1. November Leadership Webinar

2. Important Updates NEW OFFICE! Mailing: PO Box 2206, Austin, TX 78768
Physical: 211 E 7th Street, Suite 915 Austin, TX 78701
RPT Office CLOSED
Wednesday, Nov 25th RPT 3p
Thursday, Nov 26th – Sunday, Nov 29th
New RPT Staff
Communications Coordinator – Michael Joyce

3. Exclusive Content NEW WEBSITE! Location Enter Password: rptcontent12!
 Leadership  Party Officials  Exclusive Content
Enter Password: rptcontent12!
Only for SREC Members & County Chairs
DO NOT GIVE OUT THE LOGIN INFORMATION PUBLICLY
Next Leadership Webinar
Monday, December 6:30p

4. GOP Data Center Updated Forms on Exclusive Content Access to Campaigns
Must fill out BOTH
Individual User Agreement
Campaign Agreement
Need to Renew?
Just to renew your access
GOP Data Center Training
There is a training video on the Exclusive Content

5. Comparison Push Cards Contact RPT Include! Name Mailing Address
Include!
Name
Mailing Address
Number of Cards

6. SREC – Dec 4th & 5th New Meeting Location
Woodward Conference Center & Wyndham Garden Hotel
Wyndham Deadline: November 6th
On-line , select “Reservations” and enter your desired dates of stay. Then, click “Special Rates & Codes” and enter RE in the Group Code field. Make your rooming selection and book!
Telephone Reservation Procedure  Give dates of stay and ask for the “Republican Party of Texas SREC Meeting.” Then guarantee your reservation with a credit card.
Candlewood Suites Deadline: November 20th
Reserve by phone: – (512) (tell them you are with SREC)

7. County Chairs
VACANT
Foard
Starr

9. RPT Rules Copy of updated Rules What Changed? On RPT Website
National Delegate “Texas Two Step” rejected by RNC
SREC added a provision that removed the “Two Step” if the RNC rejected it.
National Delegates will be selected totally based on the March 1, 2016 election results
3 Delegates & 3 Alternates from each Congressional District Caucus (CD)
Bound based on election results in each CD
All At Large Delegates & Alternates selected by the National Nominations Committee at State Convention
Bound based on statewide election results

10. Conventions A MAJOR function within the Party Precinct Convention
Each County determines when and where to be held
Must be AFTER polls close on March 1, 2016
County/Senate District Convention – March 19, 2016
County Convention – if the County is entirely in ONE State Senate District
Senate District Convention – if the County has more than one State Senate District
State Convention – May 12th – 14th Dallas, TX
National Convention – July 18th – 21st Cleveland, Ohio

11. CEC Vote on Pct Conventions
Your County Executive Committee (CEC) needs to vote on when and where your county will hold their Precinct Conventions.
1. After the polls close on Election Day
Pros
Easy to tell people when and where to attend
Plenty of time to process all paperwork and appoint temporary committees
Cons
Make sure you add the extra time into the contracts you sign with the polling locations when you secure them.
If many of your activist are also working the polls they might not be able to finish their duties and attend the conventions

12. CEC Vote on Pct Conventions
2. Same date or time after Election Day but before the County/SD Conventions
Pros
 You election workers would be able to participate in the conventions
Doesn’t require folks to stay even later on a school night
Does not interfere with election night parties or returns
Cons
Might be difficult to get activists out on an additional day
Shortens the time frame to organize for the County/SD Convention
3. Same Day as County Convention
NOTE: I would only recommend this option for smaller counties with lower population, otherwise logistics will be a nightmare.
Activists only have to give up one day instead of two
Logistics, especially committee work, could be an issue

13. Date, Time and Location
CEC should vote on location and start time of the County/SD Convention
Location Suggestions – plan for your size
County headquarters
County courthouse courtroom
School auditorium or cafeteria
Local business
House
Coordinate opening and closing of facility
County/SD Conventions must be held the 3rd Saturday after the Primary Election - March 19, 2016

14. Convention info on RPT website
the following info to
Precinct Convention: times, dates, & locations
County/SD Convention: time & location
Temporary SD Convention Chair: Name, , & phone

15. 2016 Filing Period Precinct Chair Filing Period
September 15th – December 6pm
All Other Offices Filing Period
Saturday, November 14th – Monday, December
Includes County Chair – ALL County Chairs must file for reelection!
6p deadline to receive the application (postmark insufficient)
2016 Primary Election
Tuesday, March 1, 2016

16. When to file for office
First Day for Precinct Chairs to file – September 15th
First Day to File – Saturday, November 14th 2015
Last Day to File – Monday, December 14th 2015 at 6pm
County Chairs must post by Sunday, December 13, 2015 where they will be on the last day of filing.
Notice should be posted on the Party’s Internet website or at the location where applications are being received.
Posting on the county commissioners’ bulletin board is not required as of June 2013.
Other Resources
, Online: Facebook, Website
Newspaper – SOS funds CANNOT be used to pay for ads

17. Where to file
Offices that fall entirely within the county file with the County Chair
Offices that cover more than one county file with RPT
Party Office – Files with County Chair
County Chair
Precinct Chair
May file starting on Tuesday, September 15th
Hold a CEC Meeting on or after this day. Arrange for a Notary and have all Precinct Chairs file for reelection at the meeting.
There is no cost to file for either of these positions

18. Reviewing Applications & Petitions
Utilize the Exclusive Content of the RPT website under the “Primary Election” drop down menu.
Updated Ballot Application Review Checklists
Visit the power points and training videos on how to review applications and petitions
Election Calendar
Qualifications for office, filing fees, signature requirements
Filing Fees should be made out to your county party (ie “Williamson County Republican Party”)
Petition Signature Amounts
For COUNTY WIDE offices:  Go to the SOS website HERE and then select “2014 General Election”  that should give you the total number of votes in the county and you can do the math from there. 
Other Races in County:  If you have a county commissioner or another type of race that is only part of the county you will have to contact your county clerk to find those numbers.

19. Filing Fee & Petition Issues
There is a link on the Exclusive Content that shows you the filing fee or petition requirement for the office in question.
What if the candidate does not give me enough money? – You reject the application. 
What if the candidates gives me too much money, can I just write a check for the difference? – NO! State law gives specifics of when you can refund a filing fee and this option isn’t listed.  Therefore if a candidate gives you too much money you either reject the application (meaning just have them come back and file with the correct amount) or they forfeit the overage.

20. Primary Finance Make sure you send in your estimate!
Do not zero out the estimated candidate filing fees, use the pre-populated number given by SOS.
Show estimate to your County Clerk/County Elections Admin before submitting the final estimate.
The County will not be able to log in and make edits like they did last cycle – all on you!
There is a link on the Exclusive Content to the SOS 2016 Primary Finance page.
if you do not have your 2016 Username and Password

21. Reimbursement for SOS training
Fill this out ASAP and return it to SOS along with your direct deposit form.
The form is on the Exclusive Content under “Primary Election”
Direct Deposit – You must fill out a NEW form EVERY cycle.
Still fill out a new one
Even if you used the direct deposit with SOS for the last primary
Even if you have the exact same bank account and information
The form can be found in the Exclusive Content under “Primary Election”
Reminder to use the EIN number for the county party. 
No idea what that is?  Check out the “County Party Finances & Fundraising” tab on the Exclusive Content  

22. Banking Issues Banking Issues
If you do not have a primary election bank account contact and RPT will issue you a bank authorization letter to open a new account or to change the authorized agent of the existing account.
If you still have an outstanding bill with SOS for the 2014 Primary you will receive an from Ainslie next week.  Please take care of this ASAP!  For some of you it may be a case of the previous chair not closing out the account with SOS.  Always call if you have any issues with the money ext 3.

23. Ballot Applications in General
Remember as the County Chair you NEVER write on the ballot application until you are accepting it to appear on the ballot.  You CANNOT just fill in a blank or cross apply a number or assume you know the info that is blank.  After the application is notarized it is a LEGAL government document and you cannot tamper with it!!
Is it a fatal flaw if the candidate used an older version of the application?— No.  As long as all of the legally required information is listed it should be fine.  Technically they could write it on a napkin as long as all of the required info is listed you can take it. . . but not advised!!  It is BEST if the candidate uses the most current version.
What are the differences in the older and newer version? – The new version clarifies that certain fields are public and will be posted on the SOS site. It also adds the optional space to enter the candidates VUID.

