The San Antonio federal court issued an order March 1 setting the Texas primary elections for May 29 and the runoff election date for July 31.

The court also outlined other key dates and deadlines.

Candidate filing reopens for a week beginning March 2 and closes 6 p.m. March 9. The order states that candidates who previously filed during the December filing period will have the option to withdraw or switch races.

The first day a voter may submit an application for an early ballot by mail for the primary is March 30.

General primary ballots are to be mailed to voters on or before April 14. In addition, according to the order, voter registration certificates are to be issued by April 25 to voters whose registration will be effective as of the date issued.

June 1 is the first day a voter can submit an application for an early mail ballot for a runoff. These ballots must be mailed to voters by June 16.

The order was issued two days after the San Antonio court released interim Congressional and state House maps, and approved the state Senate map agreed upon Feb. 15 by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.

According to Republican Party of Texas spokesman Chris Elam, barring any appeals, the court's interim maps will be used for the 2012 elections.

Federal lawsuits have halted the enactment of the state Legislature's maps—which were not precleared by the federal government—originally delaying the primaries from March 6 to April 3. A decision from the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. on the legality of the maps is due in March, at the earliest.