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What to expect on primary election day

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AUSTIN — Tomorrow, March 1, 2022, Texas will hold the first in the nation Primary Election of the 2022 Election Cycle. Elections in Texas are run at the county level in all 254 Texas counties. This means that, with the Republican and Democratic parties holding primary elections in each county, there are 508 elections being conducted across Texas simultaneously. County election officials then report the results in each of those elections to the Texas Secretary of State’s office, which serves as the host of the publicly-available Election Night Returns portal for unofficial results on Election Night.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE RESULTS AS THEY ARE REPORTED BY TEXAS COUNTIES ON ELECTION NIGHT.
ALL INFORMATION IN THE ELECTION NIGHT RETURNS PORTAL IS REPORTED BY TEXAS COUNTIES. THE TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE DOES NOT ALTER OR MODIFY THE DATA PROVIDED IN ANY WAY. LOCAL COUNTY OFFICIALS IN MANY CASES UPDATE ELECTION RESULTS ON THEIR OWN WEBSITES OR TO THE MEDIA BEFORE UPDATING THEIR RESULTS THROUGH THE TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE’S PORTAL. DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN RESULTS ON A COUNTY ELECTION WEBSITE AND THE TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE’S WEBSITE ARE THE RESULT OF THE COUNTY NOT YET UPDATING ITS RESULTS DATA INTO THE SOS ELECTION NIGHT RETURNS PORTAL BEFORE UPLOADING THE SAME DATA TO ITS OWN WEBSITE.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS REPORTED TO THE SOS ON ELECTION NIGHT ARE REFRESHED EVERY FIVE MINUTES UNTIL ELECTION RESULTS IN 100% OF PRECINCTS, IN BOTH PRIMARIES, IN ALL 254 COUNTIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO OUR OFFICE.“More than 1.6 million Texas voters have already cast a ballot in this year’s primary elections, and we encourage all eligible voters who have not yet cast a ballot to make a plan to vote on Election Day tomorrow,” Texas Secretary of State John Scott said. “If you have questions about the voting process, we urge you to visit VoteTexas.gov or call the Texas Secretary of State’s office at 1-800-252-VOTE to get accurate information about your options for casting a ballot.” Election Day Voting locations on Election Day, local party officials from the Democratic and Republican parties will be presiding over polling locations in each Texas county. If your county participates in the Countywide Polling Place Program (CWPP) – commonly referred to as ‘Vote Centers’ – you can vote at any location in your county of residence. If your county does not participate in the CWPP, you can only vote at the voting precinct assigned to you. Your residence is located in a specific “precinct” or area within the county where you will vote on Election Day. In some cases, precincts may be combined to accommodate joint local elections. You can find your voting precinct location by using the SOS “My Voter Portal,” which is populated with voting sites on Election Day. To view Election Day polling locations in your county, login using the ‘Am I Registered?’ section on the SOS My Voter Portal, and enter your Name, Date of Birth, County and ZIP code to login. Your voting precinct number (Pct. No.) is also located next to your year of birth on your voter registration certificate.
Election Day voting hours are 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at all polling places statewide. For questions regarding polling places, always consult your County Elections Office. 
What To Expect At The Polling PlaceVoter ID RequirementsUnder Texas law, voters who possess one of the seven acceptable forms of photo ID must present that ID at the polls when voting in person. The acceptable forms of photo ID are:Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPSTexas Personal Identification Card issued by DPSTexas Handgun License issued by the DPSUnited States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photographUnited States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photographUnited States Passport (book or card)Voters who do not possess and cannot reasonably obtain one of the seven approved forms of photo ID may fill out a Reasonable Impediment Declaration (RID) (PDF) at the polls and present an alternative form of ID, such as a utility bill, bank statement, government check, or a voter registration certificate. Here is a list of the supporting forms of ID that can be presented if the voter does not possess one of the forms of an acceptable photo ID and cannot reasonably obtain one: copy or original of a government document that shows the voter’s name and an address, including the voter’s voter registration certificate; copy of or original current utility bill; copy of or original bank statement; copy of or original government check; copy of or original paycheck; or copy of or original of (a) a certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes the voter’s identity (which may include a foreign birth document). Learn more about Voter ID requirements in Texas. The 100-Foot MarkerWhen you go to your polling place, you will likely notice a cone or other distance marker placed 100 feet from the entrance of the building. Inside that 100 foot mark, you are not allowed to post, use or distribute any political signs or literature relating to a candidate, political party or measure appearing on your ballot in that election. Cell Phones and Other DevicesUnder Texas law, persons are not allowed to use wireless communications devices within 100 feet of voting stations. Additionally, persons are not allowed to use mechanical or electronic devices to record sound or images within 100 feet of the voting stations. Devices that should not be used in the polling place include: Cell phonesCamerasTablet computers laptop computers sound recordersAny other device that may communicate wirelessly, or be used to record sound or images.
PLEASE WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE 100 FEET AWAY FROM THE VOTING STATIONS AT YOUR POLLING PLACE BEFORE TAKING AN “I VOTED” SELFIE.What can’t I wear to the polls?In Texas, a person may not wear apparel or a similar communicative device relating to a candidate, measure, or political party appearing on the ballot in the current election, but a person may wear such apparel relating to a candidate, measure, or political party that does NOT appear on the ballot in the current election.In other words, if you are wearing a hat, t-shirt, or button relating to a candidate, measure or political party that does not appear on the ballot in the current election, you are not violating Texas law. However, if you are wearing apparel relating to a candidate, measure, or political party on the ballot, a presiding judge has the ability to enforce the law within the 100-foot marker outside of the polling place entrance. You may be asked to remove or cover up your apparel before entering the building. Learn more about voting in person in Texas. Reporting Unofficial Results on Election NightOnce the polls close at 7:00 p.m. local time, counties first begin reporting early vote totals through the SOS Election Night Returns portal. Once all early vote totals are in, which include both in-person early votes and mail-in ballots cast before Election Day, counties then begin reporting results from Election Day. Upon entering the Election Night Returns portal, you can choose to view the results in either the Democratic or Republican primary election. Results can then be filtered by federal, statewide and district offices for which primary elections are being held, as well as by county, in order to see the results for specific races in each of Texas’ 254 counties. You can also designate a ‘favorite’ race to monitor by clicking the star next to the office, and save the election results feed for that office in your dashboard. All information in the SOS Election Night Returns portal is reported by Texas county election officials. The Texas Secretary of State’s office does not alter or modify the data provided in any way. In many cases, local county election officials may update election results on their own respective websites, a list of which can be found here, before updating their results through the SOS Election Night Returns portal. Discrepancies between the results displayed on county websites and on the Texas Secretary of State’s website is solely the result of a county election office not yet updating its results into the SOS portal before posting the same results on their own county website. Unofficial results reported to the Texas Secretary of State on Election Night are refreshed every five minutes until election results in 100% of precincts, in both primaries, in all 254 counties have been reported to the Texas SOS office.
Under Section 127.131(f) of the Texas Election Code, the presiding judge of the central counting station in each county is required to provide and attest to a written reconciliation of votes and voters after all votes have been tabulated. Each county is required to post the completed form on its website, along with election returns and results.
To view a template of the voter reconciliation form, click here. To learn more about voting in Texas, visit www.votetexas.gov
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Amon Carter Lake Board to meet

