Laws governing direct democracy in Texas
From Ballotpedia
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Texas citizens have statewide access to just one of the six common forms of direct democracy--they can ratify or reject constitutional amendments to the Texas Constitution placed on the ballot by the Texas State Legislature. Fifteen states besides Texas afford their citizens just this form of direct democracy on a statewide level; those states are Alabama, Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.
The rules governing how the Texas legislature can propose a new amendment are set out in Article 17 of the Texas Constitution.
Joint resolution
For a proposed constitutional amendment to go before the people, the Texas State Legislature must propose the amendment in a joint resolution of both the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives. The joint resolution can originate in either the House or the Senate.
The resolution must be adopted by a vote of at least two-thirds of the membership of each house of the legislature. That amounts to a minimum of 100 votes in the House of Representatives and 21 votes in the Senate.
Amendments may be proposed in either regular or special sessions.
Joint resolutions endorsing a proposed amendment must include the text of the proposed constitutional amendment and specify an election date. These joint resolutions may include more than one proposed amendment.
Ballot number
If more than one proposition is under consideration on a ballot, the Texas Secretary of State conducts a random drawing to assign each proposition a ballot number.
Re-submission
If voters reject an amendment, the legislature can resubmit it. For example, after Proposition 2 was rejected in August 1991, the legislature re-adopted it and re-submitted it for that year's November ballot, where it was approved as Texas Proposition 13 (1991).
Ballot language
The ballot wording of a proposition is specified in the joint resolution adopted by the Legislature, which has broad discretion in this matter. Texas courts have heard challenges to proposed ballot wording but have generally ruled that "ballot language is sufficient if it describes the proposed amendment with such definiteness and certainty that voters will not be misled."[1]
A brief explanatory statement of the nature of each proposed amendment, along with the ballot wording for each amendment, must be published twice in each newspaper in the state that prints official notices. The first notice must be published 50 to 60 days before the election. The second notice must be published on the same day of the subsequent week. The secretary of state must send a complete copy of each amendment to each county clerk, who must post it in the courthouse at least 30 days prior to the election.
The secretary of state drafts the ballot explanation. This must be approved by the Texas Attorney General.
Election date
The Legislature may call an election for voter consideration of proposed constitutional amendments on any date, as long as election authorities have sufficient time to provide notice to the voters and print the ballots.
Effective date
Constitutional amendments take effect when the official vote canvass confirms statewide majority approval, unless a later date is specified. Statewide election results are tabulated by the secretary of state and must be canvassed by the governor 15 to 30 days following the election.
See also
External links
- Amendments to the Texas Constitution from 1876-2008
- Rules governing how the Texas Constitution can be amended through direct vote of the people
