Tentative agreement reached on primary date
Last updated 12/16/2011 at Noon
Today, the Texas Democratic Party (TDP) and the Republican Party of
Texas (RPT) issued a statement announcing that the two parties have
submitted a joint agreed proposal on the 2012 General Primary Election
to the U.S. District Court three-judge panel in San Antonio.
The parties' joint proposal provides for an April 3, 2012 unified primary date, along with adjusted dates, deadlines and requirements in respect to its administration.
RPT State Chairman Steve Munisteri said, "I am pleased that we could
come to an agreement and I hope that most Republican elected officials
and Texas voters will be satisfied with this proposal. We are hopeful
that with both a timely ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court and
subsequent finalized maps, that this agreement not only preserves the
original structure of a unified primary, but provides us enough time to
accomplish it in a fair and orderly fashion. Furthermore, this agreement
addresses the concern of both the TDP and RPT by providing a timeline
which still allows us to hold our respective state conventions and
national delegate selection in June."
TDP State Chairman Boyd Richie said, “We’re glad to have worked out
an agreement which we feel works best for Texans. Given the less than
ideal circumstances, we think that this election schedule is a workable
solution that will create the least confusion for the voters. We’re
pleased that the agreement maintains a unified primary which will save
taxpayers money.”
Notable details of the agreement submitted to the panel are as follows:
- Feb. 1, 2012 - New residency deadline for candidates seeking election to the Texas House and Texas Senate.
- Feb. 1, 2012, 6 p.m. - New deadline of court-ordered reopened filing period, in which candidates for all offices have the opportunity to amend, withdraw or file a new application for the ballot.
- Feb. 3, 2012 - New deadline for County Executive Committees to conduct drawing for candidate order on ballot.
- April 3, 2012 - Date of the 2012 General Primary Election.
- April 14 or April 21, 2012 - Date of County and Senatorial District Conventions, as determined by the State Chair of each political party.
- June 5, 2012 - Date of the 2012 General Primary Runoff Election.
If signed by the three-judge panel - nothing in the order shall be
construed by the Court or the parties as a waiver of the positions of
each party with respect to the schedule or conduct of the upcoming
election. The parties' positions as stated at the Dec. 13, 2011
hearing are expressly reserved. Additionally, the Republican and
Democratic parties have agreed that it is necessary to have a primary
early enough in April to allow them to conduct their statutorily
required conventions as previously planned.
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