Case Information
*1 OFFI& OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
YZrch 17, 1939 Honorable Xillism L. Kerr
District Attorney 109th Judicial Elstrict of Texas
Pecos, Texas
Dear Sir:
that &er the recent rullng~of.~tbe 'PiKsrkaaa Coart ~5.n the ea8e ef w0a V. State, 120 8.ri8.(2d) of Appeal8 955, it wuld not be proper to permit d ?'i%W to vote ebs+nte6while in tile COtlQt$,~ Such VOt@,S -Got&m as the clerk to be a’baent on eleotfoxi day. hasmu& itoes dot~rant t&refuse the requeet a bona 1iQe voter it'he is entitled to vote I wot&t apprmdate your adrl8in.g fae, in that regar& ,.'~ *2 Hon. ~illiaa L. Kerr, lierch 17, 1999, Page 2
“Al80, r.!xould the clerk per&t an absentee voter to vote if such voter has no exemption certificate, such voter having become 21 years of age lc, June of 1938, and one such voter became of aEe February lst, 1939, the county involved being a county with population lesa than 10,000.
*An election is SOon to be held in which the clerk is called upon to determnine the questions above end since the mattq Involve8 much public interest, IshaU appreai+e pu.r advW.ngnm Innradlate&y.* The seanid questbm ash6 by .you :n&itss to the duiy of the ooanty afbrk to'pcumit a mter?kW scgaS,ao~exempt%oxl aertifioatem to~~:%mte~abseutee. >Zf the rOt+r 43btfklnad am Sxeap- tion certiihhe, but ha8 b8t or, Sd.Ehid’.it, U&8x ~ubt%%visien [2] of &t,iele 2956, Revised Civfi Statutea, a8 ameoded, such voter may present hL8 afiidttrit to t&t street to the eofflltq~ alerk, who must ~tdtan permit him to vofe atraer&es, Xf however, a8 i8, bitplied f rust yuur letter, the Voter fatled. ti ebtib BP eXenptiOQ to vote absentee, You .&ate in your letter that the county CtWttiiUate 88 PrOtided by ‘&XIV, h8 [18] not entftba involved la a co&q ulth a population or .leeer than 10,000 inhabitants. The applicable statute 1s Senate l3Ul Wo. 2s8, tit8 44th LegiShtlES; 88&ar &f~8iOQ, Chapter 292, Page 686, Section 1, approved May 17, 1925, uhiah added A.rUole 296&i ~~ath~8Eev&80d b%Vil Stat&Se, and WhfUbp~lXW~de8 in Part (Ls
:
Hon. William L. Kerr, March 17, 1939, Page S
"Every persomnot subject to the %~tZqUaliriOatiOnEI set out in Article 2954 of the Revi8ed Civil Statutes of 1925, who Goes not reside in a city of ten thouecnd inhabitants or r",ore, and who is exempt froic the papent of a poll tax by reason of the faot that he or she ha8 not yet reacheU the age of twenty-one year8 on the $'irst day of January precedicr Its levy, or who la exempt from the pagment of o poll tax because he or she was not a resident of the State on the fir&, day of January preoeding It8 levy, but who shall have slnoe beoome ellglble to vote by reamon of 1-h -of re%l&moe or age, shall* on or bsfon the thirty-itret day of January the y@ar In whloh he or she offer% to vote, obtain from the As8ossor wd Oolleofor of taxes for the oounty of his or her reeidsrure a oertifloate of exeaiptlon from the paymexlt of a.po3.l. tax, fina no suoh person *o has failed or refused to obtaiu su9h asrtlfioat% af exeaptiw .fran the paymat of a poll tax s&all be allowed to voterw
Artlole 2909, Reviffaed aiyir Btatutar, &S&B, prorides that if- &aU aot be neoessaxy for a peram whe tlaer, not TWJAO In a olby'having a population of 3,ooO or mor$ to obtain an aemp$Sa&t oetilfioate where such eman retdie the a&% of l3l yele8 wfter ths flrat sag at % anuazy and Uforr tA0 day of a do~owing sleetion at whlah he or she w&her to Yot6ba Thie ehatute appears to be ln direot oonflla$t with tie pro- vl%ie~% in. Artiole 2962a quoted above that *l@c# suoh psxson . who ha8 failed or refused to obtain such o~srtlfloats of exemp- tion from the payfmtt 0r a poll tar Bheu b8 filiowia to vote.' Glnue Article 2969, Bevleed 01~11 Statutcm, adopts6 in 1922; la In direct and lrrsconollable eonfllot wkth Artlole 29Wla, Baleed Clrfl Btatutes, whioh was pemued by the Legislature lu 1935, Artlule 2?6Q la rqmalea by aeaeeeary lmpliaation.
Martin v. Sheppard, I.29 Tex.llO, 102 S.W,(W) 1036; Tomsend Y.. Terrell, 118 Tex. 463, 16 ?.Wi(2d)lO63; Rqpvz.he v. St&b, 47 Tar. Or. 46, 84 8.W. BSe$ 9t. Leula & Bouthwerstern Ry. Co. v. Xay, 85 Tex.558,
22 6, 5. 665. *4 Bon. WilfiaE L. Kerr, T%arch 17, 1939, Page 4
For the reasons stated, we are of the opinion that the County Clerk sftiuld refuse to perdt a person who~has foil& to obtain an exemption certificate to cast en absentee ballot, even thou& such parson would have been le&ly entitl& to obtain an exemption certificate if he !la& rmde proper and finely application thezefor.
Your3 very truly