EARLY VOTING UNDERWAY FOR MAY 12 ELECTIONS

By Ella Tyler

May 12 will be a busy day for many. Calendars are filling up with graduations, Houston’s Art Car Parade, the Sierra Club garage sale, a variety of excursions, and getting ready for Mothers’ Day. People who drive by their neighborhood school on their way to the day’s events may be surprised to see that the school is open and there seems to be something going on. There might even be a few “Vote Today” signs and some bored card pushers talking to each other.

Inside, there will be a few lonely, bored election clerks. And voting machines full of decisions to make – about issues that, and officials who, most directly affect area residents’ quality of life.

There is one Texas constitutional amendment on the ballot. Registered voters across the state will vote for or against, “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a reduction of the limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed for public school purposes on the residence homesteads of the elderly or disabled to reflect any reduction in the rate of those taxes for the 2006 and 2007 tax years.”

The League of Women Voters explains, “Currently under Texas law, homeowners who are 65 years of age or older, or who have a disability, are eligible to receive a ceiling on the amount of public school ad valorem taxes (school property taxes) they will owe on their residence homestead based on the amount they owed the year they qualified for the ceiling. When the 79th Legislature passed school property tax cuts in their 3rd Called Session in 2006, those elderly and disabled Texans whose school property taxes were already frozen did not receive a corresponding reduction in their school property taxes. Therefore, in order for elderly and disabled Texans to receive a proportional reduction in school property taxes, there must be an allowance for such a reduction in the Texas Constitution and a statutory change in law.”

For the pros and cons of the amendment, see LWV’s website.

In Houston, there will be a special city council election to fill the unexpired term of the Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. Sekula-Gibbs was an at-large member of council, so all city of Houston registered voters may vote. Even though there are 11 candidates in the race, Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman’s office, which will administer the election, expects a turnout of only eight percent.

Other elections in Harris County include a vote in Baytown to undo the smoking ban passed last fall, a charter amendment in Pasadena, a police pay proposition in South Houston, and city council and mayoral elections in most of the municipalities. See a list of Harris County elections.

In Mont Belvieu and Manvel, city council candidates are talking about the need to plan for growth, but in Alvin, the candidates are talking about economic development and keeping up with growth. In Huntsville, the incumbent mayor has two opponents, including a student at Sam Houston State University.

Election officials are encouraging voters to cast their ballots early. Early polling locations will be open through Tuesday, May 8. Many polls will be combined for Election Day, so voters should find their polling locations early.

Check your local newspaper or the Houston Chronicle for detailed lists of candidates and early voting locations. Also, the Houston Galveston Area Council’s website contains links to each of the governmental entities in our regions.