GOP Harris County judge candidate contesting her loss after Election Day problems at polling sites
Democratic County Judge Lina Hidalgo beat Republican Alexandra del Moral Mealer by more than 18,000 votes. An assessment of Election Day problems at polling sites โhas not yet revealedโ whether any voters were turned away.
Texas voter turnout fell from 2018. It was still higher than other midterms.
In Texas, 45.7% of the 17.7 million registered voters cast ballots in the 2022 midterm election. Thatโs 7.3 percentage points lower than the stateโs total turnout in 2018 but higher than in every other midterm election in the last 20 years.
EXPLAINER: How mailed ballots slow results in Pennsylvania
Counting of mailed ballots in Pennsylvania is drawing renewed scrutiny amid a too-close-to-call U.S. Senate primary between Republicans David McCormick and Dr. Mehmet Oz. Former President Donald Trump blasted the stateโs elections procedures on social media, even though there are no indications of any wrongdoing with those ballots other than a printing error that was slowing the tally in one county.
Report shows big spike in mail ballots during 2020 election
A new report shows fewer than one-third of voters who cast ballots in last yearโs U.S. presidential election did so at a polling place on Election Day as the coronavirus pandemic led states to greatly expand mail-in balloting and early voting.
Hereโs how, where to vote early now in Bexar County for the May 1 election
Early voting is underway in San Antonio for high-profile races, including the mayor, City Council, a proposition aimed at repealing police officersโ collective bargaining power and a proposition that could expand the use of bonds.
EXPLAINER: Varying views on how to keep accurate voter rolls
Maintaining accurate voter rolls is a bipartisan concern, but there is little agreement on the best way to do it. Republicans say Democrats are too lax, resulting in bloated voter rolls that undermine confidence and invite fraud. Here is an explanation of how voter rolls are maintained, how states do it differently and the conflicts over this yearโs legislative proposals. WHAT ARE VOTER ROLLS AND HOW ARE THEY MAINTAINED? In 2016, New York Cityโs Board of Elections improperly removed more than 200,000 names from the voter rolls.
Analyzing 2020: Shock the vote
Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at Dan Ruiz Branch Library in Austin on Election Day. Nov. 3, 2020. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas TribuneEditor's note: If you'd like an email notice whenever we publish Ross Ramsey's column, click here. The 2020 election has done a pretty good imitation of a perpetual motion machine, starting well before the year began and lasting weeks after the nationโs votes had been cast and counted. Here are some of my columns on voting from 2020. Sept. 3Keep calm and vote onPolitical people in high places are sowing doubt about voting and elections, making our 200-year-old system seem fraught with problems and even crime.
Biden win over Trump in Nevada made official by court
The Nevada Supreme Court made Joe Biden's win in the state official on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020, approving the final canvass of the Nov. 3 election. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)LAS VEGAS โ The Nevada Supreme Court made Joe Bidenโs win in the state official on Tuesday, approving the state's final canvass of the Nov. 3 election. Biden got 50.06% of the vote and Trump 47.67%. Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican who has avoided the public eye in recent weeks, presented the results to the court. Jesse Binnall, an attorney for the Trump campaign who is handling an election challenge pending before a state court judge, said Tuesday he intends to prove that so many fraudulent votes were cast statewide that Trump won Nevada.
Transition or tropics? EPA chief looks at final trips abroad
After months of travel to battleground states before Election Day, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency now is looking at taxpayer-funded trips abroad, including the tropics, in the Trump administration's last weeks. Administrator Andrew Wheeler had been invited next month to Taiwan, a trip with an estimated cost of $45,000, EPA spokesman James Hewitt said Thursday. โAdministrator Wheeler remains head of the agency and will continue to advance environmental progress both here and abroad,โ Hewitt said. The New York Times, which first reported Wheelerโs travel plans, said Wheeler and other EPA officials were expected to travel by chartered flight to minimize exposure to the coronavirus. Hewitt, the EPA spokesman, did not immediately respond to a question asking whether Wheeler was doing any planning to help the agency transition from one administration to the next.
Native American votes helped secure Biden's win in Arizona
Native Americans were among the difference-makers who swung the race to Biden in Arizona. That show of force is now translating into leverage for Native Americans seeking more representation in top levels of the federal government. Native voters say they were motivated by many of the same things as other voters. She also was part of a group helping to boost voting among Native Americans. โPeople need to start paying attention to not only Navajo votes but across the board nationally, Native votes,โ Davis said.
