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David A. Dean Secretary of State • TO: FROM: DATE: RE: C L • • OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE COUNTY AND CITY ELECTION OFFICIALS SECRETARY OF STATE DAVID A. DEAN NOVEMBER 20, 1981 SUM:~'IARY OF BINGO ENABLING ACT Elections Division Campaign and Ethics Section Voter Registration Section P.0 Box 12887 Austin, Texas 78711-2887 The purpose of this Memorandum is to outline the pertinent. provisions of the Bingo Enabling Act for county and city election officials. This Act is correctly cited as Article 179d, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes. The text of the Act may be found in Volume 9, at page 85, of the 1981 Vernon's Texas Session Law Service or a copy may be obtained by contacting House Bill Distribution at (512) 475-8452 and asking for an enrolled copy of House Bill 3 of the Special Session. The Act became effective on November 10, 1981. In outlining the Act's provisions, I believe it would be instructive to you if the Act is compared with the provisions of Chapter 251 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code, which deals with local option liquor elections. In some ways, the Act parallels those provisions, and in many ways it differs. The Bingo Enabling Act will hereafter be cited as the "Bingo Act," and the Alcoholic Beverage Code will be cited as the "Liquor Code." All references to sections are to those in the Bingo Act. 1. Which political subdivisions can hold a bingo election? Both the Bingo Act (§ 2[1)) and the Liquor Code provide that elections may be held in a: county, justice precinct, or incorporated city or town. 2. For bingo to become legal in a political subdivision, it must be affirmatively voted in. This is the converse of the Liquor Code, which has been interpreted to mean that all areas of the state are "wet," except those which have previously voted "dry." 3. Unlike the Liquor Code, the Bingo Act requires no application before the issuance of a petition; the Bingo Act requires only a petition (~ 5). An Equai OCportun~ty Employer J