Tag Archives: primaries

Here’s the official order in the TDP vote by mail lawsuit

Round One went to the plaintiffs. From there, who knows. A Texas state district judge on Friday issued an order allowing voters to use the coronavirus as a reason to vote by mail for as long as the pandemic lasts … Continue reading

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TDP gets initial win in vote by mail lawsuit

It’s a good start, but we’ve got a long way to go. A state district judge on Wednesday said he will move forward with an order easing restrictions for voting by mail in Texas in light of the new coronavirus … Continue reading

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Coronavirus and redistricting

Big surprise. A delay in census counting because of the coronavirus pandemic could push Texas redistricting into legislative overtime next summer. Trump administration officials on Monday proposed delaying reapportionment counts and the distribution of redistricting data by four months, which … Continue reading

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Another view of the lawsuit over expanded voting by mail

From Ian Millhiser at Vox, who is decidedly more pessimistic about the plaintiffs’ chances. He starts by noting how restrictive Texas’ existing vote-by-mail law is. The law only allows Texas voters to obtain an absentee ballot under a very limited … Continue reading

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Coronavirus is taking its toll on the Census

The timing of this pandemic really sucks. The nonprofit Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston had more than 15 tabling events planned over the next several weeks where volunteers were going to post up at festivals, fairs and other community gatherings … Continue reading

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Intervening in the mail ballot expansion lawsuit

From the inbox: The ACLU of Texas, American Civil Liberties Union, and Texas Civil Rights Project on Wednesday joined a case seeking to declare that under Texas law all registered voters qualify to request a mail-in ballot as a result … Continue reading

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So about those runoffs

They’re still happening in July. For now. Democrats and Republicans across Texas are settling in for the new normal that is campaigning in the time of the novel coronavirus. Not only has the pandemic upended how candidates campaign for the … Continue reading

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Coronavirus and the Census

Oh, man, does this have the potential to be devastating. In some corners of the state, the meticulous planning spanned more than two years. Detailed maps of Texas communities were pored over. A ground game to knock on doors was … Continue reading

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TDP files lawsuit to expand vote by mail

All right, then. Following fruitless negotiations over how to proceed with the upcoming primary runoff elections, Texas Democrats are looking to the courts to push for an expansion of voting by mail in the state. In a lawsuit filed in … Continue reading

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Abbott delays primary runoffs

So this was originally going to be a post about what various groups have been advocating for the primary runoffs. And then Greg Abbott went and pushed the runoffs back to July without addressing any of the other concerns that … Continue reading

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Abbott addresses vote by mail possibilities

He’s thinking about it. Gov. Greg Abbott acknowledged on Tuesday that he has the authority to postpone May 26 runoff elections or conduct them exclusively via mail-in ballots in response to the coronavirus. “Everything’s on the table,” Abbott told reporters … Continue reading

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All mail ballots for the primary runoffs are being discussed

This is a pleasant surprise. Texas is not making any moves to delay the May 26 primary runoff as of now, even as other states have opted to postpone elections. But election officials have had preliminary conversations about the potential … Continue reading

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County to review countywide voting centers

Let’s make this work better. Commissioners Court has formed a working group to review Harris County’s shift to voting centers and examine what effect it had on hours-long lines at the polls on Primary Day, which Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney … Continue reading

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What should we do about the runoffs?

With coronavirus concerns now shutting down all kinds of public events and other large gatherings, it’s more than fair to wonder what the risks are of conducting the primary runoffs in the usual fashion. This post on Indivisible Houston suggests … Continue reading

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You periodic reminder that every vote matters

2020 Republican primaries edition. One vote still separates second and third place in the GOP primary for Texas House District 47, but a revised total released Wednesday pushed Justin Berry ahead of Don Zimmerman for the final spot in the … Continue reading

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Dallas County recount completed

No effect, as expected. A Dallas County recount turned up 9,149 ballots that were missed on Super Tuesday, but the new votes did not affect the outcome of any race. Through the recount — which was prompted by vote discrepancies … Continue reading

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Let’s talk turnout

Just a few random bits and pieces about turnout from the primaries. On the one hand, I think it’s great that Dems got the turnout that we did, in Harris County and around the state. On the other hand, I … Continue reading

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Dallas County recount to go forward