24. Ballot Applications in General
What if a candidate uses the incorrect ballot application? – If the required information for that office (see the review checklists as a guide) are not met then you must reject that application.
What if a candidate running for any public office other than Congress uses the Federal application, do I then have to reject the application? – Yes because the Federal application is missing a number of fields required by state law for those other offices.  
States cannot make laws to impose on federal regulations.  Therefore many of the requirements for US Congress or US Senate are not as stringent as other public offices governed by the State of Texas.
FOR EXAMPLE:  I had to reject a incumbent State Rep who used the Federal form and therefore I cannot determine:
Term of Office (full or unexpired)
Length of Continues Residence in the territory
County of residence (in the oath section)

25. Ballot Applications in General
Hold up.  How many different application times are there?
President
Federal (Congress only this cycle)
Public Office
Party Office (County Chair & Precinct Chair)
You will be *shocked* to know all are located on the Exclusive Content
Is the candidate required to submit a campaign treasurer form with the ballot application to you as the county chair? – No.  The law only requires that the application and either the filing fee or the nominating petitions be submitted and comply with the Constitution and legal statues.
I really thought it was a requirement? – Nope.  But it is a good practice for those new candidates who may not know that they do need to file a campaign treasure before filing for office.  However for incumbents they should have already filed a treasure and been submitting ethics reports.  If they are not then contact the Texas Ethics Commission.
After I enter the application on the SOS website what do I do with it? – By law you are required to keep the original for two years.  Do not throw it away.  Do not send it to the state party or to SOS.

26. Ballot Application Review Questions
Office Sought
What if a District Judge (for example,) whose district is entirely contained in one county, and is the only District Judge in the county, files their application with the correct County Chair but did not list the Judicial District Number.  Must I reject the application? – This is a bit sticky.  If it were the ONLY District Judge position in the county that met that criteria you could accept it BUT a better solution would be to contact the candidate to come in and amend the application to add the district number.  It is always better to be MOST correct.
Is the candidate required to list their ? No, that may be left blank.  However if the candidate does fill it out you are only required to enter the in the SOS website if it is listed on the ballot application.

27. Ballot Application Review Questions
Occupation
This is a required field and cannot be left blank.  You are not one to stay what is an occupation and what isn’t but if there is an obvious typo like in the occupation field that is not sufficient.  Make sure to contact the candidate and let them know the problem so that they can come fix it or submit a new application.

28. Ballot Application Review Questions
Length of continuous residence. . .
What does “territory” mean? – In this case it means “district” or “precinct”
What if the time in the State is completed by the “territory” is left blank? – You must reject the application.  Just because they lived in the State of Texas for a long amount of time does not mean they have lived in that area they wish to represent for the required amount of time.
But what if the person applying is the incumbent so you can assume that the candidate meets the length of residency requirements. – You know what you get when you assume You can ONLY make your decision based on the four corners of the document and if that is left blank you must reject it.

29. Ballot Application Review Questions
What happens if the candidate fills out the years but leaves the months blank? – As long as the candidate listed something, that also meets the length requirements for the office it is fine. 
For example they might say 8 years __ months in state and 8 years and __ months in territory.  That is ok!
Notary Section
The first blank was left blank in the notary section is it a fatal flaw? – No. While we like to have every blank complete as long as the date (day, month, year) is complete and not back dated it is fine that the first blank is blank.
Q: What if the blank “Title of Officer Administering Oath” is left empty? – If the person administering the oath is a notary and they have stamped the application, and their commission has not expired, then it is fine to leave the it blank.  If another person, authorized by state law, is administering the oath like a Justice of the Peace they MUST write their title “Justice of the Peace Pct 1” on the line “Title of Officer Administering Oath.”

30. Talking Points
As Republicans we believe in the rule of law and wish to follow the law to administer fair elections.
Better for us to catch it now while there is time for you to fix the error than for an opponent to catch it later and potentially have you removed from the ballot.
If a Democrat opponent were to find this and file a lawsuit that would take time and resources and if our side lost we would have to pay all of those legal fees and those are dollars better spent electing Republicans to office.
If the lawsuit were to prevail and the Republican candidate is removed from the ballot that means the Democrat would win outright.

