Justia Election Law Opinion Summaries

A grassroots organization, Dallas HERO, collected over 169,000 signatures to place three proposed amendments to the City of Dallas charter on the ballot. The city council, however, proposed three additional amendments that would effectively nullify the citizen-initiated amendments by including primacy provisions. The city council's propositions were designated as Propositions K, M, and N, while the citizen-initiated propositions were designated as Propositions S, T, and U. The council passed an ordinance to include all these propositions in a special election scheduled for November 5, 2024.Relators sought emergency mandamus relief from the Fifth Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Texas, arguing that the council-initiated propositions were misleading and would confuse voters. The Fifth Court of Appeals denied the petition, stating that relators failed to comply with procedural rules and did not demonstrate entitlement to mandamus relief. The relators then brought their case to the Supreme Court of Texas.The Supreme Court of Texas held that the ballot language for the council-initiated propositions K, M, and N was misleading because it did not acknowledge the contradictions with the citizen-initiated propositions S, T, and U. The court found that the ballot language would confuse and mislead voters by omitting the effect of the primacy provisions, which are central to the council-initiated propositions. The court directed the city council to remove Propositions K, M, and N from the ballot to avoid redundancy and confusion, ensuring that the election process remains clear and comprehensible for voters. The court denied relief on the issue of amending the agreed-upon ballot language for Propositions S, T, and U, as relators were estopped from challenging it. View "IN RE DALLAS HERO" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court ruling that one of two proposed amendments to the City of Houston's charter approved by voters restricted the effectiveness of the other ballot measure, holding that on amendment included a "primary clause" that was void because it conflicted with state law.One of the amendments at the issue was submitted at the behest of the City Council, and the other was initiated by local citizens. The election ordinance included a "primacy clause" providing that the Council's proposition would prevail over the citizen-initiated proposition if voters approved the Council’s proposition by more votes than the citizens’ proposed amendment. The voters approved both amendments. The City brought suit, arguing that the second amendment did not become effective upon its adoption due to the primacy clause. Relying on the primacy clause, the trial court granted summary judgment for the City. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case, holding (1) the primacy conflicts with state law requiring that a city must adopt a charter amendment upon its approval by a majority vote; and (2) therefore, the City may not rely on the primacy clause to avoid complying with the citizen-initiated proposition. View "Hotze v. Turner" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied the petition for a writ of mandamus filed by a prospective voter in the City of San Antonio's May 2023 election, holding that sufficient post-election remedies existed that permitted the voter to challenge any weakness in the proposed amendment and its placement on the ballot.At issue was a proposed amendment that, if adopted, would amend the City Charter. Relators brought this action requesting that the Court enjoin the City from holding the special election in May, order the City Clerk or Council to separate the policy into single-issue amendments, and to amend the proposition's ballot language. The Supreme Court denied relief, holding (1) Relators' claimed injury was not a reason to remove the proposition from the ballot; (2) to dismantle the policy into pieces in advance of the election deprived the petition signatories of their right to have their amendment considered by the voters as it was proposed; and (3) Relators failed to show that they were entitled to relief in the form of amending the proposition's ballot language. View "In re Morris" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied an emergency mandamus action sought by Republican Party candidates in the November 2022 general election to remove their Libertarian Party opponents for failure to pay a statutory filing fee, holding that the petition was untimely.The Supreme Court denied the Republican's petition asserting that the Texas Election Code requires exclusion of the Libertarian candidates from the ballot without resolving he merits of the parties' dispute because the petition did not comport with recent instruction that "invoking judicial authority in the election context requires unusual dispatch." The Supreme Court denied the petition, holding that the petition did not comport with recent instruction that "invoking judicial authority in the election context requires unusual dispatch." View "In re Self" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the trial court dismissing the claims brought by the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) and the claim brought by a group of plaintiffs referred to as the Gutierrez Plaintiffs that the recently enacted laws reapportioning Texas's legislative districts violate Tex. Const. art. III, 26, holding that the trial court erred in part.MALC and the Gutierrez Plaintiffs sued Defendants - various State officials - claiming that the laws at issue violated Article III, Sections 26 and 28. Defendants filed pleas to the jurisdiction, which the trial court largely denied. The Supreme Court reversed in part and remanded the case to the trial court, holding (1) MALC lacked associational standing to pursue its claims; (2) at least one of the Gutierrez Plaintiffs had standing to pursue each claim a proper defendant, but not the State; (3) the Gutierrez Plaintiffs' section 26 was not barred by sovereign immunity, but the section 28 claim was; and (4) the Gutierrez Plaintiffs should have the opportunity to replead their section 26 claim against a proper defendant. View "Abbott v. Mexican American Legislative Caucus" on Justia Law

