The following are important dates related to the Saturday, May 8, 2010, school board trustee election.  If you have any questions regarding election procedures, contact the Elections Division Office of the Secretary of State, 800-252-VOTE (8683) or 512-463-5650 or at www.sos.state.tx.us.

Note on JOINT ELECTION REQUIREMENT
School districts must now have joint polling places on election day with either a city (located wholly or partly within the school district), or the county in November of even-numbered years.

NOTE ON NEW NOTICE OF FILING PERIOD
New Law: Senate Bill 1970 (81st Legislature) requires that the authority with whom an application for a place on the ballot is filed must post a notice of the filing period dates in a building in which the authority maintains an office.  The notice must be posted not later than the 30th day before the first day to file. (Sec. 141.040). For political subdivisions that do not have a "first day" to file, our office recommends posting the notice at the same time.  If you order a special election to fill a vacancy, the order must include the filing deadline; we recommend posting the notice of the filing period as soon as practicable after a special election is ordered.

NOTE OF NOTICE OF ELECTION
School districts are required to publish their notice in a newspaper at least once between the 30th day and the 10th day before the election, Thursday, April 8 - Wednesday, April 28.  Voting on ANY Saturday or Sunday must be included in the order and notice of the election.  Notice of the election must be delivered to the county clerk and voter registrar of each county in which the school district is located not later than the 60th day before election day, Tuesday, March 9.

NOTICE OF PREVIOUS POLLING PLACE
If a different polling place is being used than at the previous election held by the same authority, notice must be posted at the entrance of the previous polling place informing voters of the current polling place location, if possible.

February 6 (91st day Before Election Day (BED))
- First day to apply for a place on the ballot.

March 5 (64th day BED)
- If a candidate dies on or before this date, the candidate's name is not placed on the ballot, if the filing deadline is March 8.

March 8 (61st day BED)
- 5 p.m. - Last day to file for a place on the ballot in a special election to fill a vacancy, IF the special election is ordered on or before the 70th day BED, Saturday, February 27.
- Deadline to order a general election, unless otherwise provided in the Election Code.
- 5 p.m. - Last day to file for place on ballot.
- An application by mail is considered to be filed when it is received.
- School districts must have someone available to accept applications until 5 pm., even during Spring Break.
- Recommended day to order lists of registered voters.
- Recommended last date to order election supplies.
- Recommended date to appoint presiding and alternate judges.
- Recommended date to confirm the telephone number for the voter registrar's office on Election Day.

March 9 (60th day BED)
- First day to accept applications for early voting ballots to be voted by mail.

March 12 (57th day BED)
- Recommended day to post notice of ballot position drawing, if drawing is to be conducted by Tuesday, March 16. Notice of drawing must be posted 72 hours immediately preceding the time of drawing.
- Notice of ballot positioning must be mailed to candidates.

March 15 (54th day BED)
- Deadline for write-in candidates to file declarations of write-in candidacy.

March 16 (53rd day BED)
- Last day for a candidate to withdraw in an election for which the filing deadline is March 8. His or her name is omitted from the ballot if candidate withdraws or is declared ineligible.
- Recommended first day that an election may be cancelled if all filing deadlines have passed and each candidate for an office listed on the ballot is unopposed.
- Recommended date to conduct ballot position drawing.

March 19 - June 17 (50th day BED - 40th day After Election Day (AED))
Mandatory office hours. Secretary of governing body must keep office open for election duties for at least three hours each day, during regular office hours, on regular business days. If a school holiday falls on a day during the early voting by personal appearance period that is not a federal or state holiday, the school is required to be open to conduct early voting by personal appearance.

March 24 (45th day BED)
- Early voting clerk may begin mailing early voting ballots to applicants as soon as ballots are available.
NOTE: Early voting clerk must mail a ballot not later that the 7th day after the later of the date the early voting clerk has accepted a voter's application for a ballot by mail or the date the ballots become available for mailing. However, if the 7th day after the later date falls earlier than the 45th day BED, the voter's mail ballot must be mailed no later than the 38th day BED. Please note this deadline is not extended under Section 1.006 (Sec. 86.004).

March 28 (41st day BED)
- Last day to notify election judges of their appointment if they were appointed, as recommended, on March 8.

