Election Day - Nov. 2 - Constitutional Election

Description

Early voting begins Monday, October 18 and runs through October 29. Election Day is November 2.

To help you evaluate every proposition on the ballot, below you will find an analysis as well as the ballot language. 

Proposition 1:  “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.”  (HJR 143) 

Proposition 1 would grant authority to the Legislature to allow charitable raffles to be conducted at rodeo events, which is consistent with its current authority to allow such raffles at other professional sporting events.

Proposition 2:  “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.”  (HJR 99)

Proposition 2 would allow counties to use a vital financing tool to develop transportation projects and other infrastructure in unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted areas. The Texas Constitution already allows cities to use this tool, called tax increment financing, and this proposition would extend that authority to counties.

Proposition 3:  “The constitutional amendment to prohibit this state or a political subdivision of this state from prohibiting or limiting religious services of religious organizations.”  (SJR 27)

Proposition 3, by prohibiting state or local officials from acting to prohibit or limit religious services, would help guarantee that Texans could freely exercise their religious beliefs. The proposition would address actions taken by some government officials during the COVID-19 pandemic that restricted Texans’ ability to practice their faith in congregation with others at churches, mosques, and synagogues.

Proposition 4: “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.” (SJR 47)

Proposition 4 would add to the existing eligibility requirements for appellate and district court judges. There have long been bipartisan calls to revise qualifications for judges, an issue separate from the method of judicial selection. 

Proposition 5:  “The constitutional amendment providing additional powers to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct with respect to candidates for judicial office.”  (HJR 165)

By expanding the authority of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct (SCJC) to receive complaints and conduct investigations, Proposition 5 would create a more even handed process for candidates for judicial office who were not current officeholders and those who were incumbents. Currently, elected judicial officers are held to high standards specified in the Code of Judicial Conduct, whereas their non-judge opponents are not. The proposition could help remedy this by consistently subjecting all candidates for judicial office to the SCJC complaint and investigation process.

Proposition 6: “The constitutional amendment establishing a right for residents of certain facilities to designate an essential caregiver for in-person visitation.”  (SJR 19)

Proposition 6 would grant residents of long-term care facilities the right to designate an essential caregiver for in-person visitation, ensuring that residents had access to an essential caregiver at all times, with limited exceptions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, visitation restrictions in long-term care facilities were difficult for residents and their families, as well as for facility staff. Many residents were isolated and lacked connection and physical touch from loved ones for several months, and as a result of these restrictions, some patients died alone. By allowing residents to designate an essential caregiver, Proposition 6 would ensure vulnerable Texans had access to loved ones, which could improve residents’ physical and mental health.

Proposition 7:  “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.” (HJR 125)

Proposition 7 ensures that the surviving spouse of an individual with a disability who qualified for a homestead exemption could continue to receive the school district property tax limitation, or “freeze,” on the surviving spouse’s residence homestead. The spouses of deceased individuals over 65 already qualify for the property tax freeze, and the proposition would provide the same limitation to the surviving spouse of a person with a disability. 

Proposition 8:  “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.” (SJR 35)

Proposition 8 would correct an oversight in current law by providing the residence homestead tax exemption to all surviving spouses of members of the U.S. armed services killed in the line of duty.

For more information, you can visit VoteTexas.gov.