Election officials in Dallas and Collin counties said turnout on Tuesday was higher than expected for what is typically a low-interest, off-year election.
By Tracey McManus, Angela Mathew , Chase Rogers and Lilly Kersh
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
All 17 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution on the ballot Tuesday were on track for approval, according to unofficial statewide returns, as voters across Dallas-Fort Worth also weighed in on a slate of local measures and a few contests for local and state offices.
More voters in Dallas and Collin counties turned out on Election Day than expected, county elections officials told The Dallas Morning News.
Voters cast ballots in city council races, bond measures and tax proposals in the cities of Duncanville, Farmers Branch, Glenn Heights, Mesquite and Sunnyvale.
The Garland and Richardson school districts had tax and bond questions, respectively, on the ballot. And in northern Tarrant County, residents cast votes in a costly special election for state Senate — a three-way race driven in part by major contributions from some of the state’s most prolific GOP donors.
By 6:30 p.m., about 15.6% of Dallas County’s 1.4 million registered voters had cast ballots during early voting and on Election Day, according to Nicholas Solorzano, a county elections spokesperson. The turnout, he said, was higher than the 9% the department had projected.
Seven polling locations still had lines by the 7 p.m. closing time, delaying when ballots could be tabulated, Solorzano said. As a result, the department decided not to release returns at 9 p.m., as it initially had planned.
By 5 a.m. Wednesday, the online Dallas County election results page updated to show all 442 vote centers were reporting returns.
Early voter turnout ahead of Election Day through in-person and mail early voting had been sparse. Roughly 7% of Dallas County’s 1.4 million registered voters cast a ballot, elections department data shows, during the two-week early voting period as of end of day Friday. About 8% of Collin County’s 755,390 registered voters had cast a ballot during the same period.
Dallas County Elections Administrator Paul Adams said “local issues are always what drives turnout,” noting the limited number of local races this year may have contributed to the low early-voting turnout. Tuesday’s election was the first Adams has overseen in Dallas County since taking over Oct. 1 after previously running elections in Lorain County, Ohio.
Unlike the statewide totals, unofficial results showed Dallas County residents approved of all but four state amendments: Propositions 3, 6, 12 and 17. Proposition 3 allows denial of bail under certain circumstances and Proposition 6 would prohibit the state from enacting a securities tax on financial instruments like stocks, bonds or options.
Proposition 12 amends rules for judicial conduct, while Proposition 17 would exempt from property taxes any increase in value from installing border fencing or related security infrastructure on private land.
In Collin County, voters for the first time in decades filled out paper ballots by hand, marking bubbles instead of using electronic machines. Despite the change, which was made by county commissioners in June to align with an executive order from President Donald Trump, ballots will still be machine-tabulated at polling places rather than hand-counted.
Early returns in Collin County showed residents approved all the propositions.
Scenes at polling stations in Dallas County
In interviews with Dallas Morning News reporters at the polls, Dallas County voters described a range of motivations for turning out for Tuesday’s off-year election — from civic habit to growing concern about how decisions by officials affect daily life.
With her 14-year-old chihuahua in tow, Yolanda WrightDavis arrived at her East Dallas polling location shortly after it opened. Ahead of Election Day, she said, she had reminded her friends to make sure they were registered.
“It’s our right to speak out and protect your chance to make change,” WrightDavis, 62, said in an interview.
All 17 propositions on the ballot were important to her, she said, because they affect many aspects of life in Texas. “It has a greater effect than people realize on their lives,” she added.
Until Tuesday, Justin Mahood, 36, had never shown up for off-year elections without a presidential race on the ballot, he said. But as he watched news over the last year about what he described as “the Republican party trying to dismantle democracy,” his concern led him to pay closer attention to state and local issues.
“It wasn’t until last year that I really started paying attention to local government,” Mahood said.
There were no federal races on the ballot Tuesday, but national politics drove Vanessa Scott to the polls. As a school counselor for Dallas ISD, Scott, 51, said she’s watched her students’ families go without food assistance funds amid the government shutdown.
She had not always voted in off-year elections, but she was eager to cast her ballot Tuesday, especially on Mesquite issues. Alongside the proposed 17 constitutional amendments, Mesquite residents had decisions to make in city council races and a proposed tax increase.
“I don’t think people always realize how important voting is and how local decisions trickle to higher offices,” Scott said. She supported the tax increase because “it really makes a difference” in local services, she added.
