Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

Ronofable H. Fat Edwarda Civil M&riot Attorney Reoords tillding iallas County Danas, Texas At tention: Mr. Warren S. Cook Eoar nir: Opinion Ro. o-5&1 Rer Authority of.the Tax As- aoseor and Colleotor to issue's voter a ,duplicate,% poll tax receipt, ora- oertifioata that a person' has previously paid his poll tax; and related sub- jeots. We acknowledge the receipt of your letter of February 28, 1944, in which you ask the department*s opinion on the following questions: "(1) Is the Tax ~Assessorand Collector authorized to issue to a voter a duplicate poll tax reoeipt? :,i2) 1s the Tax Assessor and Collector authorized to issue certificates oartimng that a person has previously paid his poll tax on a certain date? "(3) May an eleator who has paid,his poll tax and has had a poi.1tax receipt issued to him vote in person at the regular pol.18or by absentee ballot by prassnting to the proper person a dupliaate poll tax receipt or a certificate Lssuad by the Tax ~Aseessarand Collector certifying that said alactor has paid his ~01~1tax on a certain data? "(4.; May an elector vthois exempted from paying his pa:1 tax and haa been issuad an exemption oertifi.cafe vote at an election held, by absentse ballot or in peF8On by presentdng to tha proper person ,a certificate issued by the Tax AW~SSOF and Colleotor oertiryjng that said person is exempted from paying a poll tax and an exemption aertifioate has previously been issued to him?" ~exaa Constitution, Article VI, Seotion 2, provides: Honorable H. LJatEdwards, page 2 O-5881 I, . . . .that any voter who is subject to pay a poll tax under the laws of the Stats of Texas shall have paid said tax before offering to vote at any election in this State and hold a reoeipt showing that said poll tax was paid before the first day of February next preoeding suoh election. Or if said voter shall have lost or misplaced said tax receipt, he or she, as the ease may be, shall be entitled to vote upon making affidavit before any officer authorized to adminis- ter oaths that such tax receipt has been lost. Such affidavit shall be made in writing and left with the judge of the election. .... And this provision of the Constitution shall be self-enaoting without the necessity of further legislation. . . . .n Article VI, Section 4, of the Lonstitution empowers,the Lagisla- ture to make "regulations a8 may be necessary to detect and punish fraud and prese~a the purity of the ballot box and the Legislature may provide by law for the registration of all voters in all cities containing a population of ten thousand inhabitants or more." In 1904 our Supreme Court in Stinson v. Gardner, 97 Tex. 292, 78,s. W. 492, construing the words "hold a receipt" said: '"Itmight be inferred from the latter part of the quotation that it was intended the voter should have his poll-tax receipt at the place where ha voted, but there is no provision in the Constitution whioh requires that the reoeipt shall be exhibited at the time of voting. It only requires the voter shall hold his receipt that is, that he shall have procured and have possession of the reoeipt, and, if it has been lost, then, in order to vote, he must make the affidavit which the law requires. ..." The following year (1905) the Terrall-Election Law was passed, This law was a general overhauling of our election laws. Seation 66 of the Terre11 Gleotion Laps (Acts 1st C. S. 1905, p. 533 is Article 3004, R. S., 1925. Stinson v. Gardner, supra, was decided under a prior form of the statute requiring only that the voter have a reoeipt, Article 3004, whioh superseded the cited quotation from that case, is aa follows: "No citizen shall be permitted to vote, unless ha first presents to the judge of eleotion his poll.tax receipt or certificate of exemption issued to him before the first day of February of the year in which he offers to vote. except as otherwise permitted in this title, unless the sine hRS beer,lost or mislaid, or left at home, in whioh event he shall make an affidavit of that fact, which shall be left with the judges and sent by them with the returns Of the eleotj.onr provided, that, if since he obtained his receipt Honorable H. Pat Edwards, page 3 O-5881 or certificate he removes from the precinot or county of his residence, he may vote on oomplying with other pro- visions of this title." Other eleation statutes, material to the questions under disous- sion, are: Article 2966, aa amended 1941, provides: 3s .*. any voter ...subjeot to pay a poll tax under the laws of this State, shall ... before offering to vote at any election in this State ... (hold) ... a reoeipt show- ing that said poll tax was paid before the first day of February next preaeding such elections ... If said voter is exempt from paying s poll tax and resides in a aity of 10,000 inhabitants or more, he or she must prooure a cer- tifioate showing his or her exemptions. ... If such voter shall have lost or misplaced said tax receipt, ha or she shall be entitled to vote upon making and leaving with the judge of the elsotion an affidavit that suoh tax was paid by him or her, or by his wife or by her husband before said first day of February next preceding suah election at which he or she offers to vote, and that said receipt has been lost or misplaced. ..*a The provisions of this Artiols as to oasting ballots shall apply to all elections including general, special, and primary elsations; provided that a city poll tax shall not be required to vote in any election i?