AUSTIN, March 2, 2012 - The San Antonio federal court today issued an election schedule order for a May 29, 2012 Primary. Below are some of the key dates:

Important Dates

March 2, 2012 - Filing period re-opens.

March 9, 2012 - Filing period closes at 6 PM.

April 9, 2012 - For the elections for the Texas House and the Texas Senate, a person must be a continuous resident of the district from April 9, 2012 until the date of the General Election.

April 14, 2012 - General primary ballots should be mailed to voters subject to the Move Act on or before this date.

April 25, 2012 - Voter registration certificates should be issued to voters whose registration will be effective as of the date issued and whose name does not appear on the suspense list on or before this date.

May 29, 2012 - General Primary Election

June 1, 2012 - First day a voter can submit an application for an early mail ballot for the runoff

June 8 & 9, 2012 - Texas Democratic Party State Convention in Houston, TX

June 10, 2012 - Deadline for runoff primary candidates to withdraw from the ballot; 9 AM.

June 16, 2012 - Runoff ballots must have been mailed to voters on or before this date.

July 31, 2012 - General Primary Runoff Election

September 4-6, 2012 - Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC

Delegate Selection Plan

The Texas Democratic Party updated its Delegate Selection Plan to accommodate the changing election dates and to keep our state convention on June 8-9, 2012. You can download a copy of the TDP’s Delegate Selection Plan here, and a summary of the proposed convention process here.

Highlights of the TDP’s modified Delegate Selection Plan include:

County/Senate District Conventions
The Texas Convention and Delegate Selection Process this year will skip precinct conventions and begin on April 21, 2012 at County/Senatorial District Conventions.

County vs. SDEC Convention
Counties totally contained within one senate district will hold county conventions; whereas counties having more than one or parts of more than one senate district will hold senatorial district conventions.

Attendance Requirements
The conventions will be open to any qualified voter who signs an oath of affiliation with the Democratic Party. Signers cannot vote or participate in another political party’s process during this election cycle.

Delegates
Every participant who signs in is entitled to participate as a delegate and will count proportionately towards the percentage of delegates to the State Convention. Each sign-in will also count as a single vote in the participant’s senate district of residence. These single votes shall be tallied with all the other votes in the senate district to determine the percentage of the senate district’s District Level Delegates to the Democratic National Convention.