By late Tuesday morning, about 250 people had voted at the South Garland Library, where a short line formed as residents trickled in. The parking lot had remained partly empty earlier in the day, but residents continued to show up steadily. A few campaign workers stood in the middle of the lot speaking with voters and encouraging participation.
Among them was Letiany Rodriguez, a 25-year Garland resident who works for Garland ISD and said Proposition A — which would raise the district’s property tax rate by some 12 cents — was her main reason for voting. “It will affect my requirements at work if it doesn’t pass,” she said.
Diane James, who has lived in Garland for eight years, said she came “so my voice can be heard.” As the morning wore on, a new wave of voters began filing into the library, lengthening the line.
Collin County voters weigh state amendments, local issues
Almost 16% of Collin County’s more than 742,000 registered voters cast ballots early, by mail or in person on election day, according to early results and to elections administrator Kaleb Breaux at around 8 p.m. Tuesday, although some voters remained in line more than an hour after the polls closed.
Turnout was higher than the roughly 12% expected to cast ballots in the county, he said.
Diane James, who has lived in Garland for eight years, said she came “so my voice can be heard.” As the morning wore on, a new wave of voters began filing into the library, lengthening the line.
Collin County voters weigh state amendments, local issues
Almost 16% of Collin County’s more than 742,000 registered voters cast ballots early, by mail or in person on election day, according to early results and to elections administrator Kaleb Breaux at around 8 p.m. Tuesday, although some voters remained in line more than an hour after the polls closed.
Turnout was higher than the roughly 12% expected to cast ballots in the county, he said.
“For an odd-year November election, this is pretty good,” Breaux said. “I’ve seen turnout around 12 or 13% in similar elections in the past.”
Collin County’s online election results site after 5 a.m. Wednesday showed that all 91 voter centers were reporting unofficial results.
In interviews, Collin County voters described a mix of routine and frustration as they weighed the list of proposed state amendments and local measures.
Frisco resident Ashesh Parikh saw the 17 amendments on the ballot as mostly typical of past Texas constitutional amendment elections. But Proposition 16, which clarifies that voters must be U.S. citizens, stood out to him, he said.
“There was a bit of anti-immigrant type of [sentiment],” Parikh said of the proposition as he exited a polling place at The Grove at Frisco Commons, a senior citizen center.
Parikh said he expected fewer Frisco residents to turn out, especially since residents voted in city council and school board elections in May. He lamented that some constitutional amendments pushed by special interest groups could get approved because of the low turnout, he said.
Brian Baumgarner, 41, came out to vote in Collin County because of the 17 state constitutional amendments on the ballot. He voted to oppose Proposition 2, which would prohibit taxes on capital gains if approved.
“It really just relates to more tax breaks for billionaires,” Baumgarner said outside the community room of the Prosper ISD Children’s Health Stadium, where he cast his vote.
Baumgarner was also motivated to vote on Proposition 3, which would allow judges to deny bail in certain cases, and Proposition 12, which would give the governor greater authority over selecting members of a statewide commission that disciplines judges.
Jessica Allen, 47, was excited to vote for Prosper’s six bond proposals that will allow the city to borrow $192.3 million to improve the growing city’s streets and parks. “The roads around here are getting torn up by construction vehicles, so I’m excited to get that done,” she said.
Allen said she was surprised to find the parking lot nearly empty outside the Prosper ISD Children’s Health Stadium, where she cast her ballot. She said she wished more people would turn out for elections that don’t feature state or congressional races.
Allen said she had heard about the Texas constitutional amendments on the ballot, particularly the proposition concerning homestead tax exemptions, but she was primarily motivated to vote on the Prosper bond.
“It was more about my community for me,” Allen said.
Tracey McManus joined The Dallas Morning News in October 2024 and covers Dallas County government. She previously spent nine years as a reporter for the Tampa Bay Times in Florida and five years as a reporter for The Augusta Chronicle in Georgia. Tracey is a 2010 graduate of the University of Florida with degrees in journalism and Spanish.
Angela Mathew is a reporter covering Collin County on the local government accountability team. Her primary coverage focuses on the cities of Frisco and Allen. Angela grew up in Mumbai, India, and graduated from the University of Notre Dame.
Chase Rogers is a public safety reporter covering the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Fire-Rescue. He grew up in Granbury and studied journalism at Texas State University. Before joining The News, he reported for the Austin American-Statesman and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. He can be reached at 361-239-6527 and on Signal at crogers.95.
Lilly Kersh is a local government accountability reporter at The Dallas Morning News covering Collin County with a focus on McKinney and Plano. She graduated in 2024 from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism and was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login