PETITION SUPPLEMENTING PRECINCT CONVENTION LISTS.

(a) If the number of precinct convention participants indicated on the lists filed under Section 181.005 is fewer than the number required for the political party to qualify to have the names of its nominees placed on the ballot, the party may qualify by filing a petition as provided by this section.

(b) A petition must:

(1) satisfy the requirements prescribed by Section 141.062 for a candidate's petition;

(2) contain signatures in a number that, when added to the number of convention participants indicated on the lists, equals at least one percent of the total number of votes received by all candidates for governor in the most recent gubernatorial general election; and

(3) be filed with the secretary of state by the state chair before the deadline for filing the lists of precinct convention participants.

(c) Except as provided by this section, the petition is subject to the applicable provisions of Subchapter C, Chapter 141.

(d) A signer's voter registration is not required to be in any particular territory.

(e) A copy of a request for the withdrawal of a signature must be delivered to the state chair at the time the withdrawal request is filed.

(f) The following statement must appear at the top of each page of the petition: "I know that the purpose of this petition is to entitle the _______ Party to have its nominees placed on the ballot in the general election for state and county officers. I have not voted in a primary election or participated in a convention of another party during this voting year, and I understand that I become ineligible to do so by signing this petition. I understand that signing more than one petition to entitle a party to have its nominees placed on the general election ballot in the same election is prohibited."

(g) A person who has voted in a primary election or participated in a convention of another party during the voting year in which the petition is circulated is ineligible to sign the petition, and the signature of such a person is invalid.

(h) A signature is invalid if the person signed the petition subsequent to signing a petition to qualify another political party to have the names of its nominees placed on the ballot for the same election, whether the other party is circulating the petition under this chapter or under Chapter 182.

(i) On signing the petition, the person becomes ineligible to affiliate with another party during the voting year in which the petition is signed.

(j) The petition may not be circulated until after the date of the party's precinct conventions held under this chapter. A signature obtained on or before that date is invalid.

(k) The secretary of state shall post a notice of the receipt of a petition on the secretary of state's Internet website and may post the notice on a bulletin board used for posting notice of meetings of state governmental bodies. Any person may challenge the validity of the petition by filing a written statement of the challenge with the secretary of state not later than the fifth day after the date notice is posted. The secretary of state may verify the petition signatures regardless of whether the petition is timely challenged.