Elections and Voter Information

Voter Information

Limited Ballot Voters and District Chart

To: County Clerks/Elections Administrators
From: Ann McGeehan, Director of Elections
Date: September 29, 2010
RE: Limited Ballot Voters and District Chart (Chapter 112, Texas Election Code)

A registered voter who has moved from the county in which he or she is registered to a new county of residence in Texas, and who will not be registered to vote in the new county on or before November 2, 2010 may be eligible to vote a “limited ballot” in the new county of residence in the upcoming November 2, 2010 General Election under the following conditions:

A person entitled to vote a limited ballot may vote on all statewide races and any district offices that are in common between the former and new counties of residence. Per Section 112.007 of the Texas Election Code, you must attempt to verify the person’s registration status before they are allowed to vote.

You must use your district chart and mark out or otherwise obscure all other races on the ballot. The district chart indicates each district race in your county, as well as the district races in other Texas counties. The district chart is to assist you in determining the races for which eligible voters may vote when applying for a limited ballot. The district chart does not detail precincts that are in common if your county contains only part of a district. If a voter moves from one county to another and the county is split by a district, the early voting clerk in the new county must contact the clerk in the old county to determine if the district race is in common. The number under the race name is the district number of the race.

Voters may vote using this limited ballot procedure only during the early voting period, which is October 18, 2010 through October 29, 2010. A person may vote a limited ballot in person only at the main early voting location.

Voters who vote under this procedure must complete an application for limited ballot (Form 5-28). You must indicate on the application, the district offices for which the voter is entitled to vote. In any case, the voter may not vote on county or precinct offices, and those races must be marked off the ballot. (Local offices like cities are discussed below). If the voter is voting by mail, the voter must also complete an application for ballot by mail. Voters who vote in person will be added to a poll list called "Poll List of Limited Voters" (Form 5-30) rather than signing the early voting combination form.

You are required to notify the voter registrar of the former county that the voter has voted under this procedure (Form 5-29). This will allow the voter registrar of the former county to cancel the voter's registration.

The limited ballot application also serves as a voter registration application. You must forward a copy of the limited ballot application to the voter registrar in your county so the voter will get registered to vote in their new county.

Joint Elections with Local Jurisdictions

Please remember that per Sections 112.003 and 112.004 of the Texas Election Code, if you are conducting a local election in conjunction with the November 2, 2010 General Election, a voter may only vote in the local election if he or she was a resident of that political subdivision (and any territorial unit such as single-member district) both before and after their address change.

Casting and Counting Limited Ballots by Voting Method
Casting the Vote Counting the Vote

DREs

  • Provide an early voting by mail ballot to voter.
  • Using the same type of marking instrument provided to voters, the election custodian must mark through ineligible district offices and county and precinct offices AND overvote the marks next to those races, in the event the voter attempts to vote in the ineligible races anyway.
    Note: on some systems making a mark next to an uncontested race will result in a vote for that uncontested local race. In this instance, please do not mark the oval or arrow next to the uncontested candidate’s name.
  • Voter places voted limited ballot in a container or ballot box specially designated for limited ballots.

DREs-Option #1

  • Hand count the voter’s choices. These numbers are manually added to the vote results in the election management system

DREs-Option #2

  • The election custodian lines thru the serial number on the ballot to render it unreadable by the optical scan machine.
  • Duplicate into Ballot Programming System.

DREs-Option #3

  • Run the ballot through the tabulator in the same manner as the regular by mail ballots. Don’t forget to review the ballot first to ensure that no votes were cast for ineligible races; if they were, the ballot should be duplicated (See Option #2 above).

Optical Scan method

  • Provide an optical scan ballot (from whatever source is available (by mail, early voting in person, or extra election day precinct).
  • The election custodian at the main early voting location lines thru the serial number on the ballot to render it unreadable by the optical scan machine. OR Using the same type of marking instrument provided to voters, the election custodian must mark through ineligible district offices and county and precinct offices AND overvote the marks next to those races, in the event the voter attempts to vote in the ineligible races anyway but leave serial number intact for counting by tabulator.
    Note: on some systems making a mark next to an uncontested race will result in a vote for that uncontested local race.  In this instance, please do not mark the oval or arrow next to the uncontested candidate’s name.
  • Voter places voted limited ballot in regular ballot box designated for early voters or a container or ballot box specially designated for limited ballots, depending on the direction by the local elections custodian.

Optical Scan method-Option #1

  • Hand count the voter’s choices. These numbers are manually added to the vote results in the election management system.

Optical Scan method-Option #2

  • (If not done prior to voting) The election custodian lines thru the serial number on the ballot to render it unreadable by the optical scan machine.
  • Duplicate voted ballot onto a new optical scan ballot. Record the number of the duplicated ballot onto the new ballot.
  • Run new ballot through tabulator.

Optical Scan method-Option #3

  • Run the ballot through the tabulator. Don’t forget to review the ballot first to ensure that no votes were cast for ineligible races; if they were, the ballot should be duplicated (See Option #2 above)

We recommend using similar methods if you are creating a “federal office only” ballot pursuant to Chapter 114, Election Code.

If you have any questions regarding limited balloting, please contact the Elections Division at 1-800-252-2216.

AM:MH:ket
District Chart (PDF, 228k)