,~ ’
-
THE A’ITORNEY GENERAL
OF-
January 7, 1974
The Honorable William J., Benardino Opinion No. H- 199
County Attorney
Montgomery County Re: The method of deter-
Conroe, Texan 77301 mining the number of
qualified voterr for the
purpoaer of a local
~option petition in a town
, that ir rmallc* than a
Dear Mr. Benardino: voting precinct.
You h a ve
ldvired ue that a local option election petition har been filed
by citizen0 of Magnolia, an incorporwted town. Magnolia ie located in
Montgomery County Voting Precinct 18, but doeo not constitute the Lntire
area of the voting. box.
Actr 1973, 63rd Lap., ch. 219, p, 508, 0 2 (to be,spublirhed ae
Vernon’r Texae Penal Code Auxiliary Uwr, Art. 666-32) provider in part:
“When any ruch petition 10 ieeued hall within
thirty dayr after the date of iorue be filed with the county
clerk bearing the actual rignature of ar many ae thirty-
five percent of the qualified votere of any ouch county,
jurtice precinct, or incorporatpd city or town, together
with a notation rhowing the reeidence iddr6rr of each of
the raid rignerr, together with the number that appearr
on his voter, repirtration certificate, all of which informa-
tion ehall be in the actual handwriting of the rignerr of the
petition, takiw the vote for Governor at the lart preceding
general election as the banie for determining the number of
gualified voter8 in any euch county, jurtice precinct, or
incorporated citv or town, it ie hereby r’equired that the
commirrionere court at itn next regular reraion rhall order
a local option election to be held upon the ieaue ret out in
ouch petition. ” (emphaeie added)
p. 935
The Honorable William J. Bonardino; page 2 W-199)
You have indicated that there are no record8 which indicate how
many reridentr of Magnolia votedin the governor’s race in the lart general
election. The county clerk determfned that 63 percent of regirtered voterr
in precinct 18 voted in the l&et election for governor. He then took 63
percent of the number of regirtered voter8 reeiding in Magnolia to deter-
mine the number of “qualified voters I’ for the purpore of the statute.
You ask if thie method of determining the total number of qualified
voters ir legally sufficient.
The clerk and the commineionere court may adopt any mean8 they
think right and proper to arcertain whether the required number of voter8
dgrpd~eoiiolonear,theircr~idbased~r~n;md~~otmotiMtsd by fraud,
caprice or unfairnear. Akers v. Remington, 115S. W. 2d 714, 720 (Tex.
Civ. App. , Fort Worth, 1938, writ diem’d); Boynton v. Brown, 164 S. W.
893, 895 (Tex. Civ. App., San Antonio, 1914. writ ref’d). See also Attorney
General Opinion6 C-266 (1964), C-263 (19641, WW-1356 (1962), O-7218 (1946).
We have found no caaea or opinion0 which diacueo the use of inter-
polation to determine the number of qualified votere within the city limitr
who voted in the last preceding general election; however, if a more accu-
rate method ir imporrible or unrearonably burdenrome, we believe the use
of ouch a formula would not be an abure of discretion.
SUMMARY
If a niore accurate method iB imporeible or
unreaeonably burdeneome, the couhty clerk and
commirsi onerr court may use any fair and reasonable
meane to ancertain the number of signature8 required
on a local option election petition.
Very truly yourr,
u Attorney General of Texan
p. 936
.
. -
The Honorable William J. Benardino, page 3 (H-199)
. .
APPROVED:
@Jg!!qT~~
‘DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman
Opinion Committed ,,
p. 937