HBA-NRS H.B. 281 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 281 By: Garcia Elections 2/20/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law provides that the candidates for president and vice president who receive the greatest number of votes in Texas win all of Texas' electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska laws, however, provide that candidates for president and vice president receive one electoral vote for each congressional district in which they receive the greatest number of votes and two electoral votes if they receive the greatest number of votes statewide. House Bill 281 modifies the state's electoral system to provide that candidates for president and vice president receive one electoral vote for each congressional district in which they receive the greatest number of votes and two electoral votes if they receive the greatest number of votes statewide. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 281 amends the Election Code to provide that the presidential elector candidates must be designated such that one person serves as an elector from each congressional district and two persons serve as at-large electors from the state. The bill provides that an elector candidate from a congressional district is elected if the candidates for president and vice president that correspond to the elector receive the most votes in the congressional district the elector represents. The bill provides that a presidential elector from a congressional district must be a resident of the district the elector is chosen to represent. The bill provides that at-large elector candidates are elected if the candidates for president and vice president that correspond to the elector receive the most votes statewide. The bill removes the provision that the set of elector candidates that is elected is the one that corresponds to the candidates for president and vice president receiving the most votes. The bill authorizes the electors meeting to vote for president and vice president to appoint a replacement elector after an election by the majority vote of the qualified electors present that correspond to the same candidates for president and vice president that received the most votes in the area for which the replacement elector is chosen. If no such electors are present, the bill provides that a replacement elector is chosen by the majority vote of all the qualified electors present. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.