From the Secretary of State:
Both the Republican Party and Democratic Party will hold primaries. Candidates who wish to run either as a Republican or
Democrat will file applications, along with a filing fee or petitions with the State Chair. All forms and procedures to run for President are done in accordance with party rule. The party will also establish the filing deadline. The filing deadline may not be any later than 6:00 p.m. on January 2, 2004 but could be earlier.
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From the Texas Election Code:
The number of
signatures must be at least a certain percentage (2 percent) of all
votes for the gubernatorial candidate of the filing candidate's party
in the relevant territory in the last election or a fixed number of
signatures -- 5,000 -- whichever is smaller.
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From Texas Politics:
| 2.1 |
|
Getting on the Ballot: Primaries, Party Conventions, and Petition |
In order to be listed on the primary ballot
for one of the two major parties – Democratic or Republican – a
candidate must either collect signatures on a nominating petition or
pay a filing fee to the county or state chair of the appropriate party.
The number of signatures needed and the cost of the registration fee
vary according to the level of office being sought.
To win the
nomination in a primary election a candidate must win a clear majority
(more than 50 percent) of the votes cast. If no candidate wins a
majority – as often happens when more than two candidates run for an
office – a runoff election is held between the two candidates that won the most votes.
Two types of primaries are used in the United States: open and closed.
Open Primaries do not require voters to declare in advance the party with which they
wish to be associated. So, any registered voter may vote in any party's
primary – but voters can vote in only one party's primary during a
single primary period. Closed primaries require advance declaration of partisan affiliation in order to vote in a specific party's primary.
Officially, Texas has closed primaries. But in practice, any registered
voter may vote in the primary of any single party, as long as they have
not voted in the primary of another party. Texas's primaries are closed
in a less direct way: once a registered voter has in effect declared
his or her party affiliation by voting for the nominees in a party's
primary, that person cannot participate in the proceedings (for
instance, a runoff primary or convention) of another party.
If we mobilize our grassroots army and get enough ballot access signatures, then we can help the campaign save money by avoiding the filing fee. 