Today, the Texas Democratic Party (TDP) and the Republican Party of

Texas (RPT) issued a statement announcing that the two parties have

submitted a joint agreed proposal on the 2012 General Primary Election

to the U.S. District Court three-judge panel in San Antonio.

The parties' joint proposal provides for an April 3, 2012 unified primary date, along with adjusted dates, deadlines and requirements in respect to its administration.

RPT State Chairman Steve Munisteri said, "I am pleased that we could

come to an agreement and I hope that most Republican elected officials

and Texas voters will be satisfied with this proposal. We are hopeful

that with both a timely ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court and

subsequent finalized maps, that this agreement not only preserves the

original structure of a unified primary, but provides us enough time to

accomplish it in a fair and orderly fashion. Furthermore, this agreement

addresses the concern of both the TDP and RPT by providing a timeline

which still allows us to hold our respective state conventions and

national delegate selection in June."

TDP State Chairman Boyd Richie said, “We’re glad to have worked out

an agreement which we feel works best for Texans. Given the less than

ideal circumstances, we think that this election schedule is a workable

solution that will create the least confusion for the voters. We’re

pleased that the agreement maintains a unified primary which will save

taxpayers money.”

Notable details of the agreement submitted to the panel are as follows:

• Feb. 1, 2012 - New residency deadline for candidates seeking election to the Texas House and Texas Senate.

• Feb. 1, 2012, 6 p.m. - New deadline of court-ordered reopened filing period, in which candidates for all offices have the opportunity to amend, withdraw or file a new application for the ballot.

• Feb. 3, 2012 - New deadline for County Executive Committees to conduct drawing for candidate order on ballot.

• April 3, 2012 - Date of the 2012 General Primary Election.

• April 14 or April 21, 2012 - Date of County and Senatorial District Conventions, as determined by the State Chair of each political party.
  
  
  

• June 5, 2012 - Date of the 2012 General Primary Runoff Election.

If signed by the three-judge panel - nothing in the order shall be

construed by the Court or the parties as a waiver of the positions of

each party with respect to the schedule or conduct of the upcoming

election. The parties' positions as stated at the Dec. 13, 2011

hearing are expressly reserved. Additionally, the Republican and

Democratic parties have agreed that it is necessary to have a primary

early enough in April to allow them to conduct their statutorily

required conventions as previously planned.