Bill Text: TX HR2 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Providing for the election of the speaker of the house.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2017-01-10 - Reported enrolled [HR2 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HR2-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 2 |
|
||
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of | ||
Texas, That, in accordance with Sections 9(b) and 11, Article III, | ||
Texas Constitution, the House of Representatives of the 85th | ||
Legislature shall elect a speaker of the house from its own | ||
membership as follows: | ||
SECTION 1. NOMINATIONS. (a) The secretary of state shall | ||
call for nominations from the floor for the election of speaker of | ||
the house of representatives and shall recognize every member who | ||
desires to make a nomination. The order in which members desiring | ||
to make a nomination shall proceed shall be determined by lot. | ||
(b) Each member recognized for this purpose shall | ||
immediately advance to the front microphone and make the nomination | ||
in a nominating speech not to exceed five minutes in length. | ||
(c) After all nominations have been made, the secretary of | ||
state shall declare nominations to be closed. | ||
SECTION 2. SECONDS. (a) A person is not considered a | ||
nominee unless the nomination is seconded by at least one member. | ||
(b) One seconding speech shall be allowed for each | ||
nomination in the order in which nominations were made, then other | ||
seconding speeches shall be allowed in rotation in the same order. | ||
(c) No more than three seconding speeches shall be allowed | ||
for each nominee. | ||
(d) A seconding speech may not exceed four minutes in | ||
length. | ||
SECTION 3. VOTING PROCEDURES: VOTING MACHINE. (a) If | ||
after the close of all seconding speeches only one nominee remains | ||
for election to the speaker, the secretary of state shall recognize | ||
a motion to elect that nominee by acclamation. If no motion is made | ||
or five or more members make a written request for a record vote, | ||
the members shall record their votes from their desks on the voting | ||
machine with the yeas and nays taken as in other record votes of the | ||
house. | ||
(b) If there are two or three nominees for speaker, the | ||
members shall record their votes from their desks on the voting | ||
machine with a different colored light on the machine indicating a | ||
vote for each nominee. If the nominees cannot agree on the color | ||
that will indicate a vote for each nominee, the presiding officer | ||
shall draw lots to determine the color for each nominee. | ||
(c) Before the close of voting on the voting machine, the | ||
presiding officer shall provide several warnings to the members | ||
that the voting period is about to close. | ||
(d) A verification of a vote taken by voting machine shall | ||
be by roll call vote, with the members seated and the house at | ||
order, beginning with the members recorded as voting for the | ||
nominee with the most votes. During verification, a member may not | ||
change a vote unless it was erroneously recorded, and any member not | ||
having voted for a nominee may not cast a vote. | ||
(e) If there are three nominees for speaker, a member who | ||
does not cast a vote for a nominee but who was recorded as present at | ||
the initial roll call shall be recorded as "present, not voting" in | ||
the record of the vote. | ||
SECTION 4. VOTING PROCEDURES: ROLL CALL VOTE. (a) If | ||
there are more than three nominees for speaker, the election shall | ||
be held in the manner provided for a roll call vote of the members | ||
with the chief clerk calling the members' names in alphabetical | ||
order. When the chief clerk reads aloud the name of a member, the | ||
member shall vote by stating the name of one of the nominees or | ||
state that the member is present, not voting. The chief clerk shall | ||
repeat the member's vote aloud and record the vote on a tally sheet. | ||
(b) After all members have announced their votes, the chief | ||
clerk shall prepare a report containing the total votes received by | ||
each nominee and the total number of members who are present, not | ||
voting. The chief clerk shall provide a copy of the report to the | ||
secretary of state. | ||
(c) A verification of a vote taken by roll call consists | ||
solely of ensuring that an announced vote was tallied correctly. | ||
SECTION 5. RECORD VOTE. All votes taken shall be record | ||
votes with the vote of each member entered in the House Journal. | ||
SECTION 6. RESULTS; RUNOFF. (a) The secretary of state | ||
shall announce the results of the election. If a nominee receives a | ||
majority of the votes cast, the secretary of state shall declare | ||
that nominee to be elected to the office of speaker of the house of | ||
representatives. | ||
(b) If no nominee receives a majority of the votes cast, the | ||
two nominees receiving the largest number of votes in the initial | ||
vote shall be in a runoff conducted by voting machine as provided by | ||
Section 3 of this resolution. The secretary of state shall announce | ||
the results of the runoff and declare the nominee receiving a | ||
majority of the votes cast to be elected. | ||
SECTION 7. TIE VOTES. (a) If in the initial vote no nominee | ||
receives a majority of the votes cast and it is not possible to | ||
determine the two nominees receiving the largest number of votes | ||
cast because of a tie vote, additional rounds of voting shall occur | ||
among the same nominees, other than a nominee who withdraws, until a | ||
nominee receives a majority of the votes cast or, if no nominee | ||
receives a majority of the votes cast, until it is possible to | ||
determine the two nominees who receive the largest number of votes | ||
cast. | ||
(b) If in a runoff between two nominees no nominee receives | ||
a majority of the votes cast because of a tie vote, additional | ||
rounds of runoff voting shall occur between the same two nominees | ||
until one of the nominees in the runoff receives a majority of the | ||
votes cast. | ||
SECTION 8. OATH. After the election, the secretary of state | ||
shall direct the administration of the oath of office to the | ||
speaker-elect. The speaker shall take the chair immediately after | ||
taking the oath of office. | ||
Hunter | ||
Cook | ||
Villalba | ||
Dutton | ||
Lucio III | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 2 was adopted by the House on January | ||
10, 2017, by a non-record vote. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||