Early voting to begin October 18
Election Day is November 2 but early voting will begin October 18 through October 22, and then October 25-28. There are four Texas state propositions set to be voted on this time around along with two Cass County props for Emergency Districts 3 and 4.
The first proposition may have some effect on Cass County since there are rodeos hosted in the County. The professional Rodeo Cowboys Association is seeking the ability to do charitable raffles. “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.”
The second is “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.” According to Ballotpedia, A “yes” vote supports amends the state constitution to: authorize counties to issue bonds to fund transportation and infrastructure projects in blighted areas; prohibit counties from allocating more than 65% of property tax revenue increases annually to repay the bonds; and prohibit counties from using the funds from the issuance of the bonds to build a toll road.
A “no” vote opposes amending the state constitution, thereby maintaining that only cities and towns may issue bonds to fund transportation and infrastructure projects in blighted areas. It is hard to know how this may directly impact our towns and counties, however voting no, maintains the way we currently issue bonds for our area and beyond.
The third proposition mandates that a “constitutional amendment to prohibit this state or a political subdivision of this state from prohibiting or limiting religious services of religious organizations.” During the Covid-19 pandemic there had been a push back from religious organizations that in some states were forced to shut down their church physically from meeting in an effort to curb the pandemic. The supreme court made multiple rulings on the matter but there remains some ambiguity, so there has been a desire from some to make sure that here in Texas, the state can’t shut religious meetings from happening. It is however impossible to know a pushback from the federal government or courts will affect the possible amendment.
The fourth state proposition is “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.” Ballotpedia explains “a ‘yes’ vote supports making the following changes to 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: requires candidates to be residents of Texas as well as citizens of the United States; requires 10 years of experience in Texas as a practicing lawyer or judge of a state or county court for candidates of the supreme court, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, or a court of appeals; requires eight years of experience in Texas as a practicing lawyer or judge of a state or county court for candidates of a district court; disqualifies candidates if their license to practice law was revoked or suspended during experience requirement; and applies these requirements to individuals elected or appointed to a term beginning after January 1, 2025,” A no vote will keep it as is. The law will not have a specific local impact on our county. The fifth state proposition is “the constitutional amendment providing additional powers to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, with respect to candidates for judicial office. According to Representative Jacey Jetton (R), the author of the amendment: “There is an inherent unfairness in judicial elections when a candidate runs for judicial office against an incumbent because judges are subject to the Code of Judicial Conduct, but candidates are not. H.J.R. 165 would ensure that judicial elections are fair by granting the State Commission on Judicial Conduct the authority to enforce the same standards for judicial candidates that they do for sitting judges.” The goal is to levy the playing field for both the incumbents and for those running against them. This is for the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct to accept and investigate complaints and reports against candidates running for the state judicial office, and therefore has no direct impact on the county.
The sixth state proposition is for a “constitutional amendment establishing a right for residents of certain facilities to designate an essential caregiver for in-person visitation.” The amendment was introduced in response to restrictions put in place in March 2020 as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“On March 15, 2020, Texas Health and Human Services Commission ordered nursing facilities to prohibit non-essential visitors from accessing facilities. At that time, the order applied to 1,222 licensed and regulated nursing facilities serving about 90,000 residents and an additional 2,000 assisted living facilities in Texas. State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R) wrote in the amendment’s “Statement of Intent” that “these restrictions had a significant impact on the physical and mental well-being of many residents, especially those with memory or cognitive challenges,” notes Ballotpedia.
This will directly affect our county residents in assisted living, in such residences as Linden Focus Care, Wesley House, Rose Haven Retreat, and Golden Villa. For those who had loved ones in assisted living facilities, this season has been especially hard on both the residents and their family members. This amendment would allow a primary caregiver like a spouse, child, or conservator to help with the care of the loved one. The drawback to this amendment is that there would be greater exposure to the outside to a group of people with lowered immune systems.
The seventh state proposition for this voting cycle is “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.” This protects those older individuals that are legally disabled from a large increase on their tax bill due to a settled estate. Those in our county who are 55 and disabled could be affected by this change
The eighth and final state proposition is “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.” This is similar to the seventh proposition except that this will protect a surviving spouse from taxation on the family’s estate when a serviceman/woman is killed or fatally injured in the line of duty.
Locally there are two propositions in different districts. If you live in Cass County there are one of three ballots you may get. The first are those people who don’t live in the Cass County Emergency District 3 or 4, and the other two ballots if you live in one of those districts respectively.
The first is for Cass County Emergency District Number 3. This proposition is for the Adoption of a local sales and use tax for the adoption of a local sales and use tax in Cass County Emergency Services District No. 3 (Bloomburg Area) at a rate not to exceed two percent in any location in the district. The Journal Sun is in the process of finding out information on what equipment and expenses are being sought after.
The second, Proposition B, is for the fourth district County Emergency District Number 4. It is the confirmation of the creation of Cass County emergency services district #4 (Center Hill) volunteer fire department and the levy by the district of a tax of up to ten cents on each $100 of the taxable value of property taxable by the district.
In lieu of printing the ballots in the paper this year, we printed the information above. If you would like a sample ballot you can request a ballot through email or you can come by the Journal-Sun office for a copy.