April 2 (36th day BED)
- Deadline to order a special election to fill a vacancy in order to have an April 7th candidate application deadline.

April 7 (31st day BED)
- 5 p.m. Last day to file for a place on the ballot in a special election to fill a vacancy, if the special election is ordered after the 70th day but by April 2, the 36th day BED.

April 8 (30th day BED)
- First day of a period during which notice of any school district election must be published. This notice must be published in a newspaper that is published within the boundaries of the school district, or if no newspaper is published within the district, in a newspaper of general circulation in the district. The notice must include the nature and date of the election, the location of each polling place, the hours the polls will be open, the regular dates and hours for early voting by personal appearance, the dates and hours of any Saturday or Sunday early voting, the location of the main early voting polling place, and the early voting clerk's mailing address.
- Last day a person may register to vote in the May 8 election.
- Last day for a voter to make a change of address that will be effective for the election.
- Last day to order a special election to fill a vacancy (if authorized by law to order such an election).

April 9 (29th BED)
- Recommended last day for early voting clerk to order supplemental and registration correction lists, if applicable.

April 12 (26th day BED)
- 5:00 p.m. - Last day to file a declaration of write-in candidacy for a special election to fill a vacancy, if the filing deadline for candidate application is on April 7.

April 13 (25th day BED)
- If there is a vacancy to be filled by special election, this is the first day an election may be cancelled if all filing deadlines have passed, each candidate whose name is to appear on the ballot is unopposed.

April 19 (19th day BED)
- Last day to post notice of election on bulletin board used for posting notices of meetings of school board.

April 19 - April 30 (19th day - 8th day BED)
- Person submitting an FPCA during this period who is not permanently registered to vote is not entitled to receive a ballot for any non-federal election held on Saturday, May 8.

April 21 (17th day BED)
- Notice of the first test of automatic tabulating equipment must be published.

April 23 (15th day BED)
- Last day to notify presiding judges of duty to hold election (Writ of Election).
- If an FPCA is received by this date without a postmark to prove the mailing date, the early voting clerk will accept the FPCA and mail the applicant a full ballot even if the applicant is not a permanently registered voter, but meets the requirements under Title 2 of the Election Code.

April 24 (2nd day before early voting period)
- 5 p.m. Last day a candidate may withdraw and have name removed from ballot if the filing deadline was after the 61st day before election day (i.e. a deadline later than the regular filing deadline of Monday, March 8)

April 26 (12th day BED)
- First day to vote early in person.
- School districts are required to be open during the entire voting period.
- If a defective application to vote early by mail is received on or before this date, the early voting clerk must mail the applicant a new application with an explanation of defects and instructions for submitting the new application.

April 28 (10th day BED)
- Last day to publish notice of any school district election.

April 29 (9th day BED)
- A voter who becomes ill or disabled on or after this date may vote a late ballot if the illness or disability prevents the voter from appearing at the polling place without a likelihood of needing personal assistance or of injuring his or her health.

April 30 (8th day BED)
- Last day to receive an FPCA from a registered voter or an application for a ballot to be voted by mail.
- First day school districts conducting joint elections with a county may convene their early voting ballot board and begin processing and counting ballots.

May 4 (4th day BED)
- Last day to vote early by personal appearance.
- Notice of the first test of automatic tabulating equipment must be published if scheduled for May 6 (48 hours before test).
- 5:00 p.m. - Requests for election inspectors for Saturday, May 8, must be received by the Secretary of State on or before this date.

May 5 (3rd day BED)
- First day to submit an application for and vote a late ballot because of a death in immediate family that occurred on or after May 3 and will require absence from the county on election day.
- First day to submit an application for and vote on a late ballot because of a sickness or disability that arose on or after April 29.
- Early voting ballot board may be convened for the sole purpose of processing and qualifying ballots, but may not begin counting.

May 6 (2nd day BED)
- Last day to conduct first test of automatic tabulating equipment (48 hours BED).

May 7 (1 day BED)
- Last day to submit an application for and vote a late ballot by personal appearance due to death in immediate family.
- Last day to deliver precinct early voting lists to election judges.