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Members of the Amon Carter Lake Water Supply Corporation will meet at 6 p.m. on May 26 in the office at 607A Lindsey for a monthly meeting.
Items on the agenda include a consent agenda and minutes and financials. Possible discussion/action may be considered on the following topics: Treasurer’s report, review of finance and current loans; president’s report as to the written agreements with contractual employees; consider current water rates and a possible increase; and review of expenses and areas that need amendment.
An executive session may be entered to discuss personnel issues.

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Saint Jo City Council hires fire marshal

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The City of Saint Jo has a new fire marshal as the city council made the appointment during its May 13 meeting.
Gary Hines, a retired professional firefighter and certified fire investigator, will take the position. City Secretary Debbie Dennis said the post is required by ordinance but has not been filled for a long period.
The council set dates for a budget workshop for 2 p.m. on June 14 and 2 p.m. on June 28 for the ordinance workshop, as the council works to update its rules.

Aldermen gave their support to a proposition by Councilman Jack Dunn who is asking the Legislature to allow Texas’ smallest cities, those with 2,500 or few in population, to receive an additional share of sales and use tax. He would like to see the funds used in these communities to repair and replace aging infrastructure without new taxes or reliance on state grants.
In letter to State Rep. David Spiller, whom Dunn will meet with on June 1, the alderman explains much of the state’s 6.25% share generated locally flows into general funds and is spent on other priorities. He would like Spiller to author this legislation. Dunn gave the letter to the council along with a powerpoint on the plan.
“A single water treatment plant upgrade or sewer rehab carries massive, fixed costs that do not shrink with population size. These communities, often with only a few hundred or a couple thousands residents, simply cannot spread those costs across enough ratepayers or a broad tax based,” the letter states.
Dunn suggests a “graduated sales tax retention policy:” 1% additional share for cities with 2,500 or fewer residents; .75% for those 2,500 and 5,000; and .50% for cities between 5,001 and 10,000. It would be dedicated to infrastructure. Dunn says the overall statewide fiscal impact would be negligible, but could help sustain small, rural cities.

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City of Nocona buys water storage tank, review dam repair

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The Nocona City Council approved a bid for a new 203,000 gallon capacity tank for potable water at the water plant and learned a slide repair to the lake dam is going to be pretty costly.
At its May 12 session the council received three bids on the tank and went with one from Tank Depot of Cleburne for $193,923. It is for a a 217,600 gallon tank usable for 203,000 gallons. The price could change slightly since it was based on estimate freight costs.

Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.

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