November 7, 2011
For Immediate Release:

Contact: Chris Elam, (512) 477-9821
RPT Communications Director

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Federal Panel Changes Filing Period

Federal Judge Panel Changes Filing Period for All Texas 2012 Primary Races to
November 28 - December 15, 2011

AUSTIN - The Republican Party of Texas has issued an advisory to all Texas Republican County Chairman with an update on the primary election filing period and changes to the election calendar over the next several weeks and months. As a result of a court order from a federal panel of judges in San Antonio, the new filing period for the March 2012 Primary Elections is November 28 to December 15. These filing changes apply to all races on the March 2012 Primary Election ballot in Texas - federal, state, county and local.

The filing period changes were ordered by a three-judge federal panel in San Antonio, which signed the order to allow for enough time to complete the process of drawing interim legislative maps for the 2012 Texas Primary Elections. At this time, it is not clear what lines and districts will be ordered by the court, and this delay in their ruling has necessitated the changes in the election calendar.

RPT spokesman Chris Elam summarized the reason for the dramatic changes to the election calendar, stating: "This order was issued as part of the ongoing Texas redistricting trial - a trial forced by numerous legal challenges to the redistricting maps passed overwhelmingly by the Texas Legislature. All these lawsuits originated from Democrat elected officials, liberal special-interest groups and the same cast of behind-the-scenes financiers who helped oversee and pay for the Democrats' loss of 25 seats in the Texas House, as well as the failed 2010 gubernatorial campaign of former state Democratic party chairman Bill White. The very same big-money liberals have been active during the trial, and even appeared to testify in front of the federal judge panel. Driven by the pain of their electoral failures in 2010, these desperate liberals have turned to the courts to gain whatever influence they can muster, at the expense of the time, effort and holiday season plans of thousands of volunteers and elections officials in the state. The RPT appreciates the hard work and leadership of our county officials and party leaders throughout the state, and we stand ready to assist each of them in whatever way we can to ease the difficulty of this highly condensed schedule."

The full list of court-ordered changes to the filing period is as follows.
  

• November 28: First day for candidate filing. (Moved from November 12).
   
• December 10: The last day a vacancy for an unexpired term in an office of the state or county government may occur and still appear on the primary ballot. (Moved from December 7).
   
• December 13: Last day for counties to change precinct boundaries to adjust to new legislative lines. (Moved from October 1).
   
• December 15 @ 6 p.m.: Last day for candidate filing (Moved from December 12).
  
  December 15 is also the last day for state house and state senate candidates to establish residency in a district. (Moved from November 6).
   
• December 16: Last day to omit a name from the primary ballot if a candidate withdraws, dies or is declared ineligible. (Moved from December 13).
   
• December 19: Last day for Chairman Munisteri to deliver certified list of statewide and multi-county district candidates to every county chair. (Moved from December 16).
  
  December 19 is also the last day for a write-in candidate for the office of county or precinct chair to file a declaration of write-in.
  
  December 19 is also the last day to apply for a place on the primary ballot for an unexpired term for a vacancy that occurs on or before December 10.
   
• December 20: Last day for county executive committees to conduct drawing for candidate order on ballot.
   
• December 22: Last day for Chairman Munisteri to deliver the chair's list to the Secretary of State, and for county chairmen to deliver a copy of the chair's list to the county clerk, the Republican Party of Texas, and the Secretary of State.
   
• January 13: Last day for county election registrars to issue new voter registration certificates to the existing county voters. (Moved from December 6).
   
• March 6: The date for the Republican Primary Election remains unchanged.
   

The RPT has posted a PDF of the signed court order which contains the full list of court-ordered requirements and dates. To view the court order, please click here.

# # #