You Can Vote in the Runoff if Registered but only in same Party Primary
By State Rep. Jerry Madden
With an unusually high number of runoff elections in Collin County & across Texas its not surprising there is a great deal of interest in exactly who can vote and in which Runoff Election. Some believe that if you voted in either primary you can vote in either runoff. That is incorrect.
As a past member of the Elections committee for the Texas House of Representatives I can tell you there are always a lot of questions about runoff elections and who is eligible to vote in them" said State Representative Jerry Madden from District 67.
The most frequent misconception is that you must have voted in the primary election to vote in the primary runoff. The actual election law states that any registered voter can vote in the runoff unless they voted in the Primary election for a different party" stated Madden.
You cannot switch parties between the primary and the runoff said Madden.
Another frequent misconception circulating is that you cannot vote in the primary runoff unless you were eligible to vote in the primary election. Any person who is registered on or before March 13 is eligible to vote in the runoff. The runoff election will be held April 13 and to be eligible you have to register 30 days prior to that date" continued Madden.
There are a record number of primary runoff races on the ballot this election cycle. There are 8 runoff races on the local Collin County Ballot alone.
Looking at the state wide ballot for the Republican Party there are:
6 runoffs for U.S. Representative- 8 runoff elections for the Texas House
- 1 for Supreme Court Justice and
- 1 for the State Board of Education (SBOE).
On the Democratic ballot there are runoff elections for:
- 1 U.S. Representative slot and
- 1 for the Texas House.
This is taken directly from the Texas Secretary of State Web site:
Q: Does a voter have to vote in the main election in order to vote in a runoff-election?
A: Section 11.001 of the Texas Election Code prescribes the specific qualifications necessary in order to vote in a Texas election. There is no specific requirement to have previously voted in the main election in order to participate in the subsequent run-off election. Therefore such a requirement cannot be enforced. However please note that if you participated in a main primary election for one party you cannot participate in the runoff primary election of another party.
Early voting for the Republican & Democratic Primary Runoff Election begins on Monday April 5th and runs through Friday April 9th.
Election Day is Tuesday April 13 2010.
All registered voters are eligible to vote in the Republican Primary Runoff Election as long as they did not vote in the March 2nd Democratic Primary Election according to the Republican Party of Texas website.
The reverse is also true; all registered voters are eligible to vote in the Democratic Primary Runoff Election as long as they did not vote in the
March 2nd Republican Primary Election.
The short version to the question Who can vote in the runoff is that anyone registered on or before March 13 can vote in a runoff for Texas Primary Runoff election ... as long as they did not vote in the opposing partys primary election on March 2nd" explained Madden.
