Election Advisory No. 2018-06
| To: | County Clerks/Elections Administrators and County Chairs | |
| From: | Keith Ingram, Director of Elections |
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| Date: | January 25, 2018 | |
RE: |
Joint Primary Election Signage |
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House Bill 1735 (85th Legislature, RS, 2017), amended Section 172.126 of the Texas Election Code by adding Subsection (g-1). The added subsection provides that, to the extent possible, in a joint primary election or joint primary runoff election, a voter must be allowed privacy when indicating the voter’s choice as to which political party’s primary or primary runoff the voter chooses to vote in. The subsection also provides that a voter may indicate, without verbalizing, the voter’s choice by pointing to which party’s ballot the voter choses and gives the Secretary of State the authority to prescribe a sign to inform voters of this option. The sign must be posted in each polling place beside the signature roster.
In accordance with Section 172.126(g-1), our office prescribes the following parameters for signage notifying voters of the option of nonverbally selecting a primary ballot:
- Signage must be on ONE sheet of paper of standard size (8.5 in. X 11 in.).
- Signage must be in standard font that is of sufficient size to be legible to a voter completing the signature roster.
- Signage must inform voters that they have the option of selecting a ballot by indicating, without verbalizing, their choice of ballot by pointing.
- Signage may also include party designations that voters may point to in order to indicate their choice of ballot.
- If signage includes party designations, the party designation areas must be completely equal to one another with respect to size on the page and font size.
- Signage must meet all applicable bilingual or multi-lingual requirements.
The party may create their own form; however, the Secretary of State has prescribed a sample form. It is located in the County Chair Forms Manual and the Main Election Forms Manual Main Election Forms Manual and is listed as “Sign for Joint Primary Election.”
House Bill 1735 also amended Section 172.127 of the Texas Election Code to provide that the presiding judge or alternate presiding judge for a precinct polling place in a primary or primary runoff election may post signs at the polling place identifying the names of, or symbols representing, any political party holding an election at the polling place. The posted signs may not refer to a candidate or a measure on the ballot. The amended section also gives the Secretary of State authority to prescribe rules in order to provide that signs posted in the same county by different political parties are of similar size and format.
In accordance with Section 172.127, our office prescribes the following parameters for signage identifying political parties holding a primary or primary runoff election at a polling place:
- Signage must be on ONE sign no larger than medium poster size (18 in. X 24 in.)
- Signage may designate the party holding the primary or primary election by naming the party, using a symbol to represent the party, or both
- If more than one political party is holding a primary election or primary runoff election in the same county, the signs must be completely equal to one another with respect to size, font and font size used on the signs
If you have any questions or situations that are not covered by this memo, please do not hesitate to contact the Elections Division toll-free at 1-800-252-2216.
KI:CA
