In Re Jay Furman v. the State of Texas

Opinion

Fourth Court of Appeals

San Antonio, Texas

MEMORANDUM OPINION

No. 04-24-00837-CV

IN RE Jay FURMAN

Original Proceeding 1

PER CURIAM

Sitting: Rebeca C. Martinez, Chief Justice Lori I. Valenzuela, Justice Lori Massey Brissette, Justice

Delivered and Filed: December 31, 2024 PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS GRANTED On December 6, 2024, relator filed an emergency petition for writ of mandamus, asserting Salvador Tellez, the Recount Chair for Webb County, is violating relator’s right under section 213.013(i) of the Texas Election Code to photocopy ballots cast in the November 2024 election Texas. On December 18, 2024, relator filed a supplement to his petition. On December 9, 2024, this court requested responses from respondent and any other interested party. No responses were filed.

1 This proceeding arises out of a dispute between relator and Salvador Tellez, the Recount Chair for Webb County, Texas, regarding the copying of challenged ballots under Texas Election Code section 213.013(i). See TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. § 273.061(a) (“[A] court of appeals may issue a writ of mandamus to compel the performance of any duty imposed by law in connection with the holding of an election or a political party convention, regardless of whether the person responsible for performing the duty is a public officer.”).

04-24-00837-CV

Section 213.013(i) states, in part, that:

[A] person entitled to appoint watchers to serve at the recount, the recount committee chair shall permit the person to photocopy under the chair's supervision any ballot, including any supporting materials, challenged by the person or person's watcher.

TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. § 213.013(i). As a candidate for congressional office, relator qualifies as “a person entitled to appoint watchers to serve at the recount,” and therefore has statutory rights under section 213.013(i). 2 It is undisputed that relator challenged all of the ballots filed in Webb County for the November 2024 election via a “blanket challenge,” and we have found no authority holding a blanket challenge is ineffective to trigger a person’s rights under section 213.013(i) to photocopy all such challenged ballots. It is also undisputed that Mr. Tellez is not allowing relator to photocopy the ballots relator challenged.

Accordingly, we conclude section 213.013(i) of the Texas Election Code has been violated. Therefore, we GRANT the writ of mandamus and ORDER Mr. Tellez to immediately permit relator and relator’s watchers to photocopy under the chair’s supervision all ballots, including any supporting materials, blanket challenged by relator. See TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. § 213.013.

PER CURIAM

2 See TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. § 213.013(b) (“In a recount of an election on an office, each candidate for the office is entitled to be present at the recount and have watchers present in the number corresponding to the number of counting teams designated for the recount. If only one counting team is designated or the recount is conducted on automatic tabulating equipment, each candidate is entitled to two watchers.”) (emphasis added).