduct of the election.

SECTION 5. Section 32.034, Election Code, is amended by

amending Subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) and adding Subsection

(c-1) to read as follows:

(b) The county chair of a political party whose candidate

for governor received the highest or second highest number of votes

in the county in the most recent gubernatorial general election

may, not later than the
30th
[
25th
] day before a general election or

the 10th day before a special election to which Subsection (a)

applies, submit to a presiding judge
and alternate presiding judge

a list containing the names of at least two persons who are eligible

for appointment as a clerk. If a timely list is submitted, the

presiding judge shall appoint at least one clerk from the list
and

the alternate presiding judge shall appoint at least one clerk from

the list
[
, except as provided by Subsection (c)
].

(c) If only one additional clerk is to be appointed
, the

presiding judge shall make the appointment from the list submitted

by the county chair of the party whose candidate for governor

received the second highest number of votes in the county in the

most recent gubernatorial election
[
for an election in which the

alternate presiding judge will serve as a clerk, the clerk shall be

appointed from the list of a political party with which neither the

presiding judge nor the alternate judge is affiliated or aligned,

if such a list is submitted.

If two such lists are submitted, the

presiding judge shall decide from which list the appointment will

be made
]. If such a list is not submitted, the presiding judge is

not required to make an appointment from any list.

(c-1)

The presiding judge and alternate presiding judge

shall each appoint the same number of clerks to the extent possible

given the total number of clerks to be appointed.

(d) The presiding judge
and the alternate presiding judge

shall make an appointment under this section not later than the

fifth day after the date the
judges receive
[
judge receives
] the

list and shall deliver written notification of the appointment to

the appropriate county chair.

(e) If a presiding judge
and an alternate presiding judge

have
[
has
] not been appointed at the time the county chair of a

political party is required to submit a list of names for the

appointment of a clerk under this section,
a
[
the
] list of names

shall be submitted
by the county clerk
to the county chair of the

political party
that failed to timely submit a list of names
[
whose

candidate for governor received the most votes in the precinct in

the most recent gubernatorial election and to the commissioners

court
]. The county chair, or the commissioners court in a county

without a county chair, shall appoint clerks from the list in the

same manner provided for a presiding judge
and an alternate

presiding judge
to appoint clerks by this section.

SECTION 6. Section 127.006(a), Election Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(a) The manager, the presiding judge, and the alternate

presiding judge may appoint clerks to serve at the central counting

station
in the same manner described by Section 32.034 for the

appointment of precinct election clerks
.

SECTION 7. Section 32.032, Election Code, is repealed.

SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.