Let’s see what we get. A week out from Super Tuesday, a recount is moving forward in Dallas County. State district Judge Emily Tobowlowsky on Tuesday approved the county’s request to redo the tally of votes cast in the March … Continue reading

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Dallas County needs a recount

Hoo boy. Dallas County Elections Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole discovered her office did not count about 10% of the ballots that voters cast on Super Tuesday. She is now asking a court to let her conduct a manual recount of the … Continue reading

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Runoff roundup

Here, as best as I can determine, are the runoffs of interest for May: US Senate – MJ Hegar versus Royce West CD02 – Sima Ladjevardian versus Elisa Cardnell CD03 – Lulu Seikaly versus Sean McCaffity CD10 – Mike Siegel … Continue reading

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Legislative hearings on those long lines coming

More scrutiny. After excessive voting lines on Super Tuesday forced Texans to wait for up to six hours to vote, state lawmakers are directing their attention toward challenges voters faced in trying to cast a ballot for the presidential primary … Continue reading

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We need to talk about those lines

I wish we could talk about something else, but we have to do this. Dozens of Democratic voters were still waiting to cast ballots at midnight in Houston, turning Super Tuesday into a painful slog for some citizens amid questions … Continue reading

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2020 primary results: Senate and Congress

In the US Senate primary, MJ Heger is clearly headed to the runoff. It’s less clear who’s in second place, in part because the statewide results are so out of date on both the Trib and SOS pages. As of … Continue reading

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2020 primary results: State races

I’m going to direct you to the Texas Tribune results page, which combines both parties’ results and is a couple orders of magnitude less sucky than the revamped SOS election night results pages. Good Lord, whoever designed that “upgrade” from … Continue reading

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2020 primary results: Harris County

Let’s start with this. Long lines combined with a lack of voting machines turned into frustration for voters at several election sites in Harris County on Super Tuesday. Margaret Hollie arrived at the Multi Service Center on Griggs Road at … Continue reading

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Six questions for today’s voting

In some semblance of an order… 1. How will the early vote differ from the Tuesday vote? I’m mostly talking about the Presidential race here. We strongly suspect today will be a very big day at the ballot box, in … Continue reading

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Primary early voting: Comparing 2020 to 2016

The Chron looks into the early voting numbers around the state. Experts cautioned that early voting data should be taken with a grain of salt — for one because the subset of people who vote early aren’t necessarily representative of … Continue reading

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Primary Day voting information

From the inbox: On Super Tuesday, March 3, eligible voters will be able to cast their ballots at any of the 401 voting centers across the county. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. For the … Continue reading

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Final 2020 primary early voting report: “Healthy but not historic”

Sounds about right. Democratic primary voters surged to the polls in Harris County on Friday, surpassing turnout from 2016 but falling well short of their record-setting performance in 2008. Republican primary voters, meanwhile, turned out in larger-than-expected numbers thanks to … Continue reading

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2020 Primary Early Voting, Day Ten: Come hell or high water

Yesterday was quite the day, wasn’t it? People did still vote, which is nice. Here’s the Day Ten report for 2020, and here are the totals from 2012, 2016, and 2018. The totals after Day Ten: Year Mail Early Total … Continue reading

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2020 Primary Early Voting, Day Nine

Getting close to the finish line here. Two more days of early voting to go. Here’s the Day Nine report for 2020, and here are the totals from 2012, 2016, and 2018. The totals after Day Four: Year Mail Early … Continue reading

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2020 Primary Early Voting, Day Eight: It starts to turn upward

Here’s the Day Eight report for 2020, and here are the totals from 2012, 2016, and 2018. The totals after Day Four: Year Mail Early Total ============================== 2012 5,695 16,671 22,366 2016 10,970 34,419 45,389 2018 12,914 36,185 49,099 2020 … Continue reading

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2020 Primary Early Voting, Day Seven

And we’re back at it. Here’s the Day Seven report for 2020, and here are the totals from 2012, 2016, and 2018. The totals after Day Four: Year Mail Early Total ============================== 2012 5,609 14,063 19,672 2016 10,180 28,367 38,547 … Continue reading

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2020 Primary Early Voting, Day Six: On to Week Two

We’re back from the weekend, where the only votes tallied are in-person. We have five more days of early voting to go. Here’s the Day Six report for 2020, and here are the totals from 2012, 2016, and 2018. The … Continue reading

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