Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
a* c MANN
All----
Honorable V. 0. ?darehall., Ohairman Soil Conservetlon EOt%4 sttte
Profestionsl BulldIne
Temple, Texas
Dear Sirr
This will no pt of pour letter of Oatobfc 19, requeet on rr05 this depart-
o? 'PornpIe is the preolno8 ot l%ndownen tot0 who lirs eide the eorperste l5mlt# within this prsalnat OS the pririlqp of rotin~.
@The purpose of the S.&u aa ie written, an4 the prooielons under whish it mwt be earrisd out, seems to be such ~6 plsaea the Beard ohrged *2 Hon. V. C. Marehall, Pace 2
with the responsIbIlIty of aarrplne the law ;;t, In an llnpoaalbla position. Our question
: Is it possible for the State Board to proaaed with electiona ior the oreatlon of Sol1 Conservation Districts an4 meet the re- quirements OS the law as wrltten'lv
COnstruing your question whioh Is In Itself verF broad, along with the iaota furnished an4 the Attorney hen- eral'e Opinions Numbers O-906, 0-lEO4, O-1383 an4 O-1496, us 4eduoe that ou want to know whether an elaation ha14 aa provided In i eotioh 5, subdIvIsIons c, D an4 R of ths Stats 9011 Conaaroation Aot, Ii. B. No. 20, 46th Legislature, will be legal IT the "voting boxv or vpol1I.u~ plaae" (where the votes are oaat) Is looatad within tha corporate limits of a oity; that Is, where the preolnot Itsalf embraoea territory Iu the oity Unit6 an4 territory outside the olty 1Imlts.
Frequently, ths term Voting box* arid "voting are used loosely as having the same meaning. i7e preainat~ aeorlbe to them CIff.%rent meanings. Voting praolnot" has reference to an area defined as suah by the oounty oom- misslonera~ oourt. Artfoles 2933, 2934, an4 E935, R. C. S. of Texas, 1925. Voting box" has refersnoe to the plaoe or looatlon where the alsotlon Itself is held, tha WpollIng plaoew. Artloles 2931 an4 2932, R. C. S. of Texas.
Iu our latter and example, you reter to the *Tecupla west it ountry boxW ae being a plaoe within tha aor- porate limIts~,oi Temple whera people vote. It Is assume4 that you we the word Voting box* In the sam mm80 as we. Or4lnerIly, suoh an arraneemant would present no problem, so long aa tha loaatlon OZ ths "voting bat* was within the boundaries of the praolnot. Rowever, It as in municipal would present a problem In sums oa8eY elections whloh has been taken oars o by statuts. ArtioleS i
2931, 2934 an4 2951, R. C. S. of Texas 1925. No such OX- provIsIons have bean made for the elaotions IuquIrs4 press about by you. The pertinent provision8 of tha S0f.l Wn- servation Aat, supra, hereafter referred to as the Aot, are as tolloW0:
"C. . . To assist the Boar4 In tha de- tarmInatIon of auoh a4miuIetretive praatiaa- bIlIty an4 fsaeIbIlItp, It ahall'be tha 4ut i& of tha Board, within a reasonable time a en$ry of the findine that there is usa4 far *3 Hon. V. C. Earshall, Pace 3
the or~anlxatIon OS the proposed dlstrlot and the determination of the boundsrise thereof, to hold an eleatlon within the propose4 4Istriot UPon the ProPosltlon of the creation or the dlstrlot, and to OQU8e due not100 OS suoh
eleatlo:~ to be Riven, whloh notioe shall set forth the boundaries of the proposed 4IstrIot.
. . ."
"D. The Eoaf4 shall pay all expenses Sor the issuanoe OS suoh notioes a~& the conduot OS suoh hearlugs an4 eleotlons, and shall supervisa the oonduot OS suoh hearlnps and elaotious. lt h 11 I mropriate regulations g ovemlIng- :h: oonde::; :I' suoh h earlnus and eleati one, and provldl nfi for the regletratlon prior to the date OS the cieatlon OS all eligible voters. All such elcctlons held uuder the provisiona OS this Act shall be In oonformltp with the General Leo- tion Laws of thle state, except as herein otherwise provided, an4 sroept that the ballot shall not be numbered or marke4 Sor I4entIfIoatIon purposes.
*E. The Boar4 shall publish the result of such eleatIon an4 shall thrreafter oonslder ah& determine whether the operation of the dlstrlot within the defined boundaries Is e4mInIstratIvely praotloable an4 feasible . . .v (Underaoorlng ours)
Elections he14 under the State Soil Conservation Aot are napecial el--:otIons" as oontraated with *general electIonsw, and being such, we look first to the Aat an4 Its moessary Implloatlons for thr prooedure to be Sollowed.
