Terms Used In Texas Election Code Chapter 129 - Direct Recording Electronic Voting Machines

• Affidavit: means a statement in writing of a fact or facts signed by the party making it, sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths, and officially certified to by the officer under his seal of office. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Charitable organization: means :
  (1) a nonprofit corporation, trust, community chest, fund, foundation, or other entity that is:
  (A) exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by being described by Section 501(c)(3) of that code; and
  (B) organized and operated exclusively for:
  (i) religious, charitable, scientific, educational, or literary purposes;
  (ii) testing for public safety;
  (iii) preventing cruelty to children or animals; or
  (iv) promoting amateur sports competition; or
  (2) any other entity that is organized and operated exclusively for the purposes listed in Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986. See Texas Estates Code 22.003
• Claims: includes :
  (1) liabilities of a decedent that survive the decedent's death, including taxes, regardless of whether the liabilities arise in contract or tort or otherwise;
  (2) funeral expenses;
  (3) the expense of a tombstone;
  (4) expenses of administration;
  (5) estate and inheritance taxes; and
  (6) debts due such estates. See Texas Estates Code 22.005
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Court: means and includes:
  (1) a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction;
  (2) a court created by statute and authorized to exercise original probate jurisdiction; and
  (3) a district court exercising original probate jurisdiction in a contested matter. See Texas Estates Code 22.007
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture. See Texas Agriculture Code 1.003
• Devisee: includes a legatee. See Texas Estates Code 22.009
• Distributee: means a person who is entitled to a part of the estate of a decedent under a lawful will or the statutes of descent and distribution. See Texas Estates Code 22.010
• Election official: means :
  (A) a county clerk;
  (B) a permanent or temporary deputy county clerk;
  (C) an elections administrator;
  (D) a permanent or temporary employee of an elections administrator;
  (E) an election judge;
  (F) an alternate election judge;
  (G) an early voting clerk;
  (H) a deputy early voting clerk;
  (I) an election clerk;
  (J) the presiding judge of an early voting ballot board;
  (K) the alternate presiding judge of an early voting ballot board;
  (L) a member of an early voting ballot board;
  (M) the chair of a signature verification committee;
  (N) the vice chair of a signature verification committee;
  (O) a member of a signature verification committee;
  (P) the presiding judge of a central counting station;
  (Q) the alternate presiding judge of a central counting station;
  (R) a central counting station manager;
  (S) a central counting station clerk;
  (T) a tabulation supervisor;
  (U) an assistant to a tabulation supervisor; and
  (V) a chair of a county political party holding a primary election or a runoff primary election. See Texas Election Code 1.005
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Estate: means a decedent's property, as that property:
  (1) exists originally and as the property changes in form by sale, reinvestment, or otherwise;
  (2) is augmented by any accretions and other additions to the property, including any property to be distributed to the decedent's representative by the trustee of a trust that terminates on the decedent's death, and substitutions for the property; and
  (3) is diminished by any decreases in or distributions from the property. See Texas Estates Code 22.012
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Governmental agency of the state: means :
  (1) a municipality;
  (2) a county;
  (3) a public school district;
  (4) a special-purpose district or authority;
  (5) a board, commission, department, office, or other agency in the executive branch of state government, including an institution of higher education, as defined by § 61. See Texas Estates Code 22.014
• Heir: means a person who is entitled under the statutes of descent and distribution to a part of the estate of a decedent who dies intestate. See Texas Estates Code 22.015
• Judge: means the presiding judge of any court having original jurisdiction over probate proceedings, regardless of whether the court is:
  (1) a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction;
  (2) a court created by statute and authorized to exercise probate jurisdiction; or
  (3) a district court exercising probate jurisdiction in a contested matter. See Texas Estates Code 22.019
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• lien: include :
  (1) a deed of trust;
  (2) a vendor's lien, a mechanic's, materialman's, or laborer's lien, an attachment or garnishment lien, and a federal or state tax lien;
  (3) a chattel mortgage;
  (4) a judgment; and
  (5) a pledge by hypothecation. See Texas Estates Code 22.024
• Livestock: means cattle, horses, mules, asses, sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, exotic livestock, including elk and elk hybrids, and hogs, unless otherwise defined. See Texas Agriculture Code 1.003
• Minor: means a person younger than 18 years of age who:
  (1) has never been married; and
  (2) has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes. See Texas Estates Code 22.022
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Per stirpes: The legal means by which the children of a decedent, upon the death of an ancestor at a level above that of the decedent, receive by right of representation the share of the ancestor
• Person: includes a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027
• person interested: means :
  (1) an heir, devisee, spouse, creditor, or any other having a property right in or claim against an estate being administered; and
  (2) anyone interested in the welfare of an incapacitated person, including a minor. See Texas Estates Code 22.018
• personal representative: include :
  (1) an executor and independent executor;
  (2) an administrator, independent administrator, and temporary administrator; and
  (3) a successor to an executor or administrator listed in Subdivision (1) or (2). See Texas Estates Code 22.031
• Political subdivision: means a county, city, or school district or any other governmental entity that:
  (A) embraces a geographic area with a defined boundary;
  (B) exists for the purpose of discharging functions of government; and
  (C) possesses authority for subordinate self-government through officers selected by it. See Texas Election Code 1.005
• Primary election: means an election held by a political party under Chapter 172 to select its nominees for public office, and, unless the context indicates otherwise, the term includes a presidential primary election. See Texas Election Code 1.005
• Probate: Proving a will
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Real property: includes estates and interests in land, whether corporeal or incorporeal or legal or equitable. See Texas Estates Code 22.030
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Signature: includes the mark of a person unable to write, and "subscribe" includes the making of such a mark. See Texas Government Code 312.011
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Statutory probate court: means a court created by statute and designated as a statutory probate court under Chapter 25, Government Code. See Texas Estates Code 22.007
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
• Ward: means a person for whom a guardian has been appointed. See Texas Estates Code 22.033
• Week: means seven consecutive days. See Texas Government Code 311.005