Harlandale ISD changes course on MLK holiday, adds extra school day instead
SAN ANTONIO โ Harlandale ISD announced Wednesday that Martin Luther King Jr. Day would remain a holiday on district calendars this school year and that an extra day has been added to the school year instead. According to an announcement by the district, the initial decision to exchange the Martin Luther King holiday with the Election Day holiday was decided by a survey sent to all employees last month. Because of COVID-19 concerns, the district wanted to keep students and staff away from campuses that were being utilized as voting locations. โWe believe that the Kingโs Day celebration is an important day in our collective history,โ Hudspeth said in a statement. Kingโs work was to ensure equality and equal justice for all people; this should be our work as well.
Poll workers contract virus, but Election Day link unclear
FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, file photo, poll workers assist a voter on Election Day at Frank McCourt High School, on New York's Upper West Side. Poll workers in some states who came in contact with voters on Election Day are now reporting they have tested positive for the coronavirus despite painstaking efforts to secure election sites. In most places, poll workers were required to wear masks. The cases emerged while election workers continued counting thousands of ballots. It's difficult to trace cases back to polling places because the virus manifests in different ways, and some people never get symptoms.
States cite smooth election, despite Trump's baseless claims
But the election was largely smooth, in large part because 107 million voters that cast their ballots early and took the pressure off Election Day operations. Election experts said the large increase in advance voting โ 107 million people voting early in person and by mail โ helped take pressure off Election Day operations. Among the many lawsuits filed since Election Day is one in Nevada by the Trump campaign alleging voter fraud. โOn Election Day, we didnโt have any reports of anything significant," said Lisa Schaefer, who leads the bipartisan County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. โThe system held up given the extraordinary circumstances that election officials faced,โ said Amber McReynolds, who leads the National Vote at Home Institute.
How to transcend post-election Thanksgiving conversations with the ordinary magic of resilience
To make matters potentially more stressful, Thanksgiving โ and conversations with family members who may not agree with your political views โ is right around the corner. Thatโs why itโs vital to learn to adapt to negative emotions and move on in a healthy, productive manner through the ordinary magic of resilience. Resilience Toolbox:Take a deep breath โ If you find yourself in an upsetting conversation or anxious about the future, you may stop and take a deep breath. When you take a deep breath, your body is sending a message to your brain to relax and calm down. List things you can control โ In life there are some things that you can control and some things that are out of your control.
Leaders of both state political parties join Leading SA to discuss Bidenโs win, reflect on Texas elections
Leaders from both state political parties joined us Sunday on Leading SA to reflect on the Texas elections and react to Joe Biden being named the president-elect. โIโm absolutely elated as a Black woman to see a Black woman be selected as vice president-elect; just means so much. While we have been shattering the glass ceiling because we still have work to do, we have definitely broken that ceiling,โ Dr. Brailey said. โAbsolutely not, because when you look at the policies being promoted by the Democrat Party, they are policies that are not beneficial to the great state of Texas,โ West said. โTexas just was not quite ready to take that leap.โYou can watch the full interviews with West and Brailey in the video player above.
Thank you, Susan B. Anthony: Gravesite sticker tradition continues, now with a shield
Her sister Mary Anthonyโs headstone, just next to hers, was also covered. A cemetery worker adjusts a plastic cover for the headstone of women's rights advocate Susan B. Anthony in Rochester, New York, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. Katie Polfleit, 20, places an "I Voted" sticker on the grave of women's rights advocate Susan B. Anthony in Rochester, New York, on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
EXPLAINER: What is a โcuredโ ballot?
Here, Christina A. Cassidy, a reporter for The Associated Press who covers voting and election security, offers some insight into the post-election process for fixing ballots:UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES CAN A BALLOT BE CURED? In states that lack such a process, ballots with these problems are generally not counted. But a few states do not use signature verification to validate a mail ballot, including Pennsylvania. In a few states, if the problem is identified before Election Day, the voter is sent a replacement ballot. Partisan poll watchers can report concerns to party officials, who can raise objections and file lawsuits.
The count goes on โ with Biden on the cusp of presidency
WASHINGTON โ Democrat Joe Biden stood on the cusp of winning the presidency Friday night, three days after Election Day, as the long, exacting work of counting votes widened his lead over President Donald Trump in critical battleground states. There was intense focus on Pennsylvania, where Biden led Trump by more than 27,000 votes, and Nevada, where the Democrat led by about 22,000. In Pennsylvania, officials were not allowed to begin processing mail-in ballots until Election Day under state law. In Nevada, there were a number of provisional ballots cast by voters who registered on Election Day, and officials had to verify their eligibility. The AP has declared Biden the winner in Arizona and said Thursday that it was monitoring the vote count as it proceeded.