The legislature also took efforts to reform election laws during Lanham's term. Before he took office, there was not a set procedure for nominating candidates for public office, which led to a great deal of fraud and many shenanigans meant to keep people from voting. The legislature passed two election reform laws during Lanham's administration, both named after their author, Judge Alexander W. Terrell. The first law, passed in 1903, allowed political parties to nominate candidates by either a convention or a primary election. The second law, in 1905, established voter qualifications, required candidates to file itemized expense statements, required primary elections for major parties (at this time, only the Democratic party was considered a major party in Texas), and set a uniform date for primaries.