INSIDER
Voting went well in the presidential election, but Trudy Hancock and her staff are still fielding questions. And the answers don’t seem to matter.
From engaging with representatives to joining advocacy groups, there are numerous ways to continue participating in democracy and shaping policy after the polls close.
Texas might not be a swing state, but many of its races will have major consequences to the national political landscape and on the lives of everyday Texans.
The turnout rate dropped more than 8 percentage points compared to four years ago — a high-water mark for the Lone Star State.
The federal agency agreed their monitors would remain outside polling locations and wouldn’t interfere with voting.
By state law, Election Day totals must be submitted to the state within 24 hours after polls close. Meeting that deadline requires careful but quick work.
The county decided to not have an early voting site at a Laredo university because of historic low turnout. It will have one on Election Day.
Big decisions are made on behalf of San Antonians inside City Hall. However, in the early 1970s, Rosie Castro said the people in charge didn’t reflect the entire city.
Only a handful of Texas counties will not have all in-person voters cast paper ballots at the polls. By 2026, all voting machines in Texas must produce a paper trail, per a 2021 state law.
JC Media has printed more than 100,000 campaign signs so far this election season, according to the owner, Jesse Castoreno. That includes signs for candidates across the political spectrum.
Gov. Greg Abbott gave an inflated number of noncitizens removed from the state’s voter rolls, officials acknowledged, confirming findings by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune, and Votebeat.
Here’s what you need to know after a ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and Votebeat investigation found that Gov. Greg Abbott likely inflated the number of noncitizens on voter rolls.
Hays County has reached an agreement with the United States after an investigation into providing accessible polling for voters with disabilities.
La fecha límite para registrarse para votar es el 7 de octubre. El último día para solicitar una boleta para votar por correo es el 25 de octubre. El periodo de votación anticipada será del 21 de octubre al 1 de noviembre.
Inspired by the work of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, the biennial “cumbre” helps South Texans organize for political change.
In a resolution signed Friday, the party blasted two Republicans who voted against the measure and accused them of undermining its electoral chances.
During the hearing, legal representatives for the state Attorney General’s Office and county commissioners made arguments regarding the potential legal action.
The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 7. The Texas Tribune, ProPublica and Votebeat want to hear from people removed from voter rolls.
Jolt, which advocates for more Latino voting participation, says the attorney general’s probe spurred threatening comments online.
County Judge Tim O’Hare said he proposed the cuts to save costs. Critics accused Republican leaders of suppressing the vote of young people who back Democrats.
The move escalates Texas Republicans’ brewing fight with urban counties over initiatives to proactively send applications to unregistered voters.
Texas officials have launched investigations into voting fraud allegations, but assisting other voters isn’t automatically illegal.
The request by the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus in a letter to the Department of Justice follows a similar request by a Latino civil rights organization.
Federal and state law already required voter roll maintenance. Experts warn the governor’s framing of this routine process could be used to undermine trust in elections.
At a news conference, Texas House candidate Cecilia Castellano did not address any of the allegations Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office laid out in search warrant affidavits.
The League of United Latin American Citizens accused Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of oppression, harassment and intimidation after the homes of several Democrats were raided by his office last week.
The Texas attorney general’s office searched the home of Cecilia Castellano and a Democratic legislative aide. It said it’s investigating vote harvesting. Activists called it “intimidation.”
The group said that searches the attorney general’s office carried out this week targeted at least six Latinos, including a Democrat running for the Texas House.
An audit by the Texas Secretary of State’s Office found improved elections procedures, but the office is sending monitors because of past problems.
Republican gains among Latino voters in urban areas could spell big trouble for Democrats’ hopes of turning Texas blue.
Conservative groups and individual activists have targeted tens of thousands of Texans over their eligibility. But state and federal protections are in place.
The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is Oct. 25. The deadline for mail-in ballots to be returned or postmarked is Nov. 5, unless it is from an overseas voter.
Some young voters who are upset about the Biden Administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war say they’re still hesitant about the vice president.
In a lawsuit challenging redistricting in Galveston County, the 5th Circuit said the protections afforded to a single racial group don’t apply to multiple groups who collectively claim voting rights violations.
More than 80% of the state’s registered voters can cast their ballot anywhere in the county on election day. Scrapping that option could lead to disenfranchisement, experts say.
Alaska’s new electoral system — with open primaries and ranked-choice voting — has been a model for voters in other states who are frustrated by political polarization and a sense that voters lack real choice at the ballot box.
The 5th Circuit expressed skepticism about arguments from both sides in considering whether a coalition of Black and Latino voters should be granted the same protections as a single racial group under the Voting Rights Act.
People living in Texas who have registered to vote in the Mexican elections could elect the country’s first female president next month.
Brazos County election officials are responding to demands from skeptical residents by expanding hand counts and ordering special paper.
Voting is habit-forming and high schools are critical for starting that pattern.
