(a)Definitions. The following words and terms, when
used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1)SOS--Office of the Secretary of State.
(2)Primary--An election held by a political party
under Chapter 172 of the Texas Election Code to select its nominees
for public office, and, unless the context indicates otherwise, the
term includes a presidential primary election.
(3)Runoff--An election held to determine the nomination
if no candidate for nomination to a particular office receives the
vote required for nomination in the general primary election.
(4)County election officer--County election administrator,
county clerk, or county tax assessor-collector, depending on the county,
responsible for election duties in the county.
(5)Vendor--Any company with a voting system certified
for use in Texas by the SOS.
(b)This subchapter applies to the use and management
of all primary funds.
(c)Approval by the Secretary of State (SOS) [
("SOS")] of a primary cost estimate does not relieve the recipient
of primary funds including, but not limited to, the state chair of
a political party, the county chair of a political party, the county
election officer, or a voting system vendor, of their responsibility
to comply with administrative rules issued by the SOS, or with any
statute governing the use of primary funds.
(d)The SOS shall provide a primary cost estimate for
each county political party broken into three categories, as applicable:
(1)The SOS will provide an estimate for each expense
incurred by the county chair based on 75% of the final approved "non-contracted"
costs less non-state appropriated financing sources (e.g., filing
fees) for the most recent comparable election for which data is available
as determined by the SOS. In order to receive the primary estimate
payment, the chair must submit to the SOS a primary cost estimate
via the online primary finance system prescribed by the SOS. If data
is not available to create a pre-populated cost estimate or if the
chair wishes to amend the pre-populated estimate, the chair may enter
the appropriate data in the SOS online primary finance system.
(2)The SOS will provide an estimate for each expense
incurred by the county election officer based on 75% of the final
approved "contracted" costs for the most recent comparable election
for which data is available as determined by the SOS. In order to
receive the primary estimate payment, the county election officer
must submit to the SOS a primary cost estimate via the online primary
finance system prescribed by the SOS. If data is not available to
create a pre-populated cost estimate or if the county election officer
wishes to amend the pre-populated estimate, the county election officer
may enter the appropriate data in the SOS online primary finance system.
(3)Pursuant to §173.0833 of the Texas Election
Code, vendors that provide services and materials for use in a primary
election shall bill [invoice] the SOS directly
if the vendor opts to receive an estimate payment. [That
data will be imported by the SOS into the appropriate county party
primary cost estimate.] The submission [spreadsheet
] shall comply with the following requirements:
(A)In October preceding the March primary election,
vendors shall submit, [a single, comprehensive spreadsheet
] in the electronic format prescribed by the SOS, [
that includes] data for each county primary election for which
the vendor is providing services or materials.
(B)Only expenses that are billable to the primary
fund may be included. Expenses including, but not limited to, early
voting kits and supplies, "I Voted" stickers, and party convention
supplies, must appear on a separate invoice billed to the county election
officer or the party, as appropriate.
(C)If a cost is to be split between both parties,
the split costs must be reported [appear] separately
[on the spreadsheet].
(D)The vendor must identify whether the county chair
or the county election officer is ordering the service. The county
chair earns five (5) percent calculated against the cost of the services
ordered by the chair, which is paid out by the SOS to the county chair
as part of the final cost report, and the county election officer
earns ten (10) percent of the cost of the services ordered by the
county election officer, which is included in the estimate and final
payments issued by SOS.
(E)The SOS will not make estimates available to the
county chairs or the county election officers until the SOS receives
the vendor submission [spreadsheet] described
in this section.
(e)If a runoff election is conducted, the estimate
payments will be calculated and paid following the same process prescribed
in subsection (d) of this section with the following exceptions:
(1)Filing fees are not factored into the calculation.
(2)The vendor must provide [SOS with a comprehensive
spreadsheet] of the estimated runoff costs in the electronic
format prescribed by the SOS within five (5) days after the
date of the canvass of the primary election results.
(f)After the primary or runoff election, as applicable,
the actual expenditures must be reported to SOS as follows:
(1)The vendors must submit data in the electronic
format prescribed by the SOS [a comprehensive spreadsheet]
that identifies the final costs and includes all applicable fields
prescribed by the SOS.
(A)Only expenses that are billable to the primary
fund may be included. Expenses including, but not limited to, early
voting kits and supplies, "I Voted Stickers", and party convention
supplies, must appear on a separate invoice billed to the county election
officer or the party, as appropriate.
(B)If a cost is to be split between both parties,
the split costs must be reported [appear] separately
[on the spreadsheet].
(C)The vendor must identify whether the county chair
or the county election officer is ordering the service. The county
chair earns five (5) percent calculated against the cost of the services
ordered by the chair, and the county election officer earns ten (10)
percent of the cost of the services ordered by the county election
officer.
(D)The SOS will not make final payments to the county
chairs or the county election officers until the SOS receives the
vendor submission [spreadsheet] described in
this section.
(2)The county chair and the county election officer,
if an election service contract is executed between the county executive
committee and the county election officer, must submit actual expenditures
in the electronic format [via the online primary finance
system] prescribed by the SOS.
(A)Costs incurred by the county chair shall be reported
to the SOS by the county chair. Those costs will be calculated consistent
with §81.119 of this chapter (relating to County Chair Compensation).
(B)Costs incurred by the county election officer shall
be reported to the SOS by the county election officer. Those costs
will be calculated consistent with §81.131 of this chapter (relating
to Contracting with the County Election Officer).
(g)Section 173.0832 of the Texas Election Code provides
for direct payment from the SOS to a county election officer who conducts
a primary election under an election services contract. The SOS requires
all county election officers conducting election services for a primary
election to receive direct payment from the SOS.
(h)Pursuant to §173.0341 of
the Texas Election Code, a state chair, or the designee of a state
chair, may enter into an agreement with a county chair, utilizing
a form prescribed by the SOS, under which the state chair will act
as a fiscal agent for the county party.
The agency certifies that legal counsel has reviewed
the proposal and found it to be within the state agency's legal authority
to adopt.
Filed with the Office
of the Secretary of State on October 28, 2019
TRD-201904003 Adam Bitter
General Counsel
Office of the Secretary of State
Earliest possible date of adoption: December 8, 2019
For further information, please call: (512) 463-5650
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