AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Monday marks the deadline to register to vote for the Nov. 2 elections, which include a number of amendments to the Texas Constitution, and a handful of municipal and school district election items.
One the of most prominent items on the ballot in Central Texas is the City of Austin's Proposition A, which would force the city to increase staffing at the Austin Police Department.
School bonds will also be on the ballot in several area districts. Leander ISD residents will be asked to vote on approving $772 million in bond packages; Elgin ISD residents will consider $190 million in bonds for new schools and facility upgrades; and Georgetown ISD residents are being asked to consider $380 million for new schools and facility improvements.
Several mayoral and council races are also on the ballot in different municipalities across the area, alongside some charter amendments and other propositions for voters to consider.
Voter turnout in an off-year election will be one of the questions leading up to election day. According to data from Travis County, 97% of the county's eligible voters - more than 850,000 - registered to vote ahead of the Nov. 2020 election, and just over 71 percent of those voters cast a ballot.
In the last constitutional amendment election in Nov. 2019, only 15 percent of registered voters in Travis County cast a ballot.
Here's a look at the eight state constitutional amendments on the ballot:
Proposition 1 (HJR 143): “The constitutional amendment authorizing the professional sports team charitable foundations of organizations sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association or the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association to conduct charitable raffles at rodeo venues.”
Proposition 2 (HJR 99): “The constitutional amendment authorizing a county to finance the development or redevelopment of transportation or infrastructure in unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted areas in the county.”
Proposition 3 (SJR 27): “The constitutional amendment to prohibit this state or a political subdivision of this state from prohibiting or limiting religious services of religious organizations.”
Proposition 4 (SJR 47): “The constitutional amendment changing the eligibility requirements for a justice of the supreme court, a judge of the court of criminal appeals, a justice of a court of appeals, and a district judge.”
Proposition 5 (HJR 165): “The constitutional amendment providing additional powers to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct with respect to candidates for judicial office.”
Proposition 6 (SJR 19): “The constitutional amendment establishing a right for residents of certain facilities to designate an essential caregiver for in-person visitation.”
Proposition 7 (HJR 125): “The constitutional amendment to allow the surviving spouse of a person who is disabled to receive a limitation on the school district ad valorem taxes on the spouse’s residence homestead if the spouse is 55 years of age or older at the time of the person’s death.”
Proposition 8 (SJR 35): “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services of the United States who is killed or fatally injured in the line of duty.”
You can find sample ballots online for Travis County, Williamson County, and Hays County.
Early voting begins on Monday, Oct. 18.
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