Texas Secretary of State, Elections Division:

An Inventory of State of Texas Election Returns (County-by-County) at the Texas State Archives, 1846-1984 (not inclusive)

Agency History

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 a wide variety 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.

The only duty of the Secretary of State specified by the Constitution of 1836 was to receive "returns of all elections for officers who are to be commissioned by the President" (General Provisions, Section 2). 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. For county and precinct offices (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 county judge filed a certificate of election and qualification with the Secretary of State. 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.

For county and precinct offices, the county judge filed (and now the county clerk files) a certificate of election and qualification with the Secretary of State. These offices included 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, and county commissioners. The requirement for a certificate of election was created by an act approved April 9, 1883 (18th Legislature, Regular Session). A certificate of election is prepared for the candidate who has been elected, by the following officials: the presiding officer of the local canvassing authority for elections canvassed by that authority; the governor for those offices whose elections are canvassed by the State Board of Canvassers; and the secretary of state for presidential electors. Each certificate of election must contain the candidate's name, office, date of election, statement of election to an unexpired term (if applicable), and the signature and seal of the officer preparing the certificate. The certificates originally also contained the number of votes cast for that candidate. The county clerk (formerly, the county judge) is required to send a duplicate of the certificate of election to the Secretary of State.

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Scope and Contents of the Records

These records include election returns, certificates of election and qualification, voter lists, poll lists, resignations, notifications of death, appointments to fill vacancies, militia returns, and associated correspondence. They comprise the county-by-county returns of general, special, and contested elections in the State of Texas for federal offices, statewide offices, district offices, and (for earlier years) county and occasionally municipal offices, plus elections for constitutional amendments. Dates covered are 1846-1984 (not inclusive). Election returns are not included in this finding aid for the following years (in which an election was known to be held): 1869, 1913, 1915, 1927, 1930, 1932, 1937(?), 1947, 1949, 1951-1952, 1954-1958, 1961, 1967-1968, 1974, 1979, and 1981 onward. (Since 1849, statewide elections have normally been held once every two years--the even-numbered years since 1876. But special elections and constitutional amendment elections are often held during odd-numbered years. Apparently there were no elections held during the following years prior to 1980: 1899, 1901, 1917, 1921, 1923, 1925, 1929, 1931, 1939, 1943, 1953, 1959, 1975.) Since 1835, returns of general and special elections for district, statewide, and federal offices were usually certified to the Secretary of State by county judges. For county and precinct offices, the county judge filed a certificate of election and qualification with the Secretary of State. These certificates of election are not precisely returns, for they do not indicate the number of votes for each candidate, or even the names of the losing candidates; the information they do give includes name of person elected, office, date of qualification, and post office address.

Additional information contained in these records varies according to the time period. Some returns show votes cast for all candidates; sometimes only the winner is reported. Poll lists are scattered throughout, especially in cases of contested elections. Resignations, notifications of death, and appointments to fill vacancies may be found, more frequently in later years. Returns for district offices are found in the county of the returning judge. Returns for unorganized counties are usually filed with those of the returning judge. During early statehood, some militia returns are present. Scattered primary returns begin in 1906. Returns for 1976-1984 are computer printouts and are sometimes marked as "unofficial returns;" those in 1976 and 1978 also give the number of registered voters and percentage of voter turnout for each county.

Election returns (county-by-county) are created as the official record of election results at the county level, in order to determine the winner in each race for district, statewide, and federal offices. Certificates of election and qualification are created as the official record of election results in elections for county and precinct offices, to certify the winner in each race and to notify the Secretary of State as to which officials need to be issued commissions.

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.

Note concerning known problems: These records are unprocessed. Misfilings by date and/or by county have been found throughout the records. Researchers are cautioned to check, at the very least, the years on either side of the year being researched. Also, transfer sheets for oversized material may be incorrect.

The original finding aid for election returns has been split into two separate finding aids due to electronic file size limitations imposed by TARO. Click here for Republic of Texas election returns, 1835-1845. If you are reading this in paper, that finding aid is found at a separate divider within the binder.

The researcher should be sure to check Related records, especially Texas Secretary of State, Elections Division, Election materials, for returns not listed below for 1940-1980.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Some of the election returns in the following inventory--specifically, part of those for 1980, and all for 1982 and 1984 (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.

Restrictions on Use

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.).

Technical Requirements

None.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item), State of Texas election returns (county-by-county), Elections Division, Texas Secretary of State. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 1932/002, 1934/006, 1936/004, 1938/008, 1941/005, 1973/030, 1980/009, 1987/047, 1994/013, 1995/041, and unknown

These records were transferred to the Texas State Archives by the Texas Secretary of State on September 28, 1932; March 12, 1935; November 12, 1937; January 3, 1939; March 28, 1942; October 17, 1972; by the Statutory Documents Division of the Secretary of State on September 21, 1979; December 22, 1994; by the Publications Clearinghouse of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission on November 14, 1986; and by the Secretary of State on October 6, 1993.

Processing Information

Archives staff, March 1974, April 1974, June 1983

Paul Beck, October 1993

Tony Black, February 2005

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Detailed Description of the Records