SECTION 81.127. Office Equipment and Supplies

(a) Rental of office equipment is not required in order to conduct primary elections.

(b) The county chair may lease office equipment necessary for the administration of the primary elections for a period beginning November 1 immediately preceding the primary election and ending not later than the last day of the month in which the primary election or runoff election primary, if applicable, is held.

(c) The county party may not rent or lease equipment in which the party, the county chair, or a member of the county chair's family has a financial interest. (See definition of "family" at §81.114(b) of this chapter (relating to Conflicts of Interest).)

(d) The county chair or party shall rent equipment from an entity that has been in business for at least 18 months and has at least three other bona fide clients and is on file with the corporation department of the SOS or locally.

(e) The purchase of office supplies must be reasonable and/or necessary for the administration of the primary election to be payable from the primary fund.

(f) The county chair or party may be reimbursed for the cost of incidental supplies used in connection with the primary election. (Examples of reasonable incidental supplies include paper, toner, and staples.)

(g) The county chair may not use primary funds to purchase any single office-supply item or equipment valued at over $1,500. These items are not considered the property of the party chair, rather the property of the county party, and must be transferred to the incoming party chair when a new chair takes office.

(h) The county chair may not pay notary public expenses from the primary fund.

(i) Computer serial numbers must be reported to SOS to ensure the asset can be tracked from one election to the next.

(j) Any computer purchased with primary funds is to be used for primary related functions. It is not considered the property of the party chair, rather the property of the county party, and must be transferred to the incoming party chair when a new chair takes office.

(k) A computer purchased with primary funds shall be used for two primary election cycles before a new computer may be purchased using primary funds.

Source Note: The provisions of this §81.127 adopted to be effective December 13, 2009, 34 TexReg 8665; amended to be effective March 7, 2012, 37 TexReg 1483; amended to be effective January 9, 2014, 39 TexReg 209; amended to be effective November 9, 2015, 40 TexReg 7811; amended to be effective October 29, 2017, 42 TexReg 5853