The Texas Experience

First Edition

Chapter 3
Voting and Elections in
Texas

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Voting and Elections in Texas

Although Texas has a history of making it difficult for voters to participate, exercising
that right is now fairly easy, provided that you have proper identification.
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Learning Objectives
•
3.1 Identify past restrictions on voting rights in Texas.
•
3.2 Explain voter registration requirements in Texas.
•
3.3 Analyze causes of low voter turnout in Texas.
•
3.4 Differentiate among primary, general, and special
elections.
•
3.5 Explain the obstacles to running a campaign in Texas.

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A History of Voting Rights (1 of 5)
3.1 Identify past restrictions on voting rights in Texas.

• Universal suffrage – the concept that holds that virtually

all adult citizens (felons and undocumented immigrants
are excluded) have the right to vote
• Jim Crow – laws enacted to deny equal rights to African
Americans

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A History of Voting Rights (2 of 5)
White Primary
• 1905: Texas Democratic party adopted the primary
system to replace the party caucus
• Under the primary system, voters chose nominees
• Adopted a white primary system – the practice of allowing only
whites to vote in the Democratic primary

• African American leaders contended that the white

primary system was in violation of the Fifteenth
Amendment
• Smith v. Allwright overturned the white primary in 1944

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A History of Voting Rights (3 of 5)

Poll Tax
• Poll Tax – a tax paid for registering to vote
• Passed into law in 1902
• Greatest impact was on the minority community
• Many poor people decided their votes were not
important enough to sacrifice limited financial
resources
• Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964) was added to the
U.S. Constitution to ban poll taxes in federal elections
• Created a dual-ballot system to try and get around the ban –
one for federal and one for state

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A History of Voting Rights (4 of 5)

Federal Court Intervention

• After the poll tax decision, federal courts became more
active in regulating state voting requirements
• Federal Court also rejected a provision of the Texas constitution
allowing only property owners to vote on bond issues

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A History of Voting Rights (5 of 5)

The Voting Rights Act

• Voting Rights Act of 1965 – National act protecting minorities from
discrimination in the voting and registration process
• had a significant impact on minority voter turnout

• Racial gerrymandering – the process of drawing district lines to

dilute minority voting strength
• 2013: Supreme Court struck down provisions in the VRA requiring
federal approval for changes in voting practices for states with a
history of discriminatory behavior
• Some of the strictest voter ID laws in the country were implemented in
Texas

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Voting in Texas: Qualifications and
Registration
3.2 Explain Voter registration requirements in Texas

• In order to vote in Texas today, a person must be at least

18 years old by Election Day, a U.S. citizen, and a Texas
resident
• Voter must be a resident of their county 30 days prior to the
election
• Convicted felons are not allowed to vote until after their
sentences

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Turnout in Texas (1 of 7)
3.3 Analyze causes of low voter turnout in Texas.

• Turnout – Percentage of registered voters who cast

ballots
• Off-year elections – General elections in non-
presidential years

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Turnout in Texas (2 of 7)

Who Turns Out

• The type of election usually plays an important role in
how many people vote
• Presidential races have the highest turnout, then gubernational,
and then local elections

• The biggest single factor in determining turnout is level of

education
• Whites are more likely to vote than minorities

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Figure 3.1
Texas Voter Turnout: 2004, 2008, and 2016

* Hispanic turnout was well below its share of the population.

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Turnout in Texas (3 of 7)

Who Turns Out (cont.)

• Lower turnout in minority communities is a product of
several factors
• Persons from disadvantaged socioeconomic groups often have
had fewer positive interactions with government than middle- or
upper-class voters
▪ lead to distrust of government in general
▪ feel disenfranchised: believing their votes either do not matter, or
do not count, due to perceived “corruption” within the system

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Turnout in Texas (4 of 7)

Who Turns Out (cont.)

• Family tradition has an impact on voter participation
▪ Non-voting families produce non-voting children

• Within the Hispanic community, language can be a

barrier to participation
▪ More difficult for non-English-speaking citizens to obtain
information on registration, voting, issues, and candidates

• 2018 saw a 500% increase in the youth vote as many

rallied for Democrat Beto O’Rourke

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Figure 3.2
Texas Voter Turnout by Race in Presidential Elections

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Table 3.1
Turnout in Texas Mayoral Races
City Turnout Median Turnout Turnout Clout
voter age 18–35 65+
Austin 13.3% 52 7.8% 29.7% 7
Dallas 6.1% 62 1.7% 17.7% 22
EI Paso 11.6% 59 4% 30.6% 11
Fort Worth 6.5% 66 1.1% 25.7% 56
Houston 18.2% 61 6.6% 42.9% 22
San Antonio 10.7% 63 3.6% 31% 20

