Austin lawyer Roger Gordon will be arguing in front of Judge Webb who will be stepping in for Judge Pesek who recused himself. The major complaint of the suit is that the signatures were validated on a Saturday by a Bowie County official instead of the city secretary as the Texas election law requires.
According to Lisa Thompson, Public Information Officer For Texarkana, Texas, “The local option election is on city council’s agenda Monday night, and there is no reason to expect that city council will not move forward to place this issue on the ballot for the November election.”
According to the City of Texarkana Texas City Council Agenda Packet “Texas Petition Strategies presented 379 petitions of signatures to the City of Texarkana, Texas on July 12, 2014. The 379 petitions of signatures were submitted to Bowie County Elections Office on July 14, 2014. Bowie County Elections Administrator, George Stegall, verified in writing on July 17, 2014, the required number of signatures needed for this issue to be placed on the November 4, 2014 ballot. The number of signatures verified (3,077) exceeded the number of signatures needed (7,869 votes cast in the most recent Gubernatorial election x 35% = 2,755 signatures required) (3,077/2,755 = 111.6%) and exceeds the minimum requirement of state law. Therefore, in the best interests to the citizens of Texarkana, Texas, staff has determined that our citizens are better served by having a joint election with Bowie County on Election Day – November 4, 2014 to present this issue to registered voters of Texarkana, Texas.”
