Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1944 )

OFFICE OF THE AriORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
Eonomblo BUnof L&mm
88orotar oi Btate
Au8tln. g uaa
tated Civil
OonBtrusd in
8ral.a Oplnlon
so . 1QU,
was held that Arti-
ha ariidatit thsrein
ra l
lleo tloonnly.
er prevalmt opinion among
ofrlaiala that the reoent
08 supreme court in the Lunnlo
tend the oonstruattonto be plaoea
refom plsmo advise thin department
q0n the r0fi0uf ng tnquiryt
w0ola the a.rria.wit to support the constitution
and lake 0s the thittea state0 and or ~~38 bs riled by
Osndidatea in the prisary olaatlon8 aa well aa by oan-
dldates in the general lleotion?"
&id &lole EXi78a,Yernon'r nnnoteted Clvll Statutea.
Wden, in mubstanao,that no oanaiaate ror any office ahall have
za naum appear u&m the offlalal~ballotunless and until he tiles
! Ptfldarltwith the seoretary or State, in form 88 presorlbsd
V .. the attorney Gfmeral, that li eleatea he will i3upport-a asrend
-norable aidney Latham, page 2 ; 246
the Constitutionand laws oi the United States and of Texas.
That hs believes in, approvesof and if eleated will support
and dsrend our present representativerorm or government,and
will realst any 8rr0rt or moveunsntmm any sour00 whloh seeks
to subvert or destroy the same or any part thereor. Ssotion
2 thereof provides that the name or no candidate or nominee or
any polltloal party whose prlnolplsslnalude any thought or pur-
p080~or sstting mat8 reprssentatlver0ti 0r government aa aub-
atituting thereior any other form of goverumsntshall be permitted
on said orilalal ballot. Ssatloti3 of said Article provides that
no 0~aidfm or nomlnse 0r the Conmun~stParty, or the Baolst Party
0r the rSss1Party, shall ever be tcti0w8a a plaoe on eaia 0rri0ial
ballot.
our said Opinion Bo. 0+2S holds, In substenos, that
Bouss Bill 222 (ArtSole 2978a) 10 limited by its oaptlon to general
eleotlons;sald~Artials2978aj notwithstand~ing its broad langnags
inoludlnggeneral and primary elsatlons,should be given effeot
only within suoh limits prescribedby its caption, i, e., the
oiflalal ballot in general eleotlous.
We shall not attempt here to interpret generallythe
hold- oi the United Statsa Supreme court in the oase of Lonnie
E. Smith, Petitioner,v. 5. B. A.llwrlghtj:Eleotlon Judge, and James
.E..
I&IBM, Aseoalats Elsotion fudge, 48th Prealnot of Barr18 County,
Texas, rendered on April 3, 1944.
However, ior the purpose or answering your query, m
p0lnt out that the orux 0r such holding seem'to be expressed in
ths w&de of said Court aa followa:
"We think that this statutory systsmibr the
selection0r party nomlneea ror lnoluslon on the
general e&eatlon ballot make8 the party which 1s re-
quired to follow these legislativedireotlons an
agsnoy of the stats in so far as it determines the
participantsln a primary slsctl0n.s * *
"When prlmarieabeoama a part of the maohinery
ror ohoosingofiioials-,stats and national, as they
havs hers, the same tests to determine the oharacter
ot dissr@ination or abridgementshould be applied
to the primary as are applied to the general eleation."
@norable sianey Latixm,p’s@ 9
-L
A$ 1u, pbO0 in Sda OpiRiOna008 the cOUrt Ownly OOn-
fuse tb identity or gonotionor a primary*lsetlOnwith that of
a gen~ai 0i00ti0n, thou& it a008 bda, aa shorn In the next
abote qt&ation, that thq are eaoh part8 of tho aame Waohlnory
fur oho&n(l orrioiala,state and national,"*hioh la, in ltaslr,
_0 qlstinotion between the two.
IO th#i&.ltir 810~ that the Court in rcUerrlngto
*the 8s.w toot8 to dstenninothe oharaotoror dimwimlnationor
lb r idmmw ,”t areant those tmt,s provIdeafor in the Fodoral Con-
The qaeetlon.oi the applioabllltfand oonstruotlonor
16 89?8a was not before tho Coort,atidamm is not msn-
lithar air0otly or lndlr0otl~, in 6da opinion.
18 any baa18 to r0m that the
i&M ot al. oai., supra, morgue tb
with that0r a pnordl on0 M, ari
sxolu8lvolyto one, aDply tu
this department that Ouzl
the hQldin6~sxprbsssd there-
8 (A*1010 2978a)apply $0
atiollil,
and ln genotialelections
Your* very truly
ATTORWEY 02IUCRAL OF TEL%9 :
l&-&A?. t?zzzzm 99.:
BY
Robert L. Lattlmore,Jr.
Ass,istan t
'.