Tex. Election Code § 243.005: ANSWER.

(a) The contestee must reply to the contestant's petition in an answer in the same manner as an answer to a petition in an election contest in the district court.

(b) The contestee must file the answer with the secretary of state not later than the eighth day after the date the petition is filed. The contestee must deliver a copy of the answer by the same deadline to the person designated by the petition to receive it.

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