Tex. Elec. Code § 31.017 · Subchapter A. SECRETARY OF STATE
IMPLEMENTATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT OF COUNTY ELECTION.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) In a county with a population of more than 4 million, the secretary of state's office may order administrative oversight of a county office administering elections or voter registration in the county if:
(1) an administrative election complaint is filed with the secretary of state by a person who participated in the relevant election as:
(A) a candidate;
(B) a county chair or state chair of a political party;
(C) a presiding judge;
(D) an alternate presiding judge; or
(E) the head of a specific-purpose political committee that supports or opposes a measure;
(2) the secretary of state has provided notice to the county election official with authority over election administration or voter registration under Section 31.018; and
(3) the secretary of state, after conducting an investigation under Section 31.019, has good cause to believe that a recurring pattern of problems with election administration or voter registration exists in the county, including any recurring:
(A) malfunction of voting system equipment that prevents a voter from casting a vote;
(B) carelessness or official misconduct in the distribution of election supplies;
(C) errors in the tabulation of results that would have affected the outcome of an election;
(D) violations of Section 66.053;
(E) discovery of properly executed voted ballots after the canvass of an election that were not counted; or
(F) failure to conduct maintenance activities on the lists of registered voters as required under this code.
(b) The secretary of state shall make a determination on whether to implement administrative oversight under Subsection (a) not later than the 30th day after the earliest of:
(1) the day a response by the county election official with authority over election administration or voter registration is received by the secretary of state under Section 31.018;
(2) the last day the county election official with authority over election administration or voter registration could provide a response to the secretary of state under Section 31.018; or
(3) the day the report on the findings of an investigation is provided to the county election official with authority over election administration or voter registration under Section 31.019.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 957 (S.B. 1933), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2023.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/EL/htm/EL.31.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 f9217b32b514f077427e4c459fffb2bbd329db8fa6fa12f162e40b3255355aee
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Cited by 4 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Elec. Code § 31.017. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Election Code
- Tex. Elec. Code § 31.018NOTICE OF COMPLAINT.Printed as Section 31.017(a)(1)
- Tex. Elec. Code § 31.019INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINT.Printed as Section 31.017(a)(1)
- Tex. Elec. Code § 31.020COUNTY ELECTION OFFICE OVERSIGHT BY SECRETARY.Printed as Section 31.017 | Section 31.017(a)(1) | Section 31.017(a)(3)
- Tex. Elec. Code § 127.351RANDOMIZED COUNTY AUDITS.Printed as Section 31.017(a)(3)
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.