Island Matters is frequently asked if SPI could allow non-resident property owners to vote? So Island Matters asked the Secretary of State if municipalities in Texas can allow non-residents to vote in their municipal elections? Non-resident property owners frequently ask about "taxation without representation."
80% of our island property (and therefore property taxes) are owned by non-residents. Many of them would like a voice in the community where they invested. The well-detailed response from the Secretary of State is below. The bottom line is that it would take a change in state law, because current state law prohibits it.
Editor ––
Thank you for your patience on this. The relevant statutes and constitutional provisions on this topic indicate that a home-rule city may not adopt a charter provision authorizing non-residents to vote in municipal elections.
Texas Election Code Sec. 11.001 provides that, except as otherwise provided by law, to be eligible to vote in an election, a person must be a resident of the territory covered by the election. Election Code 11.003 also provides that, except as otherwise provided by the Election Code, a person must vote in their precinct of residence.
Art. XI, Sec. 5 of the Texas Constitution broadly authorizes home-rule municipalities to adopt charter provisions regulating city affairs, except that "no charter or any ordinance passed under said charter shall contain any provision inconsistent with the Constitution of the State, or of the general laws enacted by the Legislature of this State." Because a charter provision that authorizes non-residents to vote in city elections would directly conflict with Election Code Sections 11.001 and 11.003, a home-rule city may not adopt such a charter provision under Art. XI, Sec. 5 of the Texas Constitution.
General-law cities (Type A, B, and C) do not have the same broad authority to enact charter provisions that home-rule cities have. In order for a general-law city to allow non-residents to vote in city elections, there would have to be a specific statutory provision authorizing the city to adopt that type of eligibility rule. Because there is no statute authorizing a city to adopt that type of eligibility rule, a general-law city may not adopt a policy authorizing non-residents to vote in city elections.
Please let me know if you have any other questions about this issue.
Best,
Sam Taylor
Assistant Secretary of State for Communications
Office of the Texas Secretary of State
