By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor
The Highlander
State Senator-elect Dawn Buckingham filed her first bill last week, seeking to hold Texas' presidential electors to their pledges to vote for the candidate elected by the majority of Texas voters.
Senate Bill 394, titled the Texas Elector Accountability Act, would make so-called “faithless electors” who fail to vote for the Texas general election winner subject to a civil penalty of $5,000. It would also make them ineligible to serve again as state electors in subsequent elections.
The bill was filed by District 24 Sen. Buckingham on Dec. 21 and will be considered during the next legislative session, which begins in January. A companion bill was filed in the Texas House by District 14 Rep. John Raney, R-College Station.
