The Texas Secretary of State is one of six state officials that comprise the Executive Department of the state of Texas, as defined in the Texas Constitution. The Secretary of State is appointed by the governor with confirmation by the Texas Senate to serve a four-year term. The office was originally held by Stephen F. Austin.
A new law imposing citizenship restrictions on deputy and volunteer voter registrars has voting rights groups worried that fewer Texans — in particular, fewer minorities — will cast a ballot next year.
Full StoryState officials in Texas can hold off on election preparations, a federal court said Thursday, but with Texas' political maps still in limbo, they also didn't get a new set of deadlines to help them get ready for the 2012 elections.
Full StoryDAY 24 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state is preparing to enforce more stringent voter ID requirements.
Full StoryConditions have clearly improved in Texas' colonias since devious developers first established them for migrant workers in the 1950s. But many efforts have fallen short, the result of bureaucratic nightmares and a spiral of confusion and fees.
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After a recount affirming his loss to state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, former University of Texas lineman Dan Neil has asked that the Texas House settle the election’s outcome. What happens now?
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In the state's 15 largest counties, early voting has spiked. The percentage of registered voters who have already cast their ballots is nearly twice what it was at the same point back in 2006: 5.2 percent of registered voters this time, compared to 2.7 percent four years ago.
Full StoryIt's the stuff of an Orwellian dystopia: a voting machine hacked, an election stolen, the public none the wiser. Yet some civil rights groups believe it's a legitimate threat in Texas, one of only 12 states that still use paperless electronic voting machines. Ensuring the purity of the ballot box has been a point of concern for lawmakers since "hanging chad" entered the lexicon. Congress passed the Help America Vote Act to improve the administration of federal elections, but an irony of post-2000 reforms is that the electronic machines brought in to replace outdated lever-and-punch-card-based systems have their own flaws.
Full StoryHidalgo County officials took their fight to hold a special election to the highest civil court in Texas, and today they lost.
Full StoryThe fact that Brian Birdwell, who won election to the state Senate Tuesday night, voted in Virginia in 2006 could put him in an eligibility bind, an Austin election attorney said today. But whether anyone will challenge his residency is another question.
Texas could face legal action if it doesn't comply with new federal regulations for voters overseas.
Full StoryInquiring minds wanted to know: What's so different about Montague County, the one county Bill White failed to win in the primary? Turns out, nothing — it's just like all the rest of them.
Full StoryOne candidate lost on Tuesday by 11 votes out of more than 10,000 cast. Others lost by fewer than 200 votes. Anyone up for a recount?
Full StorySome losing candidates in today's primary election could have one last chance to win — provided they meet one of three criteria.
Full StoryEarly voting totals in Texas' largest counties nearly doubled, with the GOP race leading the charge.
Full StoryLast chance to cast an early ballot, Hodge still a threat and a warning from the feds about going into the badlands.
Full StoryThrough the close of business on Monday, 119,195 Texans had voted early in the big counties, a 98 percent increase over four years ago. GOP primary voting was up 146 percent, to 86,179; Democratic primary voting was up a mere 52 percent, to 33,016.
Full StoryVoters in Texas’ 15 largest counties cast more than twice as many ballots during the first three days of early voting for the March Primary as they did during the same span in 2006.
Full StoryIn the Information Age, it still takes the major political parties in Texas three weeks to figure out who should be listed on their state ballots.
Full StoryThe Waco senator's exit could open the door for the Democrats, who don't have a candidate in the race but might get a chance to add one.
Full StoryThe political window is about to close: Today's the last day to become a candidate in the 2010 state elections. What we know so far is that the ballot will have a fireworks show at the top, with contested and well-financed gubernatorial primaries on both sides. A couple of statewide Democratic races will be competitive, but with incumbents seeking reelection on the Republican side, there's little action there.
Full StoryAlberto Gonzales — remember him? — in Esquire.
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