PREFACE: During the month-long, internet-enabled rules referendum vote of April of 2024, the most members to vote regarding any of the proposed rules changes was 17,809 (out of 113,771 active members).
That represented merely 15.6% of eligible membership. Many of those voted against the proposed rules changes, too.
*Texas Bar's Annual Bar Elections' Voter Participation Rates by Active Member Attorneys:
YEAR |
BALLOTS DISTRIBUTED |
VOTES CAST (VIA INTERNET OR POSTAL MAIL) |
**PARTICIPATED (%) | **ABSTAINED (%) |
| 2024 | 113,771 | 20,986 | 18% | 82% |
| 2023 | 111,000, approximately | 23,051 | 20%, approximately | 80%, approximately |
| 2022 | 109,219 | 21,437 | 19.6% | 80.4% |
| 2021 | Undisclosed by the Texas Bar | 20,194 | 19% (at most) | 81% (at least) |
| 2020 | 105,258 | 19,298 (<-internet only) | 18% (<--after 2 months) | 82% |
| 2019 | 103,456 | 24,252 | 23% *** | 77% |
| 2018 | 102,025 | 32,268 | 32% | 68% |
| 2017 (runoff) **** |
100,401 | 30,138 | 30% | 70% |
| 2017 | 100,434 | 27,038 | 27% | 73% |
| 2016 | 98,692 | 18,175 | 18% | 82% |
| 2015 | 97,127 | 24,347 | 25% | 75% |
| 2014 | 94,920 | 20,514 | 22% | 78% |
| 2013 (runoff) |
92,459 | 28,019 | 30% | 70% |
| 2013 | 92,364 | 25,091 | 27% | 73% |
| 2012 | 90,300 | 18,694 | 21% | 79% |
| 2011 | 88,129 | 21,210 | 24% | 76% |
| 2010 | 86,105 | 19,937 | 23% | 77% |
| 2009 | 84,022 | 24,055 | 29% | 71% |
| 2008 | 81,895 | 20,075 | 25% | 75% |
| 2007 | 79,605 | 17,786 | 22% | 78% |
**Average %: 2007-2020 = 24% |
**Average %: 2007-2020 = 76% |
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*Sources: Texas Bar's elections department and Elections Services Corp.
**Pre-2021 percentages are all rounded up a percentage point if they end in ##.5 or greater, and down one if not.
***To our knowledge, all electoral periods lasted for 1 month (per year) unless otherwise indicated (i.e. during 2020, for which it lasted 2 months).
****Both runoff years had 2 stage elections. (2013 & 2017). The petition candidates were Steve Fischer (2013) & Joe Longley (2017).
As stated above, during the month-long, internet-enabled rules referendum vote of April of 2024, the most members to vote regarding any of the proposed rules changes was 17,809 (out of 113,771 active members).
That represented merely 15.6% of eligible membership. Many of those voted against the proposed rules changes, too.
Previously during February & March of 2021, a rules referendum took place online for over a month. Reportedly 19,823 participated. That represented approximately 18.5% of eligible membership...
As recently as 2021, the Texas Bar knowingly refused to lower the quantity of signatures required of petition candidates for bar president from 5% back to 1% of the total active Bar membership.
Reportedly the percentage required was merely 1% until around 1986. Why do they want to make it so difficult to get to run against Texas Bar-anointed bar presidential candidates? Are reforms that reformers could propose too disturbing?
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