Correction - Obama's and McCain's filings appear to be technically correct - some are more equal than others

It appears that I was wrong.

While reading through the comments in Ballot Access News, I found this statement:

Mike Davis Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
The August 26 deadline is for independent and third party candidates. Texas Election Code - Section 192.031

Since the D’s and the R’s have statewide organizations, nominate by convention, and have each had “a nominee for a statewide office who received a number of votes equal to at least five percent of the total number of votes received by all candidates for that office,” Texas Election Code Section 181.005 applies.

Don’t worry. John McCain and Barry Obama will both be on the ballot, and the state of Texas won’t have to break any rules to make it happen.

Well, let's check. Here's Section 192.031:

§ 192.031. PARTY CANDIDATE'S ENTITLEMENT TO PLACE ON
BALLOT. A political party is entitled to have the names of its
nominees for president and vice-president of the United States
placed on the ballot in a presidential general election if:
(1) the nominees possess the qualifications for those
offices prescribed by federal law;
(2) before 5 p.m. of the 70th day before presidential
election day, the party's state chair signs and delivers to the
secretary of state a written certification of:
(A) the names of the party's nominees for
president and vice-president; and
(B) the names and residence addresses of
presidential elector candidates nominated by the party, in a number
equal to the number of presidential electors that federal law
allocates to this state; and
(3) the party is:
(A) required or authorized by Subchapter A of
Chapter 172 to make its nominations by primary election; or
(B) entitled to have the names of its nominees
placed on the general election ballot under Chapter 181.

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986. Amended by
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 864, § 203, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 1109, § 21, eff. September 1,
2005.

And here's Section 181.005:

§ 181.005. QUALIFYING FOR PLACEMENT ON BALLOT BY PARTY
REQUIRED TO NOMINATE BY CONVENTION. (a) To be entitled to have
the names of its nominees placed on the general election ballot, a
political party required to make nominations by convention must
file with the secretary of state, not later than the 75th day after
the date of the precinct conventions held under this chapter, lists
of precinct convention participants indicating that the number of
participants equals at least one percent of the total number of
votes received by all candidates for governor in the most recent
gubernatorial general election. The lists must include each
participant's residence address and voter registration number.
(b) A political party is entitled to have the names of its
nominees placed on the ballot, without qualifying under Subsection
(a), in each subsequent general election following a general
election in which the party had a nominee for a statewide office who
received a number of votes equal to at least five percent of the
total number of votes received by all candidates for that office.

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986. Amended by
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 472, § 48, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

More to the point, Section 181.068 applies:

§ 181.068. PARTY'S CERTIFICATION OF NOMINEES. (a) The
presiding officer of each convention held under this chapter shall
certify in writing for placement on the general election ballot the
name and address of each candidate nominated by the convention.
(b) Not later than the 20th day after the date of the
convention making the nomination, the presiding officer shall
deliver the certification to:
(1) the authority responsible for having the official
general election ballot prepared in the county, for certification
of a county or precinct office; or
(2) the secretary of state, for certification of a
statewide or district office.
(c) A presiding officer may not certify a candidate's name
if, before delivering the certification, the presiding officer
learns that the name is to be omitted from the ballot under Section
145.035.

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986.

I'll grant that I'm not a lawyer, but on the surface it seems plausible that the Democratic and Republican parties were allowed, by Texas law, to submit their candidates after the 70 day period prescribed by Section 192.031.

But I still wonder about McCain's and Obama's ethics. And the next time that someone complains that the presidential candidates suck...now you know why. The whole system has been gerrymandered.

[SEPTEMBER 19 - UPDATE.]

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