As of 4 p.m. Friday, 2,220 ballots had been cast by personal appearance during early voting for Tuesday’s General Election which began Oct. 20. Residents of the City of Livingston are heading to the polls to elect three aldermen to the Livingston City Council. Additionally, there are 17 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution on which Texans will vote.
Eight polling locations will be available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday for voters to cast their ballots. Because the constitutional amendment elections are historically low turnout, the county’s 12 polling locations were consolidated to the following eight locations:
County Clerk Schelana Hock provided some background on the consolidation of polling places for the constitutional amendment election.
“In prior years before we went to countywide polling locations, we always did just five locations for Election Day. Now that we are countywide, we’re required to have the same amount of polling locations per commissioner precinct. So the way we arrived at eight is doing wo locations per commissioner precinct,” Hock said.
“The elections for 2026 will use the 12 locations we normally use, but there is always a lower turnout for constitutional amendment elections. This is just for the constitutional election. It does not affect the primaries,” Hock said.
The City of Livingston will elect three “at large” council members. The three incumbents – Dr. Raymond J. Luna, Elgin Davis and Bobby Charles Jackson Sr. – are all seeking reelection. Marty Drake also filed his candidacy for election. Four people vying for three “at large” council seats means that the top three vote-getters will be elected to the council.
As for the 17 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution, in order to be placed on the ballot, a proposed amendment must be a joint resolution approved by at least two-thirds of the Texas House and Senate.
Below is the ballot order for the proposed amendments:
Proposition 1 (SJR 59) “The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the permanent technical institution infrastructure fund and the available workforce education fund to support the capital needs of educational programs offered by the Texas State Technical College System.”
Proposition 2 (SJR 18) “The constitutional amendment prohibiting the imposition of a tax on the realized or unrealized capital gains of an individual, family, estate, or trust.”
Proposition 3 (SJR 5) “The constitutional amendment requiring the denial of bail under certain circumstances to persons accused of certain offenses punishable as a felony.”
Proposition 4 (HJR 7) “The constitutional amendment to dedicate a portion of the revenue derived from state sales and use taxes to the Texas water fund and to provide for the allocation and use of that revenue.”
Proposition 5 (HJR 99) “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation tangible personal property consisting of animal feed held by the owner of the property for sale at retail.”
Proposition 6 (HJR 4) “The constitutional amendment prohibiting the legislature from enacting a law imposing an occupation tax on certain entities that enter into transactions conveying securities or imposing a tax on certain securities transactions.”
Proposition 7 (HJR 133) “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 veteran who died as a result of a condition or disease that is presumed under federal law to have been service-connected.”
Proposition 8 (HJR 2) “The constitutional amendment to prohibit the legislature from imposing death taxes applicable to a decedent’s property or the transfer of an estate, inheritance, legacy, succession, or gift.”
Proposition 9 (HJR 1) “The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation a portion of the market value of tangible personal property a person owns that is held or used for the production of income.”
Proposition 10 (SJR 84) “The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to provide for a temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of the appraised value of an improvement to a residence homestead that is completely destroyed by a fire.”
Proposition 11 (SJR 85) “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to increase the amount of the exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district of the market value of the residence homestead of a person who is elderly or disabled.”
Proposition 12 (SJR 27) “The constitutional amendment regarding the membership of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, the membership of the tribunal to review the commission’s recommendations, and the authority of the commission, the tribunal, and the Texas Supreme Court to more effectively sanction judges and justices for judicial misconduct.”
Proposition 13 (SJR 2) “The constitutional amendment to increase the amount of the exemption of residence homesteads from ad valorem taxation by a school district from $100,000 to $140,000.”
Proposition 14 (SJR 3) “The constitutional amendment providing for the establishment of the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, establishing the Dementia Prevention and Research Fund to provide money for research on and prevention and treatment of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and related disorders in this state, and transferring to that fund $3 billion from state general revenue.”
Proposition 15 (SJR 34) “The constitutional amendment affirming that parents are the primary decision makers for their children.”
Proposition 16 (SJR 37) “The constitutional amendment clarifying that a voter must be a United States citizen.”
Proposition 17 (HJR 34) “The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the amount of the market value of real property located in a county that borders the United Mexican States that arises from the installation or construction on the property of border security infrastructure and related improvements.”
For additional information about the amendments and voting in Texas, go to VoteTexas.gov.