31. Candidate Platform Reviews
You are required to give one to each non-judicial candidate.  Justices of the Peace and constitutional county judges (they know who they are) are judicial candidates.
Candidates are NOT required to return them to be placed on the ballot.
All that are turned into you should be either scanned or copied and then sent to the State Party to comply with RPT Rules.  Mail COPIES to PO Box 2206, Austin TX

32. Don’t forget to file for reelection!
Your term of office is two years so you have to file every election
There is no filing fee for County Chair.
Make sure to use the correct form for _____ Chair.
Yes, you file the application with yourself, the County Chair.  I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense but it is the government that makes the requirements to there you have it!

33. SOS Website Links County Chairs & Precinct Chairs Public Office
2016  County Chair & Precinct Chair Candidate Filing Data Entry
2016 County Chair & Precinct Chair Candidate Listing
Public Office
2016 Primary Election Candidate Filing Data Entry
2016 Primary Election Candidate Listing
Other Issues to watch out for
“Ballot Name”
Precinct and Number

34. VUID Verification for Candidates
a candidate must be a registered voter of the territory (district/precinct) elected from as of the filing deadline (unless outside law conflicts).
SOS wrote up a FAQ located HERE
Also under the “Ballot Applications, Fees, Review Tools, & Training” of the Exclusive Content.

35. Voting History
What if a candidate voted in the 2014 Democrat Primary? – That’s fine just have them fill out the Party Switchers Contact Info Form and turn it into RPT.
What if my candidate didn’t vote at all in 2014? – That’s ok, they can still apply to be a candidate.

36. Candidate yard signs
All under the “Candidate Resources” tab towards the bottom of the Exclusive Content
Campaign Signs
Campaign Sign FAQs
TxDOT Rules for Posting Campaign Signs
Campaign Sign Ordinances

37. Resign to Run
If an Elected Official announces his/her candidacy or becomes a candidate for any other than the office then held, at any time when the unexpired term of the office held exceeds 1 year and 30 days, the announcement results in an automatic resignation of the office.
Any Party Official (County Chair or Precinct Chair) that files to run for a public office automatically resigns the party position upon filing for public office.
A candidate cannot run for Public Office and Party Office at the same time. ( Sec (a))
The vacancy thereby created shall be filled pursuant to law in the same manner as other vacancies for such office are filled.

38. Resign to Run Applies to the following offices: District Clerks
County Clerks
County Judges
County Treasurers
Criminal District Attorneys
County Surveyors
County Commissioners
Justices of the Peace
Sheriffs
Assessors and Collectors of Taxes
District Attorneys
County Attorneys
Public Weighers
Constables
*Partial list*

39. Resign to Run Judges: Judicial Office holders:
County Courts at Law
County Criminal Courts
County Probate Courts
County Domestic Relations Courts
Judicial Office holders:
Must resign if a candidate in a contested election for a non-judicial office either in a primary or in a general or in a special election.
A judge may continue to hold judicial office:
While being a candidate for election to any judicial office.
While being a candidate for election to or serving as a delegate in a state constitutional convention or a political party convention.
Funding the Campaign for Office:
A judge cannot use money in his/her JCOH account to run for non-judicial office.
A non-judicial officeholder cannot use his/her COH account to run for judicial office.

40. Resign to Run Municipal Officers:
Applies to any municipal officer it they have a term exceeding two years
Lucrative Office Holders: (Art 3, Sec 19 Texas Constitution)
Specific Offices – elected or appointed
Judge of any court
Secretary of State
Attorney General
Clerk of any court of record
Any person holding a lucrative office under the United States or any state or any foreign government
Wentworth v. Meyer, 839 S.W.2d 766 (Tex. 1992)
May not be a candidate for the Legislature
To run for the Legislature, the candidate must resign and end his/her term prior to filing.

41. SHOUT OUT: Montague & Orange Counties
Party Switchers
If you have any candidates file that are current democrat officer holders please fill out the Party Switchers Contact Info Form and turn it into RPT.
Are they required to fill out an Oath of Affiliation? – No by applying to run for office in the Republican Primary they are already affiliating with the party.
A candidate already filed with the Democrat party but now wants to run in the Republican Primary.  Is that legal? – They need to take the following steps.  The candidate would need to fill out the Certificate of Withdrawal, have it notarized and then deliver it to the Democrat County Chair.  THEN the candidate would file his/her application with you for the Republican Party.
SHOUT OUT: Montague & Orange Counties

42. Republican Party of Texas
Cassie Daniel
Republican Party of Texas
Senior Director of
Party Organization & Training
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Ainslie Ellis
Republican Party of Texas
Primary Election Admin Assistant
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