Early Voting in Austin, Texas (and Elsewhere)
by Brittanie in Around Austin, Life and Learning / 10.29.08
What you should know that you probably don’t for early voting, both in Travis county/Austin, TX and around the country.
What it is:
Early voting is really important. It sets the precedence and adjusts the polls before actual election day, November 4th. Both campaigns have focused on getting voters to the polls early, mostly to avoid waiting in lines on Election Day and giving voters more options. 34 states in America allow early voting before Election Day on Nov. 4th. In most cities you can check on your city council’s homepage to find locations or Google “(your city) early voting locations.” In Texas, early voting started on October 20 and extends through October 31. You must be a registered voter to vote in your county and you can vote at ANY of the locations, not just your precinct. It’s fabulous.
What you need to bring:
Make sure to check what forms of ID you need to bring in your county. Just a valid ID card or other driver’s license/state issued picture ID is needed for early voting in Travis County.
Do not bring:
Your camera or your phone. They won’t let you use either and if you do use them they will be confiscated…something about preserving the privacy of the people voting. Media is not allowed to film within a 100 ft radius around the voting area.
If’s, And’s and Shall’s:
On your ballot there will be the Electoral Vote, and then there will be representative, state, and local elections, along with all that other ammendments that you have to sort through. In Austin we have three Amendments:
1. Prop 1 (secure the 5 year term of the city auditor by requiring a three-forths vote to remove him/her instead of just a majority vote.)
2. Prop 2 (stop domain subsidies and keep tax payers’ money out of big corporate mall deals)
3. AISD Prop 1 (increase property taxes to increase teacher’s salaries by 3.9%)
The ballot language is ugly. They’re called charter amendments and are phrased in the form of a question.
I didn’t find it confusing when I was reading up on the propositions at home. But once I got to the voter’s booth I was stunned at how overwhelmed I was. The pressure to get in and out, make my vote, cast my ballot. Ugh, it was terrifying to have to read through the terribly phrased amendments and make sense of it all. In the end, you just have to know which ones you are FOR and which ones you are AGAINST. Reading it for the first time when you cast your ballot is useless. You will not make an educated choice due to the marbled jargon of the amendment. Do your research on local elections beforehand. Be informed.
References:
Argument to both sides of Prop 2
Documentary on what went wrong with the domain subsidy deal (Prop 2)
Predict the polls by who’s buying who on the people market
Ideas on AISD Prop 1:
Argument that supports AISD Prop 1
An objective argument from the Daily Texan
And one argument that opposes it
I had a hard time finding one resource with all the proposed amendments, so here is the exact language for each amendment on the ballot in Travis County:
Prop 1: Shall the City Charter be amended to provide that city council appoint a city auditor for a five-year term, during which term the city auditor may only be removed by a vote of three-fourths of the city council, and at the conclusion of the term, by a majority of the city council?
Prop 2: Shall the City Charter be amended to prohibit the City from entering into future agreements to provide financial incentives in connection with the development or redevelopment of property that includes one or more retail uses, and to stop the City from providing financial incentives under certain existing agreements in connection with the development or redevelopment of property that includes one or more retail uses?
AISD Prop 1: Approving the Ad Valorem tax rate for !1.2020 per $100 valuation in the Austin Independent School District for the current year. A rate that is $0.0390 higher per $100 valuation than the school district rollback tax rate.
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