Article VI, Section 3a of the Texas Constitution
As amended November 2, 1999:
When an election is held by any county, or any number of counties, or any political sub-division of the State, or any political sub-division of a county, or any defined district now or hereafter to be described and defined within the State and which may or may not include towns, villages or municipal corporations, or any city, town or village, for the purpose of issuing bonds or otherwise lending credit, or expending money or assuming any debt, only qualified voters of the State, county, political sub-division, district, city, town or village where such election is held shall be qualified to vote.
Editor Comments
As added in 1932, this section read: "When an election is held by any county, or any number of counties, or any political sub-division of the State, or any political sub-division of a county, or any defined district now or hereafter to be described and defined within the State and which may or may not include towns, villages or municipal corporations, or any city, town or village, for the purpose of issuing bonds or otherwise lending credit, or expending money or assuming any debt, only qualified electors who own taxable property in the State, county, political sub-division, district, city, town or village where such election is held, and who have duly rendered the same for taxation, shall be qualified to vote and all electors shall vote in the election precinct of their residence."
The section has been amended once. The rationale was that the section violated the federal constitution. See Hill v. Stone, 421 U.S. 289, 300 (1975) ("In sum, the Texas rendering requirement erects a classification that impermissibly disfranchises persons otherwise qualified to vote, solely because they have not rendered some property for taxation.").
Recent Decisions
None.
Historic Decisions
- Ex parte Progreso Indep. Sch. Dist., 650 S.W.2d 158, 162 (Tex.App.–Corpus Christi 1983, n.r.e.) ("The United States Supreme Court has issued a series of decisions concerning statutes which exclude otherwise qualified voters from participating in elections. . . . Another case in the related line of Supreme Court authorities is one in which the Court considered a Texas statute regulating library bond elections, which gave greater weight to the votes of those who owned and rendered property. In Hill v. Stone, 421 U.S. 289, 95 S.Ct. 1637, 44 L.Ed.2d 172 (1975), the Court struck down the statute because the State failed to show any compelling state interest for the classification.")
- Montgomery Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Martin, 464 S.W.2d 638, 641 (Tex. 1971) ("In our opinion, the requirement that the voter in a general obligation bond election must get his property on the rolls is in the interest of sound government and affords equal treatment of all citizens. One who is willing to vote for and impose a tax on the property of another should be willing to assume his distributive share of the burden. This is the manner in which the Texas Constitution, as approved by the entire citizenry of the state, provides inducement for those who wish to participate in the decision making process in a School District to assume their rightful portion of the burden they help to create.")
Library Resources
- Vernon's Annotated Constitution of the State of Texas (this multi-volume and up-to-date resource is available at all law libraries and many municipal libraries)
- The Texas State Constitution: A Reference Guide (this one-volume resource is available at most law libraries and some municipal libraries)
- The Constitution of the State of Texas: An Annotated and Comparative Analysis (this two-volume resource is available at most law libraries and some municipal libraries)
Online Resources
- Constitution of the State of Texas (1876) (this resource is published and maintained by the University of Texas School of Law)
- Amendments to the Texas Constitution Since 1876 (this resource is published and regularly updated by the Legislative Council)
- Reports Analyzing Proposed Amendments (this resource is published and regularly updated by the Legislative Reference Library)