~this State except in oity eleations.' Article 2956, in part, is as follows: "Subdivision 1. Any qualified sleotor of this State who is absent from the county of his residsnoe, or be- aauss of sickness or physiaal disability can not appear‘ at the poll place in the eleotion preoinat of his resi- dence, on the day of holding any general, special. or primary election, may, nevertheless, OWQ~ his vote to be cast at suoh ale&ion in the precinct of his residenoa by compliance with one or other of the methods herein- after provided for absentee voting. "Subdivision 2. Such elector shall make applioation for an official ballot to the oounty olerk in Writing signed by the elector. or by a witness at the direction of said elector in case of latter's inability to make suoh written application because of physical disability. Suoh application shall he accompanied by the poll tax receipt or exemption oertifiaate of the elector, or, in 1is.zthereof, his affidavit in writing that same has beon lo& or mislaid. l s. Honorable H. Pat Edwards, page 4 O-5881 "Subdivision 8. The oounty clerk shall post at a con- spicuous plaoe in his offioe, for public inspection, a complete list of those to whom ballots have been deliver- ed or sent out under this Article, stating thereon the elector's name, age, ocoupation, precinct of residence and poll tax number or exemption certificate number, and the date on whioh ballot was delivered or mailed'whiah list shall be kept up from day to day0 The applications, poll tax reoeipts, exemption certifiaates, or affidavits of loss thereof, shall also be open to publio inspection at regular offioe hours, but under such reasonable rules and regulations as the county olerk may adopt to safe- guard the 8~8 and to reasonably economize his opm time while they are in his keeping, II . . . . a Article 2959, stipulates that "the person when he pays it (the poll tax) shall be entitled to his poll tax receipt." Article 2968% "ExemptVon oertifioates of persons residing in a city 10,000 or more, "In the event of loss of oertifioate of exemption the voter may secure a reissue under his old number, by making affidavit of such loss before the County Tax Collector." Article 2968a. -Exemption aertificates to persons not subject to the disqualifiaations sat out in Artiole 2954, "...who (do) not reside in a city of ten thousand in- habitants or more, and who is exempt from the payment of a poll tax by reason of the faot that he or she has not yet reached the age of twenty-one years on the first day of January preoeding the levy, or who is exempt from the payment of a poll tax because he or she was not a resident of the State on the first day of January pre- ceding the levy, but who shall have since become eligible to vote by reason of length of residsnos or age, shall, on or before the thirty-first day of January of the yser in which ho or she offers to vote, obtain from the was- ses8or and Collector of Taxes for the county of his or her residenoe a certificate of exemption from the pay- ment of a poll tax, and no such person who has failed or refused to obtain such certificate of exemption from the payment of a poll tax shall be allowed to vote, cQD Honorable H. Pat Edwards, pangs5 "In the event the exempted voter holding oertificate under this Article shall remove from the county in which he resided when same was issued, to another oour&,yin this State, he shall be required to present his oertifi- oats of exemption to the Assessor and Collector of taxes of the county of his new residenoe~for reissue of ragis- tration and endorsement at least twenty days before any election at which he expects to vote. "In the event of the loss of oertifioatm of exemption, the voter may seoure a reissue under his old number by making affidavit of such loss before the County Tax As- sessor and Collector." Penal Code, Article 216, reads: "Any judge of an election or primary who wilfully permits a person to vote, whose nems,doas not appear on the list of qualified voters of the preoinct and who fails to present his poll tax raoeipt or oertificats of sxanption or make affidavit of its loss of misplacement or inadvertently left at home, except in osees where no oertifioate of exemption or tax receipt is required, shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars." Penal Cods, Artiole 217, provides thatr "Any judge of any election who shall refuse to receive the vote of any qualified elector who, when his vote is objected to shows by his own oath that he is entitled to vote, or who shall refuse to deliver an official bal: lot to one entitled to vote under the law, or who shall wilfully refuse to receive a ballot after one entitled to vote has legally folded and retuned sama, shall be fined not to exceed five hundred dollars." Penal Code, Article 232, is as followsr "If any person knowing himself not to he a qualified voter, shall at any election vote for or egainst any officer to be then chosen, or for or against any pro- position to be determined by said election, ha shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than five years." we *nswer your questions respectively as follows: First question: The statutes, Articles 2968 and 2968~~~author- ize the tax assessor and oollector to re-issue a certificate of exemp- tion when the original has been lost, but we have been unable to find honorable H. Pat Edwards, page 6 O-5881 any statute authorizing that offiaer to issue a duplicate poll tax reoaipt. We therefore answer this question in the negative. Second question? We are not prepared to say that a tax assessor and collector is without authority to issue a certificate, such as is desoribed in this question, which may be used for some purposs, but, it is our opinion that ths provisions of the pertinrmt statutes quoted above make it obvious that suah a certificate may not be used for vot- ing purposes. In other rords, such certificates era not raao@zed by our election laws, Third question: In vim of our answers to your first,and seaond questions, it is not necessary to answer this question, Fourth qusatior~t We have in answer to your first question called your attention to the statutes authorizing the tax assessor and oollec- tor to m-issue a certificate of exmption. However, there is no statute authoricing such officer to issue such a certifioate as is described in this question, and if such a certificate wme issued, it is not one reaognized by our election laws. Pvetherefore answer this question in the negative0 Trusting that the foregoing filly answers your inquiries, we are Very truly yours ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS By s/David Wuntoh David %x&oh Assistant DAtdb:wa APPROVED APRIL 18, 1944 s/Gee. P. Blaokburn ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS (acting) Approved Opinion Committee By EWE Chairman