Early voting has started, and registered Texas voters are heading to the polls to vote on the 17 proposed state constitutional amendments. Early voting runs through Oct. 31 and election day will be on Nov. 4. The language on these ballots can be confusing, so voters may not be sure about what exactly they are voting for or against. For this very reason, the League of Women Voters of Texas has made a comprehensive guide on what each proposition means and what it will change. It is available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese. Voters must print these guides as they cannot use their phones inside the polling locations. The guides can be found here, and a quick rundown of the 17 propositions will be below. https://lwvtexas.org/#gsc.tab=0
The nearest polling location can be found here https://www.harrisvotes.com/Vote-Centers
And the status of voter registration can be found at
https://goelect.txelections.civixapps.com/ivis-mvp-ui/#/login
Proposition 1
Provides more funding to Texas State Technical College. Arguments for it are that it provides more skilled workers and arguments against it are that private businesses should pay for their own expenses. Additionally, there are questions as to where the budget will be taken from.
Proposition 2
Proposes a ban on “unrealized” capital gains. Arguments for it are it protects business and the upper class and arguments against it are it shifts tax burden on the people who will not benefit from this.
Proposition 3
Denies bail for federal offenses. The pros are it could possibly keep dangerous individuals in jail until trial, but the cons are it destroys the presumption of innocent until proven guilty and there is a possibility it could be taken advantage of.
Proposition 4
Allocates additional money to the Texas Water Fund. Those against warn of potential complications similar to those in Flint, MI.
Proposition 5
Exempts animal feed from personal property tax, so on paper it could benefit farmers and ranchers, but it has the potential to benefit large corporations that buy in bulk.
Proposition 6
This denies the state the ability to tax assets such as stocks and bonds but, again, the benefits are more for the wealthy rather than the working people.
Proposition 7
Allows the state to provide a tax exemption to spouses of veterans who died of service-related causes. This helps veterans’ families acquire housing but can shift the tax load.
Proposition 8
Bans taxes on the property of a deceased person or “inheritance taxes” which heavily benefits the wealthy once again.
Proposition 9
Increases the business personal property tax exemption from $2,500 to $125,000. This benefits businesses but can destroy the budget of local governments and public school funding.
Proposition 10
Provides a temporary property tax relief to homeowners whose houses were destroyed in fires. Does not affect local government budgets or public school funding greatly.
Proposition 11
This increases the property tax homestead exemption for Texans age 65 and above or those with disabilities. It has the potential to heavily defund public schools.
Proposition 12
Huge changes to Texas’s judicial system and allows the governor to fire judges.
Proposition 13
This increases the current homestead tax exemption and could also defund public schools.
Proposition 14
Proposes the establishment of the Dementia Prevention Research Institute, designed to accelerate research and does not raise taxes.
Proposition 15
Gives parents more constitutional rights over their children which can prevent child protective services from stepping in. Can disproportionately harm LGBTQ+ children.
Proposition 16
This will ban non-citizens from voting. Opponents note that non-citizens cannot already vote. Voters must be citizens to register in the first place.
Proposition 17
This provides a tax break for people who have signed an agreement with the government to allow them to build “border security infrastructure” on their land but only benefits those who are along the border.
