Relating to the use of preferential voting in certain elections.

SB 342 allows Texas municipalities and independent school districts to adopt preferential voting (ranked-choice voting) for nonpartisan local elections, such as city council or school board positions. It requires local governing bodies to approve the system by majority vote and specifies that voters rank candidates from most to least preferred. The bill eliminates primaries and runoff elections for these offices, instead using a vote-reassignment process to determine a majority winner if no candidate receives over 50% of first-choice votes. The law takes effect September 1, 2025, and applies only to nonpartisan elections for local municipal or school district officers.