Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Texas - Ballotpedia

There are three basic methods by which an individual may become a candidate for office in a state.

1. An individual can seek the nomination of a state-recognized political party.
2. An individual can run as an independent. Independent candidates often must petition in order to have their names printed on the general election ballot.
3. An individual can run as a write-in candidate.

For information about filing requirements for presidential candidates, see "Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Texas."

Year-specific dates

2016

The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Texas in 2016. More dates will be added as they become available.

Legend:     Ballot access     Campaign finance     Election date

2015

There were no regularly scheduled state executive, state legislative or congressional elections in Texas in 2015.

2014

To view historical dates for 2014, click [show] to expand the section.

Process to become a candidate

See statutes:Title 9 of the Texas Election Code

A candidate in Texas may run with an officially recognized political party, as an independent or as a write-in.

For major party candidates

In order to run with a major political party, a candidate must file an application with the county or state party chair and pay a filing fee. A candidate also has the option of filing a petition in lieu of the filing fee. Application and petition forms are available through local party officials or the Texas Secretary of State. The regular filing period for the primary election begins on the 30th day before the date of the regular filing deadline, which is 6 p.m. on the second Monday in December of an odd-numbered year.[6]

A chart detailing the signature and filing requirements for each particular office can be accessed here.[7]

For minor party candidates

Minor parties nominate candidates by convention. To be considered for nomination by a convention, a minor party candidate must file an application for nomination no later than 6 p.m. on the second Monday in December of an odd-numbered year, preceding the minor party’s convention. A candidate seeking nomination for a state or district office must file with the state party chair. Candidates for county or precinct offices must file applications with county party chairs.[8][9]

For independent candidates

A candidate may have his or her name placed on the general election ballot as an independent candidate if he or she is not affiliated with a political party.[10][2][11][12][13]

To run as an independent, a candidate must file a Declaration of Intent to Run as an Independent Candidate with the county judge (county or precinct offices) or the Texas Secretary of State (district and state offices) during the same filing period as major and minor party candidates.[2][14]

This paperwork must include signatures of voters who have not participated in the primary election or the runoff primary election of a party that has nominated, at either election, a candidate for the office the petitioning candidate seeks.[2][15]

A chart detailing the signature and filing requirements for each particular office can be accessed here.[2]

For write-in candidates

In order to become a write-in candidate in the general election, the candidate must file a Declaration of Write-in Candidacy with the Texas Secretary of State or the county judge, as appropriate, no later than 5 p.m. of the 78th day before general election day.[16][17]

The declaration must be accompanied by either a filing fee or a nominating petition signed by a certain number of qualified voters. A chart detailing the signature and filing requirements for each particular office can be accessed here.[16][18]

Petition requirements

In some cases, political parties and/or candidates may need to obtain signatures via the petition process to gain access to the ballot. This section outlines the laws and regulations pertaining to petitions and circulators.

Format requirements

General petition requirements related to a candidate's position on the ballot are established in Title 9, Chapter 141, Subchapter (C) of the Texas Election Code.

Circulation requirements

A person circulating a petition must:

1. before permitting a person to sign, point out and read to the person each statement pertaining to the signer that appears on the petition;
2. witness each signature;
3. ascertain that each date of signing is correct; and
4. before the petition is filed, verify each signer's registration status and ascertain that each registration number entered on the petition is correct.[19]

Petitions are also required to include an affidavit of the person who circulated it, stating that the person:

1. point out and read to the person each statement pertaining to the signer that appears on the petition, before permitting a person to sign;
2. witnessed each signature;
3. verified each signer's registration status; and
4. believes each signature to be genuine and the corresponding information to be correct.[20]

The relevant statutes do not stipulate a date on which petitions may begin to circulate.

Campaign finance

See statutes:Title 15 of the Texas Election Code

A candidate for statewide office, the state legislature, State Board of Education, or district attorney must file campaign finance reports with the Texas Ethics Commission. The candidate must file an Appointment of a Campaign Treasurer by a Candidate Form (Form CTA) with the Texas Ethics Commission when he or she becomes a candidate even if he or she does not intend to accept campaign contributions or make campaign expenditures.[21]

After a candidate has filed a form appointing a campaign treasurer, the candidate is responsible for filing periodic reports of contributions and expenditures. Filing reports is the responsibility of the candidate, not the campaign treasurer. A candidate may not accept a campaign contribution or make a campaign expenditure unless he or she has a campaign treasurer appointment on file with the Texas Ethics Commission.[21]

A report must disclose all political contributions accepted and expenditures made during the reporting period.[21]

• If a contributor contributes $50 or less during the reporting period, contributions from that contributor may be disclosed as part of a lump sum. For other contributions, the candidate must disclose the name and address of the contributor, the date of the contribution, and, for in-kind contributions, the nature and value of the contribution.[21]
• A candidate must report any campaign expenditure (regardless of whether it is made from political contributions or from personal funds) and any political expenditure (campaign or officeholder) from political contributions (regardless of whether the expenditure is a political expenditure).[21]

Required reports

The candidate must file the following reports with the Texas Ethics Commission electronically unless the filer is entitled to claim the exemption from electronic filing.

• Report After Appointment of a Campaign Treasurer: The candidate must file a report after filing a campaign treasurer appointment. This report of contributions and expenditures is due no later than 15 days after the campaign treasurer appointment was filed. This report is required even if there is no activity to report.[21]
• Personal Financial Statement: A candidate must file a financial statement within 40 days after the regular deadline for filing an application for a place on the ballot in the March primary election.
• Semiannual Reports: Every candidate and every officeholder is required to file reports of contributions and expenditures by January 15 and July 15 of each year. The candidate must file semiannual reports even if there is no activity to report for the period covered.[21]
• Final Report: If a filer expects to accept no further political contributions and to make no further political expenditures and if the filer expects to take no further action to get elected to a public office, the filer may file a final report. Filing a final report terminates a filer’s campaign treasurer appointment and relieves the filer from any additional filing obligations as a candidate.[21]

Contribution limits

No statutory limits are placed on campaign contributions in Texas.

Election-related agencies

Candidates running for office will require some form of interaction with the following agencies:

• Texas Secretary of State-Elections Division

Term limits

State executives

There are no state executive positions with certain provisions specifying the number of terms allowed.

State legislators

There are no term limits placed on Texas state legislators.

Congressional partisanship

Here is the current partisan breakdown of the congressional members from Texas as of 2014:

State legislative partisanship

Here is the current partisan breakdown of members of the state legislature of Texas as of 2014:

State Senate

State House

Recent news

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