Government — page 2 of 2

Government terms

101. Order of Election The official action required by a governing body to hold a special election. Note that a general election must still be held even if the governing body…
102. Overvote An overvote occurs when a voter votes for more than the maximum number of selections allowed in a contest.
103. 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…
104. Permanent Branch (Early Voting) Polling Place In a countywide election in which the county clerk is the early voting clerk under Section 83.
105. 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…
106. 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.
107. Plurality Except as otherwise provided by law, to be elected to a public office, a candidate must receive a plurality of the votes.
108. Political Action Committee (PAC) (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…
109. Political Party An organized group of people with common values and goals, who try to get their candidates elected to office.
110. 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…
111. 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…
112. 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…
113. 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…
114. Precinct See County Election Precinct and Election Day precinct.
115. 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.
116. 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…
117. 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…
118. Proposition The wording appearing on a ballot to identify a measure.
119. 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.
120. 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…
121. 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…
122. Qualified Voter A person who: (1) is 18 years of age or older; (2) is a United States citizen; (3) has not been determined mentally incompetent by a final judgment of a…
123. Recount The process conducted under Title 13 of the Election Code for verifying the vote count in an election.
124. Recount Representative An individual selected by a candidate or other interested party to observe the performance of the recount; similar to a poll watcher.
125. Redistricting A process in which the physical boundaries of a voting district are changed.
126. Registered Voter A person registered to vote in this state whose registration is effective.
127. Registration Omissions List The new version of this list, created pursuant to Section 86.003 of the Election Code, is used when a person has one of the acceptable ID’s [or an…
128. Religious Exemption A voter who has a consistent religious objection to being photographed may vote a provisional ballot, appear at the voter registrar’s office within six…
129. Residence Address The street address and any apartment number, or the address at which mail is received if the residence has no address, and the city, state, and zip code…
130. Resign to Run Provision (Article XVI, Section 65, Texas Constitution) Applies to municipal officers whose terms are longer than 2 years and to District Clerks, County Clerks, County Judges, Judges of the County Courts at…
131. retention period Generally speaking, the precinct election records must be preserved by the authority to whom they are distributed: (1) in an election involving a federal…
132. Runoff Election An election held if no candidate for a particular office receives the vote necessary to be elected in an election requiring a majority vote.
133. Sample ballot A ballot created for distribution to voters who request one in order to view what offices and propositions are on the ballot in an upcoming election.
134. Second Election In an election requiring a plurality vote, if two or more candidates for the same office tie for the number of votes required to be elected, and the tie…
135. Single-Member District A district within a larger political subdivision, such as a city or school district, from which a single individual is elected to represent the…
136. Special Election Any election that is not a general election or a primary election. Examples include a local option liquor election, bond election, bingo election, special…
137. Special Law District A district created and governed by an act of the legislature; see the Special District Local Laws Code online.
138. Specimen Ballot An official ballot made available for public inspection; an official ballot for each ballot format used in each election must be designated a specimen…
139. State Inspectors An individual appointed and trained by the SOS to observe election activities. A state inspector is entitled to be present at and observe any function or…
140. Statement of Elected or Appointed Officer Pursuant to Art XVI, Sec. 1(b), Texas Constitution, all elected or appointed officers, before taking the Oath or Affirmation of office and entering upon…
141. Statement of Residence (SOR) (SOR) Before voter who is otherwise qualified to vote will be accepted for voting, he/she must complete a statement of residence (“SOR”) if: 1) there is an…
142. Statewide Office An office of the federal or state government that is voted on statewide.
143. Straight-Party Vote A vote by a single mark, selection, or other action by the voter for all the nominees of one political party.
144. Substantially Similar A voter’s name as listed on the photo ID the voter presents for voting is considered substantially similar to the form of the name as listed on the list…
145. Suspense List/S-List The list maintained by the county voter registrar that contains the names of voters who fail to response to a confirmation notice, whose registration…
146. Tabulation The action of creating a chart or table showing the votes cast in a given precinct for the candidates and for or against propositions voted on in that…
147. Tally List A document used to record the votes for candidates and for or against measures to be voted on in a given precinct.
148. Temporary Branch (Early Voting) Polling Place One or more early voting polling places other than the main early voting polling place may be established by (1) the commissioners court, for an election…
149. Territory As used in voter registration or voting, the area within a political subdivision’s legal limits; the metes and bounds of s district or political…
150. Texas Administrative Code A compilation of all state agency rules in Texas. The rules usually are put in place to clarify conflicting laws or to give procedural guidance on how…
151. Texas Legislature The legislature is a bicameral (2 chamber) body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives.
152. Undervote An undervote occurs when the number of choices selected by a voter in a contest is less than the maximum number allowed for that contest or when no…
153. Unexpired Term The remainder of a term filled by an officer elected by special election or appointed, after a vacancy has occurred in the office.
154. Uniform Election Date With few exceptions, each general or special election in this state shall be held on one of the following dates: (1) the second Saturday in May; or (2)…
155. Vacancy When the elected or appointed officer for a given office is unable or unwilling to continue serving throughout the entirety of the term and resigns from…
156. Volunteer Deputy Registrar Volunteer Deputy Registrars are entrusted with the responsibility of officially registering voters in the State of Texas.
157. Vote Center See Countywide Polling Place Program.
158. Voter Registrar The county tax assessor-collector is the voter registrar for the county unless the position of county elections administrator is created or the county…
159. Voter Registration Certificate Initial Registration Certificate, also referred to as a Voter Registration Card.
160. Voter Registration List Original List of Registered Voters - Before the beginning of early voting for the first election held in a county in each voting year, the registrar shall…
161. Voter Unique Identification Number (VUID) (VUID) i.e., a voter’s voter registration number.
162. Voting Booth A small enclosure in which a person votes.
163. Voting Machine An apparatus on which voters cast their votes, that records each vote, and that furnishes a total of the number of votes cast for the candidates and for…
164. Voting Station The voting booth or other place where voters mark their ballots or otherwise indicate their votes at a polling place.
165. Voting System A method of casting and processing votes that is designed to function wholly or partly by use of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic apparatus…
166. Voting System Ballot A ballot designed for use with a voting system.
167. Voting System Certification Before a voting system or voting system equipment may be used in an election, the system and a unit of the equipment must be approved by the secretary of…
168. Voting System Equipment Any kind of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic apparatus for use in a voting system.
169. Voting Year The 12-month period beginning January 1 of each year. See also Calendar Year.
170. Ward A district used in a general law city. Similar to a single-member district, except that in Texas, most municipalities that have a ward system elect two…
171. Water District A political subdivision created by an act passed by the Texas Legislature, by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), or on the action of a…
172. Withdraw When a candidate who has filed for a place on a ballot submits a signed, notarized document to the filing authority requesting that the candidate’s name…