Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

January 30, 1964
KotioMble'JackIi.Holland ~OplalonNo. C-212
Cijtirity
Attorney.
%iiti&+30n~-~C0hnty He: Whether thePedera1 C&sire
Athens ,Texas
. Is the exclusl*e-,Iialilti
for"
..determlning.licipulaeion"‘of
city nith,respect'to.‘I'``di~
ment for..obtalnlngexeaiptl6n
certiflca$es,,under..thepr'o-
visions of the Election Ride
baa amended by the 9th Legls-
Dear-Sir: 'lature.
:
Your request fbr an opinion of thie office reads as
follous:
..;On'Decemberxl;--1962, by your ~pitiida
~o:~.~-14~1,``you~adtriaed me that a resident
~6f"theeCityof.At+en.s,,T+as.nhois over 60
years.of,age Iq.;pquiFd;.$oobtain"iTPoll,
Tax-bxemption'aertlflcate '~
in order to be.
entitled to vote. This opinion was based
on the fact that the City Council of the
.'6r~.~of':dthenB,~-had;'by,~soLutioa,deter-
hiined:tha%ltspopulation3iasmore'than-
1~,~00'.~peopl``?the~by maklng'effeotive
~Artlbl~e-'~il6``~.:~the~Sexas
;BlectlonCode,
,desplte'ths'.'rac%that .the:lastSederal
oenaus.placed~2;h&.populatlon.of,&heCity
ofAthens at lk.m’4&an 1O;OOO persons.
‘"I.note;that:~Artlcle
5.16:~ the :Texas
Electlon:Codp``haebeen 'amendedand a new
Article &Old-has been added, both by the
58th :Leglslaturei2 iiotefurther that the
new Article .l;Ola(~c)~
provides 'thatthe
Federal oenaus shall~.be;thebasis for deter-
mining population under the provisions of
the Election Code. The population figtires
~'forthe Clty.of Athens are the same as they
were when my original opinion was requested.
-1021-
Hon. Jack H. Holland, page 2 (C-212 )
"I would appreciateyour opinion as to
whether the new Article l.Ola of the Election
Code now applies to the facts upon which the
orlginal.oplnlonwas based, thereby doing
away wlth'the requirement that a resident of
Athens .iMer60 years of age
the'.City..of
obt&ln a Poll Tax exemption certificate
before he will be qualified to vote."
By the provisions of Article 5.16 of Vernonls'Texas
Electlon'Code,every voter exempt from payment of the poll tax.
bn thegroundof overage who resides in a city of 10,000 or more
lfihabltantsIs required to obtain an annual exemption certificate
by the 31st day of January In order to vote at elections held
dufirigthe ensuing year. At the time Opinion No. WW-1491 was
'weltten(December 11, 1962), neither Article 5.16 of the Election
'Code'norany other statute or constitutionalprovision prescribed
'the'~:method
by which the population of a city was to be ascertained
ftirthe purpose of determiningwhether Article 5.16 was applicable
to the voters residing therein. The only constltutlonalprovlalon
touchingupon this requirementIs found in Article VI, Section 4,
which authorizesthe Legislature to make such regulationsas may
be necessaryto detect and punish fraud and preserve the purity
of the ballot box, and states that "the Legislaturemay provide
by law for the registrationof all.voters In all cities containing
a populationof ten thousand Inhabitants or more." Texas Power'&
111 S.W.2d 1225 (Tex.
208 S.W.2d 412
147 Tex. 70;212 S.W.2d
In this state of the law, Opln&on No. WW-1491 held that
cities of more than 10,000 Inhabitants have a constltutlonally-
vested Interest In the qualificationsof persons who vote In their
city elections,and that where the City Council of the City of
Athens, a home-rule city, had determined by use of a reasonable
mode of procedure that the city's population was In excess of
10,000 Inhabitants,the provisions of Article 5.16 of the Election
Code were applicable to voters residing in that city. Cases cited
In supportof the holding Include City of Tyler v. Tyler Building
& Loan AssIn, 98 Tex. 69, 81 S.W. 2 (1904) Wllllams v. Castleman,
12 T 193 247 S.W. 263 (1922); city of'Houston v. City f
Magna% Park 115 Tex. 101 276 S W btQ ( 925) Town of Freeport
V. Sellers, 144 Tex. 389, 140 S.W.Gd.813 (1i45);;and
Farmersvlllev. Texas-LouisianaPower Co., 33 S.W.2d ,.,x.clv.
APP. 19301.
In 1963 the Legislatureamended the Election Code
-1022-
Hon. Jack H. Holland, page 3 (C-212)
tijiiddArticle l.Ola, containing the following provision as
paragraph (c) thereof:
"(.c).TheUnited States decennial census of
date Immediately precedlng,theaction -1n:questlon
shall be the~'baslsfor determiningpopulation
under-any rovlaloh of this Code." Acts 58th:%eg:,
lg63,,ch. E24, sec. 2;~. 1017.
!Rilaact.took effect on August.23,.1963. In this c&nedtlon;it
;may be Mted.;that the 58th Legislaturealso passed.a.lar'Houatou``.~C%tyof,Map;nollaPark, supra.
Here, the constitutionalgrant of power under which
Article 5.16.-of