May 8 (Election Day)
- 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Polls are open. Early voting clerk and voter registrar's offices are open. Early voting office is open for early voting activities.
- 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Early voting clerk's office is open for voting by disabled and ill persons when electronic voting systems are used at regular polling place(s) on election day and the voter has a sickness or condition that prevents the voter from voting in the regular manner.
- 5 p.m. Deadline for receiving applications for late ballots to be voted by persons who became ill or disabled on or after April 30.
- 7 p.m. Deadline for receiving early voting ballots by mail and late ballots cast by voters who became ill or disabled on or after April 30.
- Early voting clerk must check mailbox for early voting mail ballots at least once after time for regular mail delivery. Clerk delivers voted ballots, key to double-locked ballot box, etc., to early voting ballot board at time or times specified by presiding judge of early voting ballot board, during the hours the polls are open, or as soon after the polls close as practicable.
- All electronic voting system ballots shall be manually examined to determine if the ballots can be processed in the usual manner or if the ballots need to be duplicated to clearly reflect a voter's intent.
- All marked early voting ballots sent by mail from inside the U.S. must arrive before the time the polls are required to close. Marked ballots that are not timely returned may not be counted, unless the ballot was cast outside the U.S. If a ballot was cast outside the U.S. before 7 p.m. on election day, it is considered timely if it is received by the 5th day after the election.
- The custodian (constable) of the key to the second lock on the double-locked early voting ballot box delivers his or her key to presiding judge of the early voting ballot board on request of the presiding judge.
- Early voting ballots may be delivered to the early voting ballot board at any time after early voting by personal appearance ends.
- The second test of automatic tabulating equipment used for counting ballots at a central counting station must be conducted immediately before the counting of ballots with the equipment begins. The third test must be conducted immediately after the counting is completed.
- Precinct election returns are delivered to the appropriate authorities after completion.

May 10 (2nd day and 1st Business day AED)
- Deadline for general custodian of election records to deliver provisional ballots to voter registrar by this day and during regular business hours.
NOTE: A school district located in more than one county will have to make delivery of the provisional ballots and forms to the voter registrar in each county in which the school district is located. If the registrar wants to take possession of the provisional ballots and forms on election night, the voter registrar must inform the custodian of the election records and post a notice on election night of the transfer no later than 24 hours BED. However, under this type of delivery, the county voter registrar must go to the custodian of election records office and pick up the provisional ballots and form

May 11 (3rd day AED)
- First possible day to conduct official local canvass of returns by governing authority of school district. However, the canvass may not be conducted until the ballot board has verified and counted all provisional ballots. (Note: Notice of canvass must be posted continuously for 72 hours before canvass is conducted.)
- For districts using electronic voting systems the last day to begin manual recount of the ballots in three precincts or one percent of the precincts, whichever is greater, unless requirement has been waived. Results of manual recount must be mailed to Secretary of State not later than the 3rd day after the manual count is completed.

May 12 (3rd business day AED)
- Deadline for voter registrar to complete the review of provisional ballots.
- Deadline for school district to retrieve provisional ballots.

May 13 (5th day AED)
- Last day to receive carrier envelopes placed in the mail by 7:00 p.m. on election day from voters who are voting outside the United States.

May 14 (6th day AED)
- Last day for early voting board to convene to qualify and count any provisional ballots that have been reviewed by the voter registrar and late ballots that were submitted from outside the United States and received by May 13 while the board reconvenes to process provisional ballots.

May 18 (10th day AED)
- Last day for the presiding judge of the early voting ballot board to mail notices of rejected mail ballots to voters.

May 19 (11th day AED)
- Last day for official canvass of returns by school board.

May 31 (23rd day AED, 10th day after canvass)
- Last day for the presiding judge of the early voting ballot to mail notices of outcome of provisional ballots to voters.
- Last day to complete manual count.

June 7 (30th day AED)
- Last day to file electronic precinct-by-precinct returns with the Secretary of State.

June 17 (40th day AED)
- Last day of the period for mandatory office hours.

July 7 (60th day AED)
- First day ballot boxes may be unlocked and its voted ballots be transferred to another secure container for the remainder of the preservation period.

March 9, 2012 (22 months following election)
- Ballot box contents may be destroyed if no contest or criminal investigation has arisen and if no open records request has been filed.
NOTE: Election results must be permanently maintained in the election register. Election records must be preserved for 22 months from election day. Candidate applications must be retained by the school board for two years after date of election.