Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1957 )

TEEAA~TORNEYGENERAL
OF TEXAS
AUS’FIN ai.TExas
February 4, 1957
Hon. Carlton Moore, Sr. Opinion No. WW-16
House of Representatives
Capitol Station Re: Authority of Legislature to re-
Austin, Texas quire a rendition of real
property as a prerequisite
Dear Mr. Moore: to voting in bond elections.
Your letter requesting our opinion relative to the captioned
matter reads, in part, a& follows:
“As Chairman of the Committee on Privtleges,
Suffrage, and Elections, I have before me a Bill
regarding rendition of property for the purpose of
voting in bond elections. I would like to know lf we
can make the law read ‘real property’. In other
words, we feel that a person owning a watch or an
automobile should not have the right to straddle
millions of dollars of bonds on real property owners’
backs as, after all, they are the ones who have t6
pay the taxes.”
Section 3s of Article VI of the Texas Constitution reads as:.
follows:
“When an election is held by any county, or
any number of counties, or any political sub-division
of the Sta,te, or any political sub-division of a county,
or any defined district now or hereafter to be
described and defined within the State and which may
or may not include towns, villages or municipal
corporations, or any city, town or village, for the
purpose of issuing bonds or otherwise lending credit,
or expending money or assuming any debt, only
qualified electors who own taxable property in the .-
State, county, political subdivision, district, city, town
or village where such election is held, and who have
duly rendered the same for taxation, shall be qualified
to vote and all electors shall vote in the election
precinct of their residence.”
You will note that the above quoted constitutional provision
states “. . . who own taxable property in the State, county, political
sub-division, district, city, town or village where such election is
held, and who have duly rendered the same for taxation, shall be
Hon. Carlton Moore, SE, page 2 (WW-16)
qualified to vote. . .” (Emphasis added.)
Our courts have held that the phrase “kixable property”
as used in Section 3a of Article VI of the Constitution includes person-
al as well as real property. Lucchese v. MaueFman, 195 S.$‘.Zd
4.22 (1947, writ. ref. n.r.e.); Border v. Abell, 111 S.W.2a I186’ (1937).
The Attorney General in 1934 in an opinion recorded in
Volume 353, page 536 written by Pat Dougherty, held Article 2955-b,
V.C.S. (since repealed), which attempted to confine the legal
qualificatltins of a voter at bond elections to owner~ship and rendition
of real property, to be unconstitutional.
The Court in Public Utilities Corporatidn v. Holland, 123
S.W.2d 1028 (1938 writ dism.) in construing Article VI, Section 3s.
Texas Cdnstitution, held that ‘all persons WLO had paid their ~$011
tax and who owned taxable property, either real or personal-,. we.re
qualified to vote if their property was rendered for taxation.. The
Court discussed said repealed Article 2955b wl+lch attempted to
restrict the right to vote in bond elections to those who Owned and
rendered real property.
The Attorney General in later opikons O-6175 (1944) and
O-1178 (1939) held said repealed Article 2955b, V.C.S., to be uncon-
stitutional as contravening Section 3a of Article VI of the Constitution.
It is therefore our opinion that an Act of the Legislature
which provides that persons voting in bond elections must own and
render real property for taxation would conflict with Section 3a of
Article VI of the Texas Constitution and be, for that reason,
unconstitutional.
SUMMARY
An Act of the Legislature which provides that
persons voting in bond elections must own and
render real property for taxation would conflict
with Section 3a of Article VI of the Texas
Constitution and be, for that reason, unconstitu-
tional.
Yours very truly,
APPROVED: WILL WILSON
Attorney General of Texas
OPINION COMMITTEE
H. Grady Chandler, Chairman
WVG: cs BY
Assistant