Wednesday, October 17, 2001

Proposition 6 grants governor new power
By Natalie Gott
Associated Press

AUSTIN — Florida and its election nightmare were on the minds of lawmakers when they drafted and approved Proposition 6 for voter consideration.

The constitutional amendment on the Nov. 6 ballot would require the governor to call a special session of the Legislature to appoint presidential electors if he thought it were reasonably likely that they would not be selected in time for the federal certification deadline.

Under law, when people vote for a candidate for president, in reality they are voting for that candidate’s electors, who then meet to cast their votes for president. If Texas were deadlocked over election results, the electors might not be chosen in time to participate in the Electoral College.

Supporters say the proposed amendment ensures that the Legislature could appoint its own set of electors and Texas would not lose its electoral votes. They also say the bill will boost confidence among voters, letting them know that one way or another, Texas electors will vote.

After the last election cycle, officials from many states believed they had adequate safeguards to prevent the problems that plagued Florida, said Rep. Dale Tillery, D-Dallas, who sponsored the measure.

“Yet we found out there were holes in the state’s process for timely designating (of) presidential electors,” Tillery said. The proposed amendment “addresses a crack in the current procedure in Texas and this ensures that Texans will appoint Texas presidential electors, not the United States Congress.”

Rep. John Shields, a Republican from San Antonio who opposed the bill, said the constitutional amendment is unnecessary because the governor already has the power to call a legislative session.

“Texas is not Florida and we don’t have a problem,” Shields said. “This appears to be addressing a problem that took place in another state.”

Shields also said the amendment cuts down on the governor’s discretion by requiring him to call a special session under such circumstances.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry said he has not focused his attention on Proposition 6 nor voiced his opinion.

Supporters of the measure acknowledge that the election scenario involving the governor and the legislators is unlikely.

“This is again one example of how the Texas Legislature was able to look at our current system, look at what happened in Florida, and then improve our system to hopefully prevent any problems like we saw in Florida,” former Secretary of State Henry Cuellar told voters during a town hall meeting last month.

Lawmakers took other steps during the 2001 legislative session to strengthen the Texas election system. Among them: phasing out the use of punch-card ballot systems and setting requirements regarding the reporting of undervotes and overvotes.