ELECTIONS

State policymakers have mapped out familiar territory early in the legislative session, with Democrats seeking to expand voting access and Republicans pledging to make elections more secure.

Patrick made the comments at a daylong conference in Austin hosted by The Texan, a political news site started by former GOP state Sen. Konni Burton.

Incumbents and newcomers alike began arriving a little after 8 a.m. at San Antonio City Hall on Wednesday to get onto the May 6 city ballot as early as possible.

Applications can be filed at the Office of the City Clerk in City Hall at 100 Military Plaza from Jan. 18 until 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17.

Although no evidence of widespread voter fraud has been found, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been actively pursuing election-related crimes since he took office in 2015.

After redistricting, the state constitution requires senators to draw lots to determine which half of the chamber will have four-year terms and which will have two-year terms. This keeps Senate district elections staggered every two years for the rest of the decade.

Mike May was one of more than 20 losing candidates in Harris County who filed election contests, citing reports of Election Day issues.

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 “has not yet revealed” whether any voters were turned away.

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.

Some local leaders say they worry the changes violate state law, while residents who supported decriminalizing marijuana say the pushback disrespects democracy.

An 18-year-old college student has been elected to serve as mayor of a small east Arkansas city, becoming one of the youngest people to serve as a city’s top leader in the U.S.

Nelson planned to retire from the Senate after 30 years in office. But her nomination will give Abbott a clearer path to having his nominee confirmed by the Senate after his last three have gone unconfirmed.

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.

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Scott as secretary of state in October 2021, and he served in an interim capacity pending Senate confirmation. He is stepping down right before the legislative session in which his appointment would have come up for debate.

Here are some examples of strange ways elections were decided.

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.

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.

Some parents and family of the students killed at Robb Elementary in May campaigned for Democrats. They were hoping for stricter gun control laws in Texas.

Slates of conservative candidates endorsed by the Republican Party of Texas failed to flip school boards in several suburban races across Texas.

In a press call Monday, O’Rourke’s team reflected on its failures during the election, but said Gov. Greg Abbott had the advantage with his ability to attract media attention and rely on” established narratives” that historically favor Republicans.

Low turnout, Democrats protect South Texas congressional seats but get overwhelmed across rest of state

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.

The judicial landscape continues to favor Democrats in Bexar County after six Republican seats up for re-election were overturned on Tuesday.

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.

Texas Tribune photographers spread out all over the state to document a momentous midterm election.

Leaders of two of the nation’s largest nonpartisan Latino groups said the predicted “red wave” of Latino voters in South Texas was nothing more than speculation by political pundits.

The voter turnout for the 2022 midterm election was lower than what Bexar County election officials expected — and hoped for — despite a jump in registered voters.

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.

Three seats were up for election in the Texas Supreme Court, which handles civil cases, and three in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Democrats haven’t been elected to either court since the late 1990s.

Voters in three San Antonio-area school districts headed to the ballot box to vote on a variety of proposals to address growth and security.

Christian chairs the three-member board that oversees Texas’ oil and gas industry.

Republicans won all statewide races, including for Texas governor, while Democrats performed well in Bexar County

De La Cruz defeated Democrat Michelle Vallejo, a political newcomer who ran on a platform of progressive social policy and close family ties to the region.

In a difficult cycle for Democrats, the race was widely seen as the most competitive statewide election because of Paxton’s laundry list of legal troubles.

After several Harris County polling places opened late, a state district judge ordered voting locations there to stay open until 8 p.m. But the state’s highest civil court blocked that ruling.

Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said she would give voting updates throughout the day. You can watch those updates in this article.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. Here’s what’s on the ballot, what you’ll need to vote, how to get help and how to find election results.

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

Follow The Texas Tribune’s coverage of midterm election results for governor, attorney general, U.S. House and the Texas Legislature.

If you’re keeping a close eye on the results Tuesday night, you should follow one overarching rule: Don’t jump to conclusions.

Whatever the weather, Texans and San Antonians still have to find a way to show up and vote on Election Day -- even during extremes.

Right now, Democrats technically hold the majority by the slimmest of margins.

Federal monitors will be on the ground in Harris, Dallas and Waller counties on Election Day as part of the department’s regular deployment for major elections.

The Bexar County election judges are preparing for long lines on Election Day.

Find all Texas races, including statewide offices like governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, land commissioner, ag commissioner and railroad commission; as well state legislative seats in the Texas House and Texas Senate; Congress and local San Antonio-area races, including Bexar County Judge, District Attorney, judicial seats and more.

The representative from Houston said fellow Republicans admitted behind closed doors that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen, and he warned that such messaging could dangerously mislead voters.

From election equipment to ballot counting and storage, Texas elections officials follow a long list of laws and procedures to ensure free and fair elections.

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.

The race for the governor’s office comes to an end in a matter of days, but both Gov. Greg Abbott and challenger Beto O’Rourke are still vying for undecided voters.

Gov. Greg Abbott made a campaign stop in Von Ormy to speak about several issues important to Texans, including those surrounding the border.

The infectious disease is spreading fast in a country ill-equipped to stop it.

Maxwell was found guilty last December of conspiring with her ex-boyfriend, financier Jeffrey Epstein, to groom, recruit and sexually abuse minors as part of an infamous trafficking ring.