Xallis v. H. S. Williama, 101 Tex. 396. The Aot elves the State Board broad authority with reterenoe to Cleotions provided Sor therein8 It merely directs that they be held in oonformity to the General Eleotlon Laws. In our opinion, this 1s merely a gensral dlrrotion to the Boar4 apb as t0 the details of the elaotlon suoh as 4eaIgnatIn8 polling pleaes, the dlaoretion la nlth the State Board. This position ia SortiSle by the feat that there is nothing In the General Eleotion Laws speoISloallY Provi4ing that all eleotlons shall be held at the *pollIne PlaQes" ox "voting boxes* deal~mted by the County COmmIssIeners' Court; au4 further, by the Seat that there Is nothIng in
Hon. V. C. Marshall, Page 4 the Ganaral xleOtiOn Lai%¶ speolfying What Or body shall per8On designate the wpolling pLecee”, it being merely implied that the person or body in charge of the eleation shall do so. The Board would hsvs the same authority in this reapeat as would the Commlsslonere* Court or city oOuOi1, with t0 eleotlone vihlah they “oonduot and supervise*. reSp8Ot
It has been held by this department that under the Aot, alties and towns should not be inoorporated included in soil conservation alstrlots and that land- omers, to be eligible to vote, must reside in the distriot (whiah would, of oourse, mean that they aould not vote if residents or an lnaorporated olty or town). Attorney Generel’s Oplnlon No-O-1353, September 30, 1939. It has ale0 been held by this department that in an eleotion held under the above quoted seotlons, *voting boxesw or “polling plaaeV shall be provided ln eaah eleotlon preoinot, pre- viously formed by the CommIssionera* Court of the oomty under authority of Artlale 2935, supra. Attorney Oeneral’s Opinion No.O-1495, Ootober 10,‘1939. The latter opinion tight. be construed to mean that the partioular voting boxes* or “polling plaoss” ordinsrlly used In eaoh eleotion precinot ehould be used in eleatlona held under the Aot.
Such eonstruc3tlon 1s not to be placed on that opinion. The writer or that opinion used the words “voting box* intending them to mean *voting preolnot*, as will be seen from reading them In oonneotion with the question asked and the entire paragraph, of whioh they are s part.
In your quoted statement, you say, Wevidently the Board has no authority beyond the bounaarlea of s pro- posed soil croneervatlon,dietriot, and therefore en eleotlon oannot be held within the aorporate llmlts Or the City 0r ~0mpw. YilthoUt oommentlng on the aorreotness of your oonolueion, one way or the other, ainoe It has been held that the oonvenienoe of the voter 1s to be ooneidered in the holding or sleatlons, Dubose V. w00a8, 163 5. W. 3, and since a sol1 conservation dlstrlot should not inolude any part. of aa inoorporated town, you are advised that Where a partloular voting preolnat has within it8 boundaries soma territory whloh Is also within the OOrPOrate limits of a city or town, the Board should desimate as the “Polling P~SCB* a place 1ooateC iiiViZ portion of the preoimt which lies outside the city or toWL Rowever, with feepeat *5 Hon. V. G. I$arshall, Page 5
to your question, namely, the vlagallty" or the election, if it were otherwise legal and no oue were distranchised thereby, the rasults would probably be sustained by the courts, though the "polling placav was not even located Ephe boundaries of the preclnat. RalE. Parish,
. ., 151 E. Vi. 1089. As to the legality of the election if held within tha precinct and aleo within the corporate limits 0r a town, such as Temple, it is our opinion that its legality would likewise be sustained by the courts.
With regsrd to the selection of "polling places", your attention 1s respectfully directed to Article 2932, I;. C. S. of Texas, 1925, which says that where practicable 80 to do, all elections shall be held in a public building within the limits of the election precinct where the alec- tion is being held. This provision of course is advisory and not mandatory, and, in our opinion, whether or not it were foIlowed would be within the sound disavetion of the Board.
Therefore, it is the opltiion of this department, and you are so advised, that the answer to your question is that the "voting box" for an election held in con- nection with the organization of a soil conservation dis- trict, when part.of the precinct lies within the boundaries of an incorporated city or town, should be located outside the city limits; but, if the elecmere held at a box located within the city limits and it were otherwise legal and no one were disfranchised thereby, the election could not be successfully attacked in the courts.
Trusting that this satisfictorily answers your inquiry, we are
Yours very truly hTTORN%p GENEF~ Oy TEXA8 JN:ET BY James Noel
APPROVED NOV 17, 1939
Assistant h2ala c Mann APPROVED ATTORREY'DENERAL OF TEXAS
opinion committee By B'hB bhairmell