Texas’ turnover rate has held steady at 40% since 2014. That’s slightly above the new national average.
Across this border city, which sees some of the state’s lowest voter turnout, many residents either didn’t know there was an election in March or had reasons for avoiding the polls.
Mason gained national attention after she was convicted for voting while under supervised release for felony tax fraud. She said she didn’t know she was ineligible to vote.
About 3.2 million Texans voted in the state’s primary election, down from 4.1 million during the 2020 presidential primary. Democratic turnout accounted for the entirety of the decline.
This year voters will have several opportunities to go to the polls starting with the state’s primary elections in March and culminating with the General Election in November.
Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, a Trump appointee, found the county districts denied Black and Latino voters “the equal opportunity to participate in the political process.”
How a Kerr County commissioner’s unfounded distrust of voting machines took “a wrecking ball to one of the finest election departments.”
Texans will decide the fate of 14 constitutional amendments approved for the ballot by state lawmakers. Here’s a breakdown of each constitutional amendment and requirements to vote.
A new Texas law requiring more Election Day polling sites in several counties next year has officials worried they won’t be able to find enough voting locations or workers to staff them.
The Republican-passed Senate Bill 1 added restrictions to voting in Texas that plaintiffs say disproportionately affect voters of color
The ruling means the November elections in the state’s largest county will be overseen by two other county officials. Legislators targeted Harris County’s elections department after taking issue with the way the 2022 elections were run.
A federal judge blocks an 118-year-old state law that required minor political party candidates to collect more than 83,000 signatures on paper in order to appear on the ballot.
The bipartisan legislation was long sought by advocates for disabled voters, including some of the governor’s own allies.
Currently, more than 80% of Texas voters can vote anywhere in their home county, a model that originated in Lubbock County. If lawmakers approve new legislation, that would change.
The priority bill, backed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, reverses a change the Legislature made two years ago during an omnibus voting bill that made illegal voting a misdemeanor.
A spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office said only a court order could force a redo of elections.
Some 50 Texas sheriffs and numerous elected officials have attended trainings on the unsupported notion that sheriffs can single-handedly overrule state and federal law. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which offered state peace officers credit for the seminars, is now investigating.
Four Texas counties were evaluated in a 359-page audit released by Secretary of State John Scott on Monday, two weeks before he steps down as chief election official.
The League of United Latin American Citizens sued the city Monday, asking a federal court to halt its practice of electing five of its 16 council members through at-large elections.
Mike May, who lost to Houston state Rep. Jon Rosenthal by 6,000 votes, wants the Texas House to order a new election. State law allows such an appeal, but the House hasn’t approved one in more than 40 years.
Adam Hinojosa finished 659 votes behind Democrat Morgan LaMantia in a race that garnered 175,415 total votes.
A court ordered Harris County to keep its polls open late on Election Day, but Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the state Supreme Court to not allow ballots cast after normal deadline to count.
A Georgia appeals court ruling means that counties can offer early voting this coming Saturday in the U.S. Senate runoff election between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker.
Scattered paper ballot shortages and late openings of polling places were among the glitches that prompted calls for scrutiny from statewide Republican officials.
Citing thousands of complaints received throughout the midterm cycle, voter advocacy groups want the Texas Legislature to bolster voter protection and education measures, and revisit recently passed laws that empowered partisan poll watchers.
In Texas, 45.7% of the 17.7 million registered voters cast ballots in the 2022 midterm election. That’s 7.3 percentage points lower than the state’s total turnout in 2018 but higher than in every other midterm election in the last 20 years.
Results are still being finalized in key congressional and state legislature races across the country, but one thing that became clear overnight is that the 2022 midterm elections were not the red wave of Republican wins many pundits forecasted.
Claims of misconduct during early voting were raised in a federal lawsuit filed Monday by the Beaumont chapter of the NAACP, accusing election workers of scrutinizing Black voters’ identities and shadowing them while at voting stations
The Texas A&M on-campus early-voting location had the second-highest voter turnout in the county during the 2018 and 2020 presidential elections.
Republicans may be waiting to vote on Election Day after former President Donald Trump pushed voting in person on Nov. 8 at a rally in South Texas.
Sensitive touch screens aren’t always user friendly and make it easy for voters to accidentally select the wrong candidate. Voters should carefully review their ballots before submitting them.
Many Texas universities don’t have early-voting locations on campus. And state laws regarding voter ID and registration make it hard to turn out younger voters, advocates say.
Attorney General Ken Paxton pursued charges against Rogers, who was on parole when he voted in the 2020 primary election. But a judge tossed the case after a higher court said Paxton can’t unilaterally prosecute election crimes.
One of the state’s fastest-growing demographics, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders often lack information in their languages that would make the political process more accessible.
The Texas Tribune spoke to Texans across the political spectrum and asked them to make their case for why voting matters this year. The deadline to register to vote was Oct. 11. Early voting runs from Oct. 24 to Nov. 4.