Senate Bill 1, the Election Integrity Protection Act of 2021, 87th Leg., 2d C.S., ch. 1, 1.01, was intended “to make all laws necessary to detect and punish fraud” in connection with elections. A federal district court preliminarily enjoined enforcement of its provisions making it an offense for certain officials to “solicit[]” the submission of applications to vote by mail from persons who have not requested such applications" and that impose civil penalties for violations.On appeal, the Fifth Circuit certified three questions to the Supreme Court: whether one plaintiff, a volunteer deputy registrar, is a “public official” to whom the antisolicitation provision applies; whether certain types of speech constitute “solicitation” under that provision; and whether the Attorney General can enforce the civil penalties. The parties subsequently agreed that the answer to the first and third questions is no. With respect to the second certified question, the Texas Supreme Court answered that the statute’s definition of “solicits” is not so narrowly limited as to cover only seeking applications for violative mail-in ballots, nor is it so broad as to cover speech that merely informs listeners that they may apply. The court declined to provide a comprehensive definition of “solicits” under Election Code Section 276.016(a)(1). View "Paxton v. Longoria" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted relief in this mandamus action and directed the secretary of the city of West Lake Hills to accept Linda Anthony's application and place her on the ballot as a candidate for Mayor of the City of West Lake Hills, holding that Anthony was entitled to relief.Anthony, the current Mayor of West Lake Hills, submitted a 2022 ballot application that left blank the box for the applicant's occupation. The city secretary rejected the application because it did not provide all of the information required by Tex. Elec. Code 141.031, thus excluding Anthony from a place on the ballot as candidate for mayor. The Supreme Court conditionally granted relief, holding (1) Anthony's application was not defective for failing to list an occupation when she currently had no paid employment; and (2) therefore, the city secretary had no discretion to reject Anthony's application. View "In re Anthony" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied Relators' petition for writs of mandamus arguing that the Harris County Commissioners Court had stripped more than one million Texans of their right to vote for a commissioner in the 2022 election, holding that this petition could not go forward under settled precedents sharply limiting judicial authority to intervene in ongoing elections.Relators asked the Court to enjoin the use of a map enacted by the commissioners court, claiming to be in possession of an alternative map that lawfully redrew precincts without excluding any voter from consecutive county-commissioner elections. The Supreme Court denied the writ, holding that this Court lacked the ability to address the merits of this petition due to certain timing and nature-of-relief problems discussed in this opinion. View "In re Khanoyan" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief and directed the Austin City Council to revise the ballot language for a proposed ordinance that would establish minimum standards for the Austin Police Department "to enhance public safety and police oversight, transparency, and accountability," holding that Relator was entitled to relief, in part.The City Council chose to place the proposed ordinance before the voters for approval at the next general election. Rather than use the caption set for in the petition as the ballot language, the City Council approved its own description of the ordinance to be used and the ballot using language that differed materially from the caption in the petition. Relator brought this proceeding challenging the chosen ballot language. The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief, holding (1) the City correctly determined that the caption's omission of the ordinance's financial impact violated state law, requiring modification; but (2) the Austin City Charter forbade the remainder of the City's revisions to the petitioned caption. View "In re Petricek" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted a petition for writ of mandamus and directed the Austin City Council to delete the word "anyone" from a proposed ordinance before placing it on the ballot, holding that Relators clearly established their entitlement to mandamus relief in one respect.The council's ballot language said the proposed ordinance created a criminal offense and penalty for anyone sitting or lying down on a public sidewalk or sleeping outdoors in or near downtown and for anyone camping in a public area not designated by the Parks and Recreation Department. The ordinance, however, did not apply "to anyone" who engaged in the enumerated activities but, rather, only a subset of those who engaged in the covered behavior could be penalized under the ordinance. The Supreme Court conditionally granted in part the petition for writ of mandamus, holding that the word "anyone" in the ballot language threatened to mislead the voters. View "In re Durnin" on Justia Law