No legal restrictions. Regarding questions of confidentiality of
candidates' addresses and telephone numbers, please note the following from the
Texas Election Code:
Many of the election returns in the following inventory--specifically, those for 1976, 1978, 1980 (except for Dallas County), 1982 (Tarrant County only), 1984, and 1986 (1995/041)--are in off-site storage at the State Records Center. They must be requested for you by Archives staff. Records requested before 10:00 a.m. will usually be available by 4:00 p.m. the same day. Records requested after 10:00 a.m. and before 3:00 p.m. will usually be available by noon the next day.
Those returns for 1972, 1974, 1980 (Dallas County only), 1982 (except for Tarrant County), and 1988 (1989/092, 1991/163, 1994/013, and 2000/153) are available on-site.
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
None.
The Texas Secretary of State is a constitutional officer of the executive branch of state government, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for a term concurrent with the governor's (a two-year term at first, a four-year term since 1974). The office was first created by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836, and has been continued by each succeeding Constitution.
The Secretary of State has an enormous number of duties and responsibilities, including the following: authenticating the publication of all laws passed by the state legislature; approving comptroller's accounts against the state prior to payment; maintaining a register of all official acts and proceedings of the governor, and all appointments to state boards and commissions; interpreting and enforcing the Texas Election Code, as the state's chief election officer; keeping the Seal of the State of Texas; maintaining many business-related filings, including corporation and Uniform Commercial Code filings.
The office of the Secretary of State is divided into five divisions: Executive, Elections, Statutory Filings, Administrative Services, and Information Services.
The Elections Division assists the Secretary of State in interpreting and applying the Election Code and other election laws. The Secretary of State, as Chief Election Officer of the State, has specific functions under the Election Code, which include receiving, examining, and filing the official certified returns of all general elections, special elections for members of the legislature, and constitutional amendment elections.
Since 1835, returns of general and special elections for district, national (for the Republic), statewide, and federal offices have usually been certified to the Secretary of State by county judges. The county judge filed a certificate of election and qualification with the Secretary of State for county and precinct offices, which include the following: county judge, county clerk, district clerk, county attorney, county treasurer, county surveyor, sheriff, county tax collector, county tax assessor, county superintendent of public instruction, inspector of hides and animals, public weigher, justices of the peace, constables, county commissioners. The 1st Legislature approved a law on May 11, 1846 requiring the Secretary of State to furnish forms to county election officials for election returns, and to receive certified election returns from these officials for members of the legislature. The 15th Legislature approved an Act regulating elections on August 23, 1876, which among other things, required that duplicate election returns be filed with the Secretary of State for the following races: members of the legislature (state senators and state representatives), governor, lieutenant governor, comptroller, treasurer, commissioner of the General Land Office, attorney general, judges of the Supreme, appellate and district courts, district attorneys, and representatives of the Congress of the United States. Additional state elective offices were added to this list as they were created: superintendent of public instruction (1884), railroad commissioners (1890), commissioner of agriculture (1907), and elected members of the State Board of Education (1949). When U.S. Senators began to be chosen by popular election after the ratification of the 17th amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1913), they also were (eventually) added to the returns. For most of these offices, the Secretary of State was required to open and count the returns in the presence of the governor and the attorney general.
At the close of an election day, the presiding judge delivers Envelope Number 1 (containing precinct returns) to the presiding officer of the local canvassing authority. Precinct returns are then canvassed by the commissioners' court of the county, or by the political subdivision's governing body in elections below the county level.
Texas law now requires county clerks (originally county judges, 1951-1971) to report precinct results to the Secretary of State (Section 125 of House Bill 6, 52nd Legislature, Regular Session, 1951; and Section 125a of Senate Bill 23, 62nd Legislature, Regular Session, 1971). The Secretary of State must preserve the reports (or the tabulations of reports) of precinct results for Statewide races, for both general and primary elections, for 10 years, and thereafter to transfer the reports or tabulations to the State Library. The same procedure and retention periods apply to maps of precinct boundary changes. (V.T.C.A., Election Code, Sections 42.037, 66.002, 66.058, 67.017, and 172.124)
These records include precinct-by-precinct returns of primary and general elections, precinct-by-precinct canvass survey forms, lists of candidates who have filed applications for a place on the primary ballot, certifications of nominees for the general election, notices of party officers, precinct maps, and accompanying correspondence, dating 1972-1988, filed in the Elections Division of the Texas Secretary of State. The races reported include federal, state, district, and county, plus constitutional amendment elections. The basic documents in each county's file are the returns, which report the number of registered voters per precinct, and the number of votes (and sometimes the percentages) per candidate per precinct. Other types of documentation may not always be present in a county's file. The canvass survey form also lists (precinct-by-precinct) the numbers of votes received for each candidate for statewide or district office, and for or against each constitutional amendment. (These forms constitute returns in compliance with the Texas Election Code.)
Lists of candidates who have filed applications for a place on the primary ballot give the following information: county, party, office sought, name of candidate, street address, home and business phone numbers. Certifications of nominees for the general election give the name of each candidate as it is to appear on the official ballot, the office, and the candidate's address. Notices of party officers, certifying the election of party officers at primary elections, give the names and addresses of the county chairman and precinct chairmen. Also included are precinct maps for many counties.
Apparently missing are precinct-by-precinct returns for Waller thru Zavala Counties dating 1982.
Election returns (precinct-by-precinct) are created as part of the official record of election results, in order to determine the winner in each race, and to resolve any disputes over the outcomes of elections. They are submitted to the Secretary of State in compliance with the Texas Election Code.
To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.
These records are arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by county name. For 1976, primary election returns are filed first, followed by general election returns. For 1978, Harris County Democratic primary and general election returns are filed first, followed by Dallas County general and Travis County Democratic primary returns, and then all other counties.
(Identify the item), Election returns (precinct-by-precinct), Elections Division, Texas Secretary of State. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Laura K. Saegert, September 1989
Lisa M. Hendricks, July 1992
Tony Black, June 1996, May 2000, March 2005
Accession numbers: 1989/092, 1991/163, 1994/013, 1995/041, 2000/153
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Elections Division of the Secretary of State on January 13, 1989; May 31, 1991; October 6, 1993; December 22, 1994; and May 15, 2000.