Early voting for the Nov. 4 election started Monday morning.
Voters in Collin County can visit any of the 41 polling locations to cast their ballots with polls remaining open through the end of the month. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. the first five days of early voting, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. again the final five days.
Unlike the last few elections, voters will not see any candidates on the ballot – instead, they’ll be asked to vote in favor of or against 17 propositions seeking to amend the Texas Constitution.
A brief summary of each of the propositions (from the language used in the official sample ballot and supplemented with details from the Texas Tribune) can be found below:
- Prop 1: Creates two funds to further finance educational programs offered by the Texas State Technical College System.
- Prop 2: Prohibits capital gains tax on an individual, estate, family, or trust.
- Prop 3: Limits bail for individuals accused of certain felony-level offenses
- Prop 4: Reallocates a portion of sales tax revenue to support the Texas water fund and, according to the Texas Tribune, other projects related to Texas’ water infrastructure
- Prop 5: Provides for an ad valorem tax exemption for personal property containing animal feed
- Prop 6: Prohibits an occupation tax on securities transactions (such as stock trading, according to the Texas Tribune)
- Prop 7: Provides a partial (or full) property tax exemptions for the spouses of veterans who have been determined to have passed away due to some reason connected to their service
- Prop 8: Prohibits the Texas Legislature from imposing an inheritance tax
- Prop 9: Allows the Texas Legislature to provide ad valorem exemptions on a portion of personal property used for business purposes
- Prop 10: Provides temporary property tax breaks on homes renovated after being completely destroyed by a fire
- Prop 11: Provides for greater property tax exemptions on the homes of an elderly or disabled individual from taxation by school districts
- Prop 12: Adjusts the composition of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct (SCJC) and related judicial review tribunals, as well as the powers of the SCJC and these tribunals
- Prop 13: Increases the property tax exemption on homes from taxation by school districts from $100,000 to $140,00
- Prop 14: Provides for the establishment of the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and the Dementia Prevention and Research fund to finance research
- Prop 15: Affirms that “parents are the primary decision makers for their children”
- Prop 16: Clarifies that voters must be U.S. citizens
- Prop 17: Allows the Texas Legislature to provide ad valorem exemptions on a portion of property values along the Mexican border in response to potential border security-related infrastructure or projects
For more details on the election, visit the Collin County elections website here. To read the full language of the propositions, see a sample ballot here.
