Monday, March 14, 2022

Good morning!

With the first round of the party primaries in the rearview mirror, today’s Texas Minute looks at the important electoral dates coming up for 2022.

For the next several days, Brandon Waltens will be handling the Texas Minute – so watch for his name in your inbox! With that in mind, Brandon reminds me today – 3.14 – is “Pi Day.” So you can look forward to more of that humor, I guess…

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Municipal Elections

• Many local governments have their elections in May, though some have begun to use the November general election calendar.
   
• This year, the May date is Saturday, May 7. You must be registered to vote in that jurisdiction by April 7, 2022, in order to vote in the election.
     
• Early voting runs from April 25 through May 3. And, of course, Election Day is Saturday, May 7.

Constitutional Amendments

• Texas voters will be asked to decide the fate of two proposed amendments to the state constitution on May 7, 2022. The relevant dates are the same as the municipal elections noted above.
   
• Constitutional amendments can only be proposed through the legislative process. Both propositions deal with property taxes. One would allow the legislature to lower the school property tax burden for elderly or disabled homeowners. The other would increase the “homestead exemption” as it applies to school property tax calculations.
   
• Texas Scorecard will be doing more reporting on propositions in the coming weeks.

Primary Runoff

• The Republican and Democrat primary election runoffs will be held Tuesday, May 24. 
   
• Anyone registered to vote by April 25 can participate. The only limitation is that if you voted in one party’s primary, you cannot then vote in the other party’s runoff. Anyone who did not vote in the primary can still vote in one of the runoff elections.
   
• Early voting runs from May 16 through May 20. Runoff Day is Tuesday, May 24.

General Election

• The general election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.
   
• Anyone who is registered to vote by Tuesday, October 11, is eligible to participate in the election.
   
• Early voting runs from Oct. 24 through Nov. 4. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Watch Out For Special Elections

• A favored tactic among tax-hiking local entities is to schedule special elections in the early or mid-fall time frame. This ensures a small turnout, favoring adoption of tax hike and debt increase propositions. 
     
• If a vacancy occurs in a legislative office, state law allows the governor to call special elections – sometimes with as little as a month’s notice.

Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts displayed here should reflect those recently redrawn by the Legislature. Though the new lines do not take representational effect until 2023, they will appear on the 2022 ballot. Please note that your incumbent legislator and/or district numbers may have changed.