How Texas counts ballots and keeps elections secure
From election equipment to ballot counting and storage, Texas elections officials follow a long list of laws and procedures to ensure free and fair elections. Full Story
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![Harris County Elections Staff members sort ballot bags at the Elections Technology Center in northwest Houston on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Watch: Texas A&M students accuse Brazos County of voter suppression after moving on-campus voting site
The Texas A&M on-campus early-voting location had the second-highest voter turnout in the county during the 2018 and 2020 presidential elections. Full Story
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![The Memorial Student Center on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station on March 26, 2018.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Republican confidence grows as they eye a South Texas congressional sweep
Democrats are spending big to stop Republicans from flipping two of the three key battleground seats that have historically gone blue. Full Story
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![Republican Mayra Flores is greeted by a woman during her primary night watch party in San Benito, on June 14, 2022.]()
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Photos: In the wake of tragedy, Uvalde residents look to murals for healing
Murals of the victims give the community a positive outlet to process their grief and celebrate their loved ones’ lives. Full Story
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![A compilation of Uvalde's 22 murals created in memory of the people who died from the school shooting in Uvalde. 21 grids feature painted portraits of the children and adults that died and another grid features a mural with the names of all the victims.]()
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LGBTQ Texans voting with marriage, worker protections and trans rights in mind
The Texas Tribune spoke with LGBTQ voters, the parents of queer youth and advocates from across the state about what’s at stake for them this November. Full Story
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![Thomas Smith, right, and his partner Kevin McCardle outside of the Polk County Courthouse building in Livingston on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. Smith has voted for mostly Republican candidates his entire life but will now be voting for Democrats this election as issues like women’s rights and same sex marriage are being scrutinized.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
These Texans were trying to help run elections. Then Ken Paxton’s office launched criminal investigations.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hasn’t just been pursuing supposed voter fraud. His office has also criminally investigated at least 10 election workers, in a harbinger of potential post-midterm turmoil. Full Story
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![State Attorney General Ken Paxton holds a press conference at the Houston Recovery Center on Oct. 26, 2021.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Voter apathy takes hold of early voting ahead of Texas midterm election
Republicans may be waiting to vote on Election Day after former President Donald Trump pushed voting in person on Nov. 8 at a rally in South Texas. Full Story
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![Students and faculty walk past the Peter T. Flawn Academic Center at The University of Texas while early voting takes place Oct. 25.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
O’Rourke outraises Abbott in final month of Texas governor’s race
In the homestretch of the state’s governor race, Beto O’Rourke outraises incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott though he still trails in the polls. Full Story
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![Gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke speaks to attendees during a Get Out the Vote Rally hosted by the Asian American Democrats of Texas in Asiatown on October 15, 2022.]()
Credit: Briana Vargas for The Texas Tribune -
“I’m so scared”: 911 recordings reveal fear and urgency of those trapped in Uvalde elementary school
Audio obtained by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica shows just how long police and dispatchers likely knew that children and teachers were in danger before taking action at Robb Elementary School. Full Story
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![At 12:33 p.m. May 24, exactly an hour after the gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, a group of unidentified police officers began advancing toward the classrooms where he had trapped more than 30 students and teachers. But after one officer said “no, no, no,” they stopped. That moment exemplified the overall failed law enforcement response.]()
Credit: State trooper body camera footage obtained by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica -
Texas lawmakers, advocates push for more data on pregnancy and childbirth complications
A state report detailing how many Texans die from pregnancy or childbirth is now more than two months delayed and may not be available before the 2023 legislative session. Full Story
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![Catalina Leano, a licensed vocational nurse at Houston Women's Reproductive Services, performs an ultrasound with the clinic doctor present, to determine whether the woman is less than six weeks pregnant and eligible to have an abortion in Texas on Oct. 1, 2021.]()
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An evangelical GOP congressional candidate in Texas wrote a novel about Anne Frank finding Jesus
Johnny Teague, an evangelical pastor and business owner who won his primary in March, authored “The Lost Diary of Anne Frank,” a novel in which Frank seems to embrace Christianity just before she is murdered by the Nazis. Full Story
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![Johnny Teague, a pastor in west Houston is the Republican nominee for U.S. Congress in Texas’ 7th district.]()
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Texas Secretary of State John Scott says our elections are secure, but he sometimes muddles that message
Heading into the midterm elections, Scott has repeatedly insisted that Joe Biden is the rightful president and that Texas’ elections are free, fair and secure. But his delivery has been at times ambiguous and given oxygen to election misinformation. Full Story
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![Texas Secretary of State John Scott at a press conference held by Gov. Greg Abbott on April 14, 2022.]()
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TribCast: The role of churches in politics
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Jeremy and James about the rarely enforced rules barring churches from participating in political campaigns. Full Story
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![A church service in The Woodlands on May 21, 2017.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Paxton, Cornyn and Cruz prod U.S. Supreme Court to end affirmative action in college admissions
The high court heard oral arguments Monday in two cases brought by a group led by the same man who previously lost an affirmative action case against the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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![Barriers surrounded the Supreme Court ahead of planned demonstrations regarding abortion in Texas in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Bernie Sanders tours Texas hoping to amp up progressive turnout, including in key South Texas race
The two-time Democratic presidential candidate visited Central Texas and South Texas amid concerns that young and working-class voters are not mobilized enough for the midterm election. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters of Democratic congressional candidate Michelle Vallejo in McAllen on Oct. 30, 2022. Sanders addressed issues like inflation and said Republicans fail to mention the record profits corporations are generating.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Churches are breaking the law and endorsing in elections, experts say. The IRS looks the other way.
For nearly 70 years, federal law has barred churches from directly involving themselves in political campaigns, but the IRS has largely abdicated its enforcement responsibilities as churches have become more brazen about publicly backing candidates. Full Story
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Tell us how religious organizations in your area involve themselves in elections
Federal law bars churches and other nonprofit groups from endorsing candidates or helping to fundraise, but we know they regularly sidestep — or flat-out ignore — these rules. Help us identify examples. Full Story
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Credit: Juanjo Gasull for The Texas Tribune/ProPublica -
Wayne Christian retracts “only Christian on the ballot” slogan after outcry from Jewish opponent Luke Warford
Christian, who’s running for reelection to the Texas Railroad Commission, said he did not realize Warford was Jewish and would stop using the slogan, which he’s used for previous campaigns. Full Story
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![Incumbent Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian listens to opponent and candidate Sarah Stogner speak during a Republican Railroad Commission Forum hosted by the Republican Women of Red River Valley at Celebrate It, an event hall in Paris, Texas, on April 26, 2022.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
No, Texas voting machines aren’t switching your votes
Sensitive touch screens aren’t always user friendly and make it easy for voters to accidentally select the wrong candidate. Voters should carefully review their ballots before submitting them. Full Story
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![Voters cast their ballots at the Lochwood Branch Library in Dallas on Feb. 25, 2022, the last day of early voting in the Texas primary. Dallas County voting centers’ hours were extended till 10 P.M. on the last day of early voting to make up for early closures due to icy weather.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Dan Flynn, who served 18 years in the Texas House, has died at 79
He also served much of his life in the military, including the U.S. Army, the Texas Army National Guard and the Texas State Guard. Full Story
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![Former state Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Canton, on the House Floor on May 8, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune