TYLER, Texas — Three candidates are running for Smith County Precinct 1 Constable.
Bobby Garmon is the current constable, he was appointed by the County Judge in 2017. Willie Mims Jr. is a Pct. 1 deputy constable and works with Garmon. Curtis Traylor Harris is a Texas Juvenile Justice Department Corrections Officer. All three are running as Democrats, there are no Republican candidates.
A lawsuit was filed by Garmon on Jan. 9 against Michael Tolbert the Smith County Democratic Chair. It stated that Garmon was trying to remove Mims from the March 3 ballot.
However, according to Texas State Elections Code (Sec. 141.032(b)): "On the filing of an application for a place on the ballot, the authority with whom the application is filed must review the application to determine whether it complies with the requirements as to form, content, and procedure in order for the candidate's name to be placed on the ballot."
In this case, Tolbert as the county chair is responsible to ensure that people who file as a democratic candidate in Smith County have met the state election legal requirements. The code also says this must be done within five days.
State Election Code:
- An application does not comply with applicable requirements, the authority must reject the application and immediately deliver to the candidate written notice of the reason for the rejection. (Sec. 141.032(e))
- A determination that the application complies within the 5-day review period does not preclude a subsequent determination that the application does not comply on the basis of defects of form, content, and procedure. (Sec. 141.032(d))
Mims' received a notice from Tolbert Dec. 9, the same day he says he filed, that his application had been accepted.
According to documents, it wasn't until Dec. 19 that Garmon submitted an application challenge to Tolbert about Mims.
According to the Election Code, there is no process provided for a candidate to supplement a defective application.
Inside the lawsuit, it states Mims needed 200 signatures from registered voters that lived in Pct. 1 of Smith County to become a candidate. Election Code says if a candidate decides to file with a petition of signatures in lieu of money there is a certain amount required.
"For a District, County, or Precinct Office: the lesser of 500 or 2% of the number of votes received in the district, county, or precinct, as applicable, by all the candidates for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election, unless that number is under 50, in which case the required number of signatures is the lesser of 50 or 20% of that total vote."
Garmon filed the lawsuit with the Texas Supreme Court Jan. 15 and two days later it was denied.
The Texas Supreme Court has held that candidates, who made timely filings and whose petitions were accepted, could not be rejected later for minor clerical errors that could have been fixed, had the candidate been notified of the defect.
According to Garmon, the original lawsuit, Bobby Garmon vs. Michael Tolbert, will have a hearing on Jan. 21 at the Smith County 241st Court.