Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1944 )

.“,. .
Miss Catherine Lyne Barnhill
County Attorney, Bee County
Beeville, Texas
Dear Miss Barnhill: Opinion No. O-6103
Re: Filing date of an independent
candidate for sheriff and re-
lated matters.
Your letter of’Jnly 5, 1944, requesting the opinion of
this department regarding the questions stated therein is as follows:
“I should like to request an opinion as to wheth-
er under Articles 3157 et seq an independent candidate
for Sheriff in the general election, can file before the
Democratic Primaries July 22, or whether said inde-
pendent candidate for Sheriff should wait until after the
Primary, and file within 30 days thereafter? I should
like to have the ruling of the department on whether
the enclosed application as prepared meets the require-
ments of the statute.
“G. W. Robinson, Box 183, Port Isabel, Texas,
has signified his intention of filing as an independent
candidate for Sheriff in the General Election in Bee
County. He is quite anxious to obtain this ruling, as
he filed too late to have his name appear on the ballot
in theDemocratic Primary.”
Article 3162, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes, prop-
vides:
“Independent candidates for office at a county,
city or town election may have their names printed
upon the official ballot on application to the County
Judge, if for a county office, or to the Mayor, if for
a city or town office, such application being in the
same form and subject to the same requirements
herein prescribed for applications to be made to
the Secretary of State in case of State or District
Miss Catherine Lyne Barnhill, page 2
Independent nominations; provided, that a petition
of five per cent of the entire vote cast in such coun-
ty, city or town at the last general election shall be
required for such nomination..”
It will be noted that Article 3162, supra, requires the
applications of candidates for a county office to be in the same
form and subject to the same requirements, prescribed for appli-
cations to be made to the Secretary of State in case of Stats or Dis-
trict Independent nominations; provided, that a petition of five per
cent of the entire vote cast in such county at the last general elec-
tion shall be required for such nomination.
Article 315,9, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes, per-
taining to non-partisan and independent candidates for nomination
to State ordistrict offices provides, in part, as follows:
“***A written application signed by qualified
voters addressed to the Secretary of State and de-
livered to him within thirty days after primary e-
lection day as follows:
In answer to your first question, you are respectfully
advised that it is the opinion of this department that the independent
candidate for Sheriff should wait until after the general primary and
file his application with the County Judge within thirty days thereafter,
provided, of course, as heretofore stated, the petition must be signed
by at least five per cent of the entire vote cast in such county at the
last general election and that every citizen who signs such application
shall be administered the oath prescribed by Article 3160, Vernon%
Annotated Civil Statutes.
Article 3160, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes, reads
as follows:
“To every citizen who signs such application,
shall be administred the following oath, which shall
be reduced to writing and attached to such applica-
tion, viz: ‘I know the contents of the foregoing appli-
cation; I have participated in no primary election
which has noz+iinated a candidate for the office for
which I (here insert the name) desire to be a candi-
date; I am a qualified voter at the next general elec-
tion under the Constitution and laws in fbrce, and
-.
1.. .
Miss Catherine Lyne Barnhill, page 3
have signed the above application of my own free
will.,’ One certificate of the officer before whom
the oath is taken may be so made as to all to whom
it was administered.”
With reference to the enclosed application, it is noted
that said application pertaining to the oath to be administered by
each citizen who signs the application follows substantially the oath
prescribed by Article 3160, supra, however, one word has been omit-
ted in the oath which is prescribed by said statutes. The oath reads,
in part: “I participated in no primary election which has nominated
***- and the statute provides “I have participated in no primary e-
lection.” The word “have” is omitted in the application. We suggest
that the oath prescribed by Article 3160 be followed as set out in said
statute. Stated differently, ,the oath should be in the same language as
provided by Article 3160, otherwise, the application complies with the
statute applicable thereto.
,Yours very truly,
ATTORNEYGENERALOFTEXAS
By /s/ Ardell Williams
Ardell Williams
Assistant
AW :EP:he
APPROVED JULY 13, 1944
/s/ E. G, Blackburn
(Acting) ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
APPROVED
Opinion Committee
By /s/BWB, Chairman