<b>By Libby Cluett</b><br><a href="mailto:lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com">lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com</a>
The 2010 political season officially opens Thursday, when county, state and national candidates can file for a place on the ballot for the March 2 primary election.
Primary candidates have until 6 p.m. on Jan. 4 to file with their respective party chair. Chairs are:
• Lanie Wright, for the Palo Pinto County Democratic Party, said she will accept applications at 312 Roy Green Road beginning Thursday morning. For more information or for directions, call 325-4556.
• Barbara Upham, chair of the Republican Party of Palo Pinto County, said the party will begin to take Republican filings at 10 a.m. on Thursday at a get-together filing event where she expects all local Republican primary candidates to be present. The location is the party’s temporary headquarters inside the Brazos Mall, across from Sears and towards the cinema.
For more information on the Republican filing event or on filing, contact Upham at (940) 798-2665 or barbaraupham@yahoo.com. The party’s official mailing address is 9590 North U.S. 281, Mineral Wells, TX 76067.
The Texas Secretary of State’s office urges anyone, before becoming a candidate, to contact the Texas Ethics Commission for:
• Information on campaign contribution reports.
• Appointment of a campaign treasurer.
• Personal financial statements that you may be required to file.
The Texas Ethics Commission may be reached at the following address: P.O. Box 12070
Austin, TX 78711-2070
1-800-325-8506
No party
Residents wanting to run as an independent candidate for a county office may do so by filing their “declaration of intent to run” with the county judge between Thursday and January 4. Independents are not affiliated with a party and are not a part of a party’s primary elections or party conventions.
After the primary elections, independents can collect signatures from registered voters who have not participated in the general primary election or the runoff primary election of a party that has nominated, at either election, a candidate for the office they seek.
Other key 2010 Election dates
• Feb. 1 – Last day citizens may register to vote in the primary election or change voter registration information to be effective for the primary election.
• Feb. 16-26 – Early voting in person.
• March 2 (first Tuesday in March) – Primary Election Day, voting from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Primary runoff day: April 13.
• May uniform election date: Saturday, May 8.
• November uniform election date: Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Registering to vote:
Voter registration cards are typically available at libraries, post offices and high schools. In Mineral Wells, voter cards are also available at the Palo Pinto County Annex, located in the Poston Building at 107 North Oak Ave. and at the Texas Department of Public Safety at 600 Farm-to-Market Road 1821 North.
To be eligible to register as a voter in Texas, a resident must be a U.S. citizen and a resident of the county; be 18 years old (you may register at 17 years and 10 months); not a convicted felon (unless a person’s sentence is completed, including any probation or parole); and not declared mentally incapacitated by a court of law.
For more voter information, visit www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/index.shtml or contact the voter registrar at (940) 659-1271.
Some information for this article came from the Texas Secretary of State.