Elections for school boards and city council races — and two proposed constitutional amendments — will be held in May, and the last day to reg…

Libya’s prime minister has taken a defiant stand against efforts to appoint a new interim government

RAYMONDVILLE — Elections officials mailed botched ballots to 68 Willacy County voters who requested mail-in ballots to vote in the March 1 Democratic primary election. Republican Party ballots weren’t affected, Wolf Chapa, the Willacy County Republican Party chairman, said. By Wednesday afternoon, the 68 voters who were mailed botched ballots are expected to receive corrected ballots, Joe Vasquez, the county election’s office assistant, said. By Monday afternoon, Sam Taylor, the Secretary of State’s office spokesman, said the Democratic Party chairs sent incorrect ballot information that appeared on Willacy County’s Democratic Party ballots. However, Solis said he hadn’t come across the problem in Willacy County.

A deeply symbolic victory for Venezuela’s opposition hasn’t resolved a deep divide over its strategy

Sunday's presidential election reflects an intense political fight in a country U.S. prosecutors call a "narco-state."

Mustafa al-Kadhimi said he was unhurt in the attack on his house, said to be by an armed drone.

The deadline for letters to the editor about candidates in the Nov. 2 General Election has passed, but we will be running letters already submitted in the paper and online

Marine Le Pen's National Rally had hoped to win a regional powerbase ahead of next year's election.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party, La République en Marche, garnered only 10.9 % of the vote in Sunday's regional elections, which saw bigger wins for mainstream left-and-right wing parties, according to an exit poll by Elabe. Why it matters: Sunday's regional elections are seen as a barometer for next year's national elections, which are only 10 months away, Politico reports.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeThe g

Nepal’s president dissolved Parliament and announced fresh elections on Saturday after the prime minister, who was heading a minority government and was unlikely to secure a vote of confidence in the chamber, recommended the move. A notice issued by President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s office set the elections for Nov. 12 and 19. Nepal has been grappling with a political crisis at the same time it's struggling with a coronavirus surge and record numbers of daily infections and deaths, amid acute shortages of hospital beds, medication and oxygen.

Local and national contests - many delayed by Covid - are taking place in England, Scotland and Wales.

Cobb County officials reduce early voting locations ahead of Georgia Senate runoff elections Elections officials in Cobb County, Georgia, is reducing the number of early voting locations for the January Senate runoff elections. President-elect Joe Biden won Cobb County, in suburban Atlanta, 56% to 42%. Chairman of the Cobb County Republican Party Jason Shepherd joins CBSN's "Red & Blue" anchor Elaine Quijano to discuss the decision and the upcoming elections.

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened social media companies with new regulation or even shuttering after Twitter moved a day earlier to add fact checks to two of his tweets. Trump and his campaign angrily lashed out Tuesday after Twitter added a warning phrase to two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots fraudulent and predicted that mail boxes will be robbed, among other things. Trump did not explain his threat Wednesday, and the call to expand regulation appeared to fly in the face of long-held conservative principles on deregulation. The protections have been credited with allowing the unfettered growth of the internet for more than two decades, but now some Trump allies are advocating that social media companies face more scrutiny. Why are they getting subsidized by federal taxpayers to censor conservatives, to censor people critical of China.

President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during an event on protecting seniors with diabetes in the Rose Garden White House, Tuesday, May 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump threatened social media companies with new regulation or even shuttering on Wednesday after Twitter added fact checks to two of his tweets. Trump, the historically prolific tweeter of political barbs and blasts, claimed on Twitter early Wednesday that tech giants silence conservative voices." Trump and his campaign had lashed out Tuesday after Twitter added a warning phrase to two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots fraudulent and predicted that mail boxes will be robbed, among other things. The protections have been credited with allowing the unfettered growth of the internet for more than two decades, but now some Trump allies are advocating that social media companies face more scrutiny.

SAN ANTONIO Registering voters isn't what it used to be after the shutdowns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. She said since Texas is not among 39 other states that allow online voter registration, SVREP must try to reach new voters the best way it can. "We've been doing voter registration for 46 years. The Republican Party of Texas will do much of the same, said Chairman James Dickey. "We're looking for 10,000 volunteers to each help us register 10 new Republican voters," Dickey said.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has a new pitch to voters for this fall: Trust me. Its a transition to greatness, Trump says over and over, predicting a burgeoning economy come the fall. Now, Trump is making the case to voters that if he helped bolster the economy once, he can do it again. "Ill do it a second time.It's not just next year that will be a mystery to voters on Election Day. "The president is placing a bet by reopening the economy before public health officials believe it is safe.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has a new pitch to voters for this fall: Trust me. Its a transition to greatness, Trump says over and over, predicting a burgeoning economy come the fall. Now, Trump is making the case to voters that if he helped bolster the economy once, he can do it again. "Ill do it a second time.It's not just next year that will be a mystery to voters on Election Day. "The president is placing a bet by reopening the economy before public health officials believe it is safe.

$145M from midterm elections came from anonymous donors The 2014 midterm elections were the most expensive in history. And, as Nancy Cordes reports, an estimated $145 million in campaign funding came from anonymous sources.

Midterm elections: Tough struggle for incumbent Landrieu in La. If elections were held today, Republicans would pick up six seats in the Senate giving them the majority. But control of the Senate might hang in the balance until December, when the entire political world could descend on Louisiana. Nancy Cordes reports.

Midterm elections Anthony Salvanto, CBS News Elections Director, discusses how the races are shaping up two weeks before the midterm elections.