SUBSTITUTE CONTESTEE

(a) A contestant may name as a substitute contestee the presiding officer of the final canvassing authority for the election if: (1) a deceased or ineligible candidate receives a sufficient number of votes for nomination or election according to the official result of the contested election; (2) a candidate who could have been named as contestee under Section 232.003 dies or is declared ineligible before the contest is filed; or (3) a contestee dies while a contest is pending. (b) The costs of an election contest may not be assessed against a contestee named under Subsection (a) or against the governmental or political entity the contestee represents. (c) If in any of the circumstances described by Subsection (a) a person is appointed to a resulting vacancy in the office or in the nomination for the office, the contestant may name the appointee as a substitute contestee or the appointee may intervene on the side of the contestee. (d) In any of the circumstances described by Subsection (a), the district court may permit one or more qualified voters who voted in the election to intervene for the purpose of representing the interests of the voters who voted for the deceased or ineligible candidate.