Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth announced that the June 15 Uniform Runoff Election Day is this Saturday. There are 131 Election Day vote centers open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across Harris County.
“A runoff election is being held for two of the three Harris Central Appraisal District (HCAD) Board of Directors contests because no candidate received over 50 percent of the vote in the May 4 Uniform Election ballot,” said Clerk Hudspeth, the county’s chief election official. “As a result, the June 15 Uniform Runoff Election features the top two candidates for HCAD Board of Directors, Place 2 and Place 3.”
HCAD is the largest appraisal district in Texas and one of the largest appraisal districts in the United States. Although the HCAD Board of Directors does not directly assess property values, the newly elected members will have significant administrative responsibilities. Their duties include hiring the chief appraiser, appointing members to the appraisal review board, setting the district’s budget, and communicating with external stakeholders. The winning candidates will assume office on July 1, 2024, and serve until December 31, 2026.
“Every election is important, so I encourage Harris County voters to keep up the vote during the June 15 Runoff Election,” added Clerk Hudspeth. “They still have the opportunity to ensure their voice is heard, even if they did not vote in the May 4 Uniform Election.”
The following forms of photo ID are acceptable when voting in person:
- Texas Driver’s License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
- Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
- Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
- Texas Handgun License issued by DPS
- United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
- United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
- United States Passport (book or card)
Voters who do not possess and cannot obtain one of the approved forms of photo ID may fill out a Reasonable Impediment Declaration (RID) at a Vote Center and present another form of ID, such as a utility bill, bank statement, government check, or voter registration certificate.
Additional election information is available on www.HarrisVotes.com. For news and updates on social media, follow @HarrisVotes.
I strongly urge you to look at the vote centers map before heading out. The number of vote centers for today is roughly what the number of Early Voting locations will be for November. Plenty of places to go, but not nearly as many as you’d get for a higher-turnout affair. Find what’s close to you and go vote. Lines are almost certainly not going to be an issue.
Speaking of turnout, that’s the focus on the press coverage of this election. From the Press.
Those voted into serving on the board will assist in setting the agency’s budget, and two of the three will be able to veto appointments of individuals involved in the property valuation appeal process. However, [Rice University poli sci professor Bob] Stein said their roles maintain limited authority overall.
“One wonders what the purpose of having this elective office is. It costs us hundreds of thousands, if not a million dollars in Harris County, to conduct the election,” he added. “For what, 35,000 people out of 2.6 million? It doesn’t make a lot of sense. This is not what representative government is about.”
In a written statement to the Houston Press, Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) wrote:
“They have more ‘authority’ than other board members in appointing appraisal review board members, and their vote is just as good as any other board member on budget votes, so this is real citizen input!”
About two percent of the roughly 2.6 million registered voters turned out during the May 4 Election. Stein anticipates that Saturday’s runoff could break the record for lower voter turnout in recent years.
According to the Harris County Clerk’s Office Elections Department, 29,091 residents opted to vote during the early voting period. Stein said he could not see more than 10,000 voters heading to polls on Election Day.
He added that the type of voter participating in this runoff is likely in their 70s, white, overwhelmingly partisan — whether Democrat or Republican — and a homeowner who has lived in their house for decades.
“You’re dealing with an extremely unrepresentative population of voters,” Stein said.
I think 10K turnout for today is a little pessimistic, but I would not bet my own money on that proposition. Here’s the Houston Landing:
Few people appear interested in the races. Only 18,048 early votes were cast in person over the nine days of early voting, or about .71 percent of the county’s 2.56 million registered voters.
In the May 5 elections, only about 2.1 percent of registered voters cast ballots.
Not sure why you wouldn’t mention the 11,043 people who had voted by mail as of Tuesday as well, since they also count. That number will have gone up, possibly by quite a bit, by today, and may be the determining factor in who wins. I’ll have a report for you tomorrow. Go vote if you haven’t done so yet, you have till 7 PM.
Thank you for posting. I plumb forgot. Love the voting center map. I will do civic duty on the way to the grocery store.
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