Government terms starting with P

19 terms

  1. Paper Ballot As used by the SOS elections division, this term refers to a ballot that is made of paper and meant to be hand counted; not an optical scan ballot that…
  2. Permanent Branch (Early Voting) Polling Place In a countywide election in which the county clerk is the early voting clerk under Section 83.
  3. Petition in Lieu of Filing Fee A petition circulated by a candidate to gather signatures in support of her candidacy; submitted along with an application for a place on the ballot…
  4. Photo ID To be presented by a voter when voting. Acceptable forms of ID include a Texas driver’s license, a Texas DPS-issued personal identification card, a U.S.
  5. Plurality Except as otherwise provided by law, to be elected to a public office, a candidate must receive a plurality of the votes.
  6. Political Action Committee (PAC) PAC's are political groups that are not formally related to a particular political party, but are associated with other groups (like labor unions…
  7. Political Party An organized group of people with common values and goals, who try to get their candidates elected to office.
  8. Political Subdivision A county, city, or school district or any other governmental entity that: embraces a geographic area with a defined boundary; exists for the purpose of…
  9. Poll Watcher A person appointed by a candidate or political action committee to observe the conduct of an election on behalf of a candidate, a political party, or the…
  10. Polling Place The room or building in which voting is being conducted.The governing body of each political subdivision authorized to hold elections shall designate the…
  11. Popular Vote The result of the votes of the eligible voters. The winner of the popular vote usually wins the election (but not always - sometimes the outcome of the…
  12. Precinct See County Election Precinct and Election Day precinct.
  13. Preclearance Submissions NOT CURRENTLY REQUIRED in TEXAS –Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act provides that preclearance may be obtained by submitting the change to the U.
  14. Presidential Primary Election An election at which a political party’s voters are given an opportunity to express their preferences for the party’s presidential candidates, for the…
  15. Primary Election An election held by a political party under Chapter 172 of the Texas Election Code to select its nominees for public office, and, unless the context…
  16. Proposition The wording appearing on a ballot to identify a measure.
  17. Provisional Ballot Affidavit The provisional ballot affidavit is completed by a voter who is voting provisionally; the affidavit is a part of the provisional ballot envelope.
  18. Provisional Ballot Envelope Contains the provisional ballot affidavit and other required information, such as spaces for type and date of election, precinct number, the voter’s…
  19. Provisional Voting Process available to a person whose name does not appear on the list of registered voters and who does not present a valid voter registration certificate…