85R13895 ATP-F By: Schofield H.B. No. 1242 Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1242: By: Fallon C.S.H.B. No. 1242 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to requirements relating to an application for a place on the ballot. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 141.032(c), Election Code, is amended to read as follows: (c) If an application is accompanied by a petition, the petition is considered part of the application, and the review shall be completed as soon as practicable after the date the application is received by the authority. However, the petition is not considered part of the application for purposes of determining compliance with the requirements applicable to each document, and a deficiency in the requirements for one document may not be remedied by the contents of the other document. Unless the petition is challenged, the authority is only required to review the petition for facial compliance with the applicable requirements as to form, content, and procedure. SECTION 2. Section 141.034, Election Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows: (a) An application for a place on the ballot may not be challenged for compliance with the applicable requirements as to form, content, and procedure after the day before any ballot to be voted early by mail is mailed to an address in the authority's jurisdiction [the beginning of early voting by personal appearance] for the election for which the application is made. (c) A challenge must state with specificity how the application does not comply with the applicable requirements as to form, content, and procedure. The authority's review of the challenge is limited to the specific items challenged and any response filed with the authority by the challenged candidate. SECTION 3. Section 172.021, Election Code, is amended by adding Subsections (e) and (g) to read as follows: (e) A candidate for an office specified by Section 172.024(a)(8), (10), or (12), or for justice of the peace in a county with a population of more than 1.5 million, who chooses to pay the filing fee must also accompany the application with a petition for a place on the primary ballot as a candidate for judicial office that complies with the requirements prescribed for the petition authorized by Subsection (b), except that the minimum number of signatures that must appear on the petition required by this subsection is 250. If the candidate chooses to file the petition authorized by Subsection (b) in lieu of the filing fee, the minimum number of signatures required for that petition is increased by 250. Signatures on a petition filed under this subsection or Subsection (b) by a candidate covered by this subsection may not be obtained on the grounds of a county courthouse or courthouse annex. (g) A candidate for the office of chief justice or justice, supreme court, or presiding judge or judge, court of criminal appeals, who chooses to pay the filing fee must also accompany the application with a petition that complies with the requirements prescribed for a petition authorized by Subsection (b), except that the minimum number of signatures that must appear on the petition required by this subsection is 50 from each court of appeals district. SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.