ESTIMATING GUBERNATORIAL VOTE FOR TERRITORY WITH CHANGED BOUNDARY.

(a) If, since the most recent gubernatorial general election, a district or precinct from which an officer of the federal, state, or county government is elected is created or has had its boundary changed, the number of votes received in the district or precinct by a political party's gubernatorial candidate or by all the gubernatorial candidates shall be estimated, as provided by this section, for the purpose of computing the number of signatures required on a candidate's petition.

(b) The secretary of state, for a district, or the county clerk of the county in which the precinct is situated, for a precinct, shall estimate the applicable vote total on the request of:

(1) a candidate affected by the creation or change; or

(2) an authority with whom an affected candidate's application for a place on the ballot is required to be filed.

(c) Not later than the 30th day after the date the secretary of state or county clerk receives an estimate request, the secretary or clerk shall certify the secretary's or clerk's estimate in writing and deliver a copy of the certification to the candidate and to the authority with whom the candidate's application for a place on the ballot is required to be filed.

(d) If an estimate is not requested under Subsection (b), the authority with whom an affected candidate's application for a place on the ballot is required to be filed shall make the estimate before acting on a petition.

(e) If, before completing an estimate, the estimating authority determines that the total estimated vote will be large enough to make a computation of the number of signatures required to appear on the petition unnecessary, the authority may certify that fact in writing instead of completing the estimate.

(f) A candidate for an office that is affected by an estimate or by a determination made under Subsection (e) may challenge the accuracy of the estimate or determination by filing a petition, stating the ground of the challenge, in a district court having general jurisdiction in the territory involved. Review in the district court is by trial de novo, and the court's decision is not appealable.