The commissioner must conduct and oversee certain referenda and board elections, while the foundation pays the costs and eligible cotton growers may vote only once.
Sec. 74.114. CONDUCT OF BOARD ELECTIONS AND REFERENDA; BALLOTING. (a) The commissioner shall conduct a referendum or board election authorized under this subchapter. At the end of each four-year period in which an eradication program has been operational in a zone, the commissioner shall hold a referendum in the zone on the continuation of the eradication program. The referendum shall be held at the same time as the election of a board member from the zone. Approval of the referendum on continuation is by a majority of those voting in the referendum. (a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the commissioner may conduct only one referendum on continuation in each zone on or after September 1, 2005. The commissioner shall include on the ballot adequate notice of: (1) the fact that a referendum on continuation is the final referendum on continuation for the zone in which it is held; and (2) the existence of the petition provision in Section 74.112(f). (b) The foundation shall bear all expenses incurred in conducting a referendum or board election. (c) The commissioner shall adopt rules for voting in board elections and referenda to establish or continue eradication zones. Rules adopted under this subsection must include provisions for determining: (1) who is a cotton grower eligible to vote in an election or referendum; (2) whether a board member is elected by a plurality or a majority of the votes cast; and (3) the area from which each board member is elected. (d) A cotton grower having cotton production in a proposed or established eradication zone is entitled to: (1) vote in a referendum concerning the eradication zone; and (2) elect board members to represent the eradication zone. (e) An eligible cotton grower may vote only once in a referendum or board election. (f) Ballots in a referendum or board election shall be mailed directly to a central location, to be determined by the commissioner. A cotton grower eligible to vote in a referendum or board election who has not received a ballot from the commissioner, foundation, or another source shall be offered the option of requesting a ballot by mail or obtaining a ballot at the office of the county agent of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service or a government office distributing ballots in a county in the proposed or established zone in which the referendum or board election is conducted. (g) A referendum is approved if: (1) at least two-thirds of those voting vote in favor of the referendum; or (2) those voting in favor of the referendum farm more than 50 percent, as determined by the commissioner, of the cotton acreage in the relevant eradication zone. (h) If a referendum under this subchapter is not approved, the commissioner may conduct another referendum. A referendum under this subsection may not be held before one year after the date on which the last referendum on the same issue was held. (i) A public hearing regarding the proposed eradication program, including information regarding regulations to be promulgated by the commissioner, may be held by the commissioner in each of several locations within each boll weevil or pink bollworm eradication zone. The area posted for each hearing shall include no more than six contiguous counties that have cotton production at the time of the hearing. (j) Individual voter information, including an individual's vote in a referendum or board election conducted under this section, is confidential and is not subject to disclosure under the open records law, Chapter 552, Government Code. Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 8, Sec. 1, eff. June 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 227, Sec. 10, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 463, Sec. 1.16, 2.06, eff. May 30, 1997. Amended by: Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 119 (S.B. 1428), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2005.