Voter ID Still Required to Vote on These Amendments to Texas Constitution and City of San Angelo Charter

The Voter ID Law is still in effect, meaning that voters turning out to the polls over the next couple of weeks will need to bring a photo identification card with them.

“I was afraid there will be a lot of people that think that [the law has been repealed], but, as I said, it’s in litigation and we are still required to see photo ID,” said Tom Green County Elections Administrator Vona Hudson.

Hudson said that the voting centers have seen a steady stream of ballot casters since the polls opened Monday morning at 8 a.m., and there’s much to consider this time around on both a state and local level.

Seven of the items on the ballot pertain to proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution. Some of those deal with homestead exemptions, repealing elected officials’ residency requirements, charitable sports team raffles and the construction and maintenance of private roads in counties with low populations.

Perhaps the most peculiar is proposition 6, which would add to the Texas Bill of Rights “the right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife, including by use of traditional methods.” According to the description of the amendment, passage would “establish hunting and fishing as the preferred method of managing and controlling wildlife in Texas. The right would be subject to laws of wildlife conservation, and not open up a free-for-all on wildlife.

The final proposition was discussed during Governor Greg Abbott’s recent visit to San Angelo, and was met with much support locally. The amendment for proposition 7 would dedicate certain sales and use tax revenues to a fund that would be used solely to construct or maintain public roads without tolls or to pay transportation-related debt.  The amount of that dedication is $4 billion, Abbott said in his speech.

Local Election

Locally, Miles ISD is hosting elections for trustees while the City of San Angelo is asking for voter action on eight proposed amendments to the City Charter, which has been likened to the city’s constitution.

The first city proposition would extend the term for the mayor and council members from two to four years, while the second would cap terms at eight consecutive years. The third would add requirements to obtaining the position of Mayor. The fifth amendment would increase the salaries of both council members and the mayor, with $10 dropped for each absence.

Proposition 4 deals with accountability, and would require questions regarding a conflict of interest on behalf of the mayor or a council member to be referred to the city’s legal department, as is custom for the state. The city attorney would be responsible for researching state law as pertains to individual situations and providing guidance on whether or not a mayor or council member should abstain.

The sixth and seventh propositions deal with vacancies in elected office and the task of the city clerk in notifying committees of insufficient signatures on initiatives and referendums, while proposition 8 has been so highly contested that not even the city council would vote on it and they’re the ones that placed it on the ballot.

In a nutshell, proposition 8 seeks to assess whether the citizens of San Angelo want the city manager and the council to appoint their police chief or if the people should continue to elect. The ballot, however, does not provide voters with those two options. In voting for proposition 8, voters can either elect the incumbent without an opponent, or vote to continue with the election process. There is no other option.

Almost all of the council members said they would disagree with that verbiage, would like to retract it, and did not believe that the ballot would fairly answer the question on whether the public wants an appointed or elected chief. Those statements, however, were made after they had voted to accept the language as-is and the ballot had been finalized. There’s still been a big push for proposition 8, and this election could change history for the city.

Voting Tips

Voting is no longer broken down by precinct: All registered voters can cast a ballot at any poll within the city between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on election day and the last two days of next week. This week and the first three days of next week, polls are open between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Those without an ID, who qualify for an exemption, may vote provisionally until the paperwork is completed.

“Bottom line, if anybody shows up without an ID, they have to be voted provisionally or come back later and provide the ID,” Hudson said. “They have up to six days after an election to what they call ‘cure the ballot’. In other words, they come in and show us their ID within six days.”

Hudson also noted that those wishing to vote by mail must meet the Oct. 23 application deadline. Curbside voting is also available for those who are unable to get out of their homes and vote. 

For more information on voting, visit the county website.