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Early voting is now underway across Texas for the May 6 elections. The elections are strictly local contests, but many have a potentially big economic impact for voters across the Greater Houston region.
"There's 62 elections going on in Harris County," says Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart. "My office is running eight of those – of course, the largest one being Houston Independent School District, and of course the active one is also the City of Pasadena."
HISD Prop 1 is a rerun of last year's school finance referendum. A ‘yes' vote would hand over roughly $100 million in property taxes to help fund education in property-poor districts elsewhere in the state. A ‘no' vote would lead to billions of dollars' worth of commercial property being detached from HISD's tax base.
Pasadena's local election is the city's first since a federal judge ruled Pasadena violated the rights of Latino voters by changing its method of electing city council members. One of the major issues at stake is funding of public infrastructure in Latino-majority neighborhoods.
Other contests in the area include mayoral elections in Humble and Stafford. And Galveston voters will decide whether to approve $62 million in bonds for street and drainage projects.
The last day of early voting is Tuesday, May 2. You can find information about local contests at the following websites:
