Texas voters on Tuesday can weigh in on potential changes to the state’s Constitution regarding religious services, eligibility requirements for judges, county infrastructure and more.
The proposed additions to the Texas Constitution were passed as bills during this year’s legislative session, and a majority of voters in the state must approve each amendment before it can be officially added to the Constitution. In 2017, Texas voters approved all seven amendments on the ballot; in 2019, voters greenlighted nine out of 10 proposed changes.
Ector County voters won’t have any local offices to decide. Early voting ended Friday. On Tuesday, registered voters can vote at the following locations from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
United Market, 1350 E. Eighth St.
United Market, 2751 N. County Road West.
Chapel Hill Baptist Church, 1820 E. 52nd St.
Crossroads Fellowship (room 1135), 6901 Highway 191 Frontage.
First Church of the Nazarene (gymnasium), 2223 Lyndale Drive.
Kellus Turner Community Building, 2230 Sycamore Drive.
Lincoln Tower (Ballroom), 311 W. Fourth St.
Lutheran Church of the Risen Lord (foyer), 1603 N. Grandview Ave.
The Globe Theater at Odessa College, 2308 Shakespeare Road.
Odessa Christian Faith Center, 180 Youth Building (sanctuary), 8828 Andrews Highway.
Salinas Community Building, 600 W. Clements St.
Westlake Hardware, 4652 E. University Blvd.
Wilson’s Corner (dining room), 16514 S. U.S. Highway 38.
Gardendale Community Building, 4226 E. Larkspur, Gardendale.
The eight proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution will be on the ballot for a statewide vote. For these amendments to pass, they must be approved by a majority of Texas voters.
They are:
- Proposition 1 would amend the Texas Constitution to allow organizations sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association or the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association to conduct charitable raffles at rodeos.
- Proposition 2 would amend the Texas Constitution to authorize counties to issue bonds or notes to finance the development of transportation projects in the county.
- Proposition 3 would amend the Texas Constitution to prohibit Texas state and local governments from issuing an order or rule that prohibits or limits religious services, including religious services conducted in places of worship.
- Proposition 4 would amend the Texas Constitution to require state judges and justices to have more years of experience in Texas as a licensed practicing lawyer, state court or county court judge without having their license suspended or revoked.
- Proposition 5 would amend the Texas Constitution to give the State Commission on Judicial Conduct the authority to accept complaints and reports regarding the conduct of candidates for judicial offices and to take appropriate disciplinary action upon investigation.
- Proposition 6 would amend the Texas Constitution to establish the right of residents of nursing homes, living centers and similar facilities to designate an essential caregiver with whom the facility, residence, or center may not prohibit in-person visitation.
- Proposition 7 would amend the Texas Constitution to provide that the surviving spouse of a person who is disabled is entitled to continue to receive the homestead school tax limitation if the surviving spouse is 55 years of age or older when the disabled person dies.
- Proposition 8 would amend the Texas Constitution to provide the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services of the United States who is “killed in action” an exemption from property taxes of all or part of the market value of the surviving spouse’s residence homestead if the surviving spouse has not remarried since the death of the member.