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Figure 3.3
Here’s Where Texas Voters Turned
Out and Where They Didn’t

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Turnout in Texas (5 of 7)
Texas Laws Affecting Registration and
Turnout
• A major factor that affects turnout is the large number of
elections in Texas
• Texas voters can develop election burnout, which occurs
when citizens believe there are too many elections, and thus fail
to vote
• The long ballot – a system under which many officials are up
for election at the same time - is also detrimental to turnout

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Turnout in Texas (6 of 7)

Texas Laws Affecting Registration and

Turnout (cont.)
Reform Options
• Election Day registration
• Expanded voting by mail (persons who are out of the state or
disabled)
• Prevalence of the Internet offers an opportunity to create easier
access to the ballot
• These reforms have their critics: opportunity for fraud exists with
Election Day registration and alternative ballots; some feel that
uninformed citizens might be more likely to cast ballots

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Turnout in Texas (7 of 7)

Texas Laws Affecting Registration and

Turnout (cont.)
Early Voting
• In many states, voters can only vote absentee or early if they
are going to be out of town on Election Day
• In Texas, voters can vote early without this restriction
• Early voting is very popular in Texas
• In 2016, early voters comprised 73% of total voters
• Influences campaigns to get the candidate’s message out early

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Figure 3.4
Early Voting in Texas, 2008–2018

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Types of Elections (1 of 3)
3.4 Differentiate among primary, general, and special elections.

Primary Election
• Primary election – the process through which major
parties choose their nominees for the general election
• Voters don’t register as Democrat or Republican in Texas
• Official party affiliation is not determined until the day of the
primary election
• A citizen voting in one primary may not vote in the other’s
primary, however

• Primary elections are held on the first Tuesday of March

• If no one receives more than 50%, a runoff election is held

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Types of Elections (2 of 3)

General Election
• General elections determine who will hold office
• General elections require a plurality of the votes, not
necessarily a majority, to win

• Gubernatorial elections — the election for governor

and other executive offices
• Held during even-numbered years between presidential
elections
• Off-year elections mean that voters pay more attention to state-
wide executive races

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Figure 3.5
Texas Governor Election
Results by County, 2018

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Types of Elections (3 of 3)

Special Election
• Special election – an election held to fill a vacancy, ratify
a state constitutional amendment, or approve a local
bond issue
• Usually occur outside of the traditional March and November
dates

• The 2017 constitutional amendment special election

drew less than 6% of registered voters state-wide

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Table 3.2
Special Election Turnout: 2015–2016
Date District Turnout
May 7, 2016 House District 139 2.0%
May 5, 2016 House District 120 2.2%
Nov. 3, 2015 House District 118 7.5%
Mar. 31, 2015 House District 124 2.3%
Jan. 13, 2015 House District 13 9.1%
Jan. 6, 2015 House District 123 7.9%
Jan. 6, 2015 House District 17 7.4%
Jan. 6, 2015 House District 17 4.6%

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Campaigning
3.5 Explain the obstacles to running a campaign in Texas.

• Winning a competitive suburban state house race can

cost hundreds of thousands of dollars – and that may
just be the primary
• Since 2012, the Texas Tribune has tracked the cost per
general election vote
• The Tribune’s numbers were less than the actual expenditure
per vote because they did not include spending during the last
eight days before the general election
• This 2012 analysis also told a different story then the analysis
from the 2016 election (Figure 3.6)
• Since it only includes candidates with opponents, Speaker
Joe Straus was not included; he spent $64 per vote

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Figure 3.6
How Much Did Texas Candidates Spend
per Vote in the 2016 General Elections?

* indicates the winner

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 Table 3.3
Contribution Limits 2017–2018
To each To national To state, To any other
candidate or party district, and political
candidate committee local party committee per
committee per per committee per calendar year
election calendar calendar year
year
Individual may give $2,700* $33,900* $10,000 $5,000
(combined limit)
National Party Committee $5,000 No limit No limit $5,000
may give
State, District & Local $5,000 No limit No limit $5,000 (combined
Party Committee may give (combined limit) limit)
PAC (multi-candidate) may $5,000 $15,000 $5,000 $5,000
give (combined limit)
PAC (not multi-candidate) $2,700* $334,900* $10,000 $5,000
may give (combined limit)
Candidate Campaign $2,000 No limit No limit $5,000
Committee may give

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