Case Information
*1 ‘
THE A~~ORNEYGENEFCAL Gerald C. Mann
*-sue- o-r-
%H6n. Furman.B. ,.Caudle’
.County Attorntiy
Franklin ,,County
Mt. Vernon, Texas Opinion No:@2666
Re: .Ellglbility of & person vote ‘.for District ,and ‘State offices, whb has moved from one county the District ,less than six months prior’ to the ‘election.
Dear Sir:
On August 22; 11940 we received your letter questing ‘our opinion relating the’ellglbSllty of a voter at the eleotlon on August 24th. This di,d .nqt’ glye us adequate time to prepare an opinion,‘prior the e~lectlon, ‘but inas- much as the question may arise’ at the general eJectIon November, we are nevertheless replying to you* request.
The facts ‘set forth in you,r ‘are: ,I .
“Up t,o May lst, 1940;‘. ‘A’ 3ived..in a county adjoining Branklin, .Co,. ,.On ‘May a, ‘1940,’ hue moved to .this County: He, had paid his ‘poll’ tax, and otherwise ‘a qualified voter.in the, tidjoining County, if he had remained there.
“On next Saturday, 24th; ‘A’ ,intends, present himself, the voting place of his precinct, ‘and, request the, manage,r of %he election to furnish him a ballot, so that ,he may -vote for State. and~‘blstrlct offices,”
Based upon ,thetie facts, you ask the following question:
“Is the duty tinder law of the election manager, and may such election judge furnish IAt with a ballot, with all County
. . candidates and precinct aandidates stricken off, State and permit IAt to cast his ballot for
and/or ~Distrlct oandidates. .” The question presented by you Involves a. con- struction of Article 2967,.Revlsed Civil Statutes, 1925, which reads as follows:
“Art. 2967, FGMOVAL TO ANOTHER ‘COm OR’.PRE%IWCT If ‘a citizen .after receiving hi&’ poll tax receipt ,tir certificate of eqemptlon; removes another county or to another precinct In the same county, he may vote at an election in the precinct ti,f his new,resldence in such dther .county or pre- cinct ficate by preaentlng his ,poll tax. receipt ‘or certl-
of exemption .or his affld&vlt or Its the precinct judges of eleotlon; and ‘state In such aftldavlt~wherri he paid such poll tax or ceived such ..certlficate of ‘exemption, an.8 by making oath that he 1s the Identical pepson described in such poll add that he then tax .recelpt ‘or certificate of alamptlon,
resides in the precinct .whe.re he offers to vote and hae r&sided
six ,months in or.‘county in which he offers to vote and twelve months in the State.
But no such person .shall be’permitted
a city of ten thousand lnhavltants or more, un- @ss he .has first presented tax collector of his a tax receipt m certificate, not leas than four days ‘prior to such election or primary election or’made affidavit of its ~10s~ and stating in such affidavit’wheh he paid such poll tax or received ‘such certificate of exemptions and the collector shall thereupon add h,ls name to list of qualified voters the precinct of his new reslden,ce; ,and, unless such voter has done and his name aDpears in .the certified list of voters ,bf the pri&nct .of ‘his ‘new residence, he shall not vote .”
The Identical question which you ask haa, on oc~caslons, been before this Department. In an, eble several opinion
written by acting Attorney,General Bruce W. Bryant On July 11, 1932, addressed Ellis :Scogln, which opinion appears at page 518 of Volume 336 of the Attorney *3 , .
, page 3
ffeneral's Letter Opinions, It was held ,that a voter who moved from one county less than six months of the election might vote ,811 State offloes and llk&wlse all District offices whose districts Included both counties. ..We are encloslrig, herewith, for your.lnformtitlon, a bopy,of opinion. This same'rullng was followed 1" the subsequent opinions hereinafter to.
Opinion by.Asslstant Attorney General Joe J..Alsup,,addressed td Mr.:E. C. ,Clabaugh,, Jr., on July 1;1936, appear- ,lng on page 500, Vol.,3v,'Attorney .Clenera1ls Letter Opinions.
Opinion by Assistant Attorney,Oeneral J. ,H. Broadhurst to Mr.,Wllliam Ebblh on December 13; 1937, appearing 'page 353 of Vol. 379'of the Attorney,Qen- eral's Letter Opinions.
Opinion by Assistant aeneral R. E. Gray W.,S. Danlels, on August 6, 1938,. appearing at page 617 of Vol. 382, Attorney General's ~Letter Opinions.
Article 2967, R.C.S., 1925, refer&d to above, is based upon Article VI, Section 2 of the Constitution Texas, whlch~reads In part:
"Every person subject to none of.the
foregoing tained be a citizen have resided dlsquallflcatlons, who shall have at- the age of twenty-one ye.ars and who shall of the United States and who she12 In this State one year next preced- ing an election and the six months within the district to voteA shall or county In which such person offer6 be deemed a qualified eleatorj . . In construing this oonstltutlonal speaking throu h Associate Jus- the Supreme Court of 'Texas, tlce Qalnes In LITTLE V. STATE, 75 Tex. 61% at page 623, said:
[11] When construed as meaning a reslieice for six mbnths *4 Hon. Furman B. Candle,
should qualify an elector to vote for district ~DiYlcers; ,ive have ho dlfflixlty'~ln"detirmin-
ing what district l@.nieiint;.:but if tie should a&that truth residence gives-i.:rlght td vote for county officers, we should~be at.'a -to know whether It Is the congressional, judlclal,~, senatorial, or legislative dlstrlct'in which the voter was to reside In order tb acquire qualification. If such had been the Intention, the kind of district would have been named, or there would have been some language In the Indicating some rule by which question could be determined. Begides, construction clalmed'by appellant would have rendered the words !?r county' superfluous, be- ~cause every county In the State is, and will In all probability continue to be, a part of some district. Since Includes the county, It was unneceesary to have used the word county If It had been intended a In the dlstri,ct ~should glve,the qual- lflcatlon to vote for county officers."
: ,ls our oplnioti, therefore, thati the man to In your should be permitted, all trlcts .State offices and those District-offices, whose dls-
embrace both the county of his ,pri.or and~'present residence.
Yours very truly ATTORNEY'GENERAL OF TEXAS BY Walter R. Koch Assistant ~gt;ob:bt
APPR&i ,Aug.. 31, 1940 'Sellers
Orover
First Assistant .Qeneral
Approved Opinion Coarmlttee by BWB,
Chairman