Lubbock County election results: What passed, failed around the region
Polls closed at 7 p.m. in Tuesday's election featuring 14 Texas constitutional amendments and a variety of local issues across the state.
Through early voting and Election Day, 29,174 ballots were cast in Lubbock County, according to the office of elections. That's about a 15.4 percent voter turnout.
In Lubbock County, voters OK'd a proposal for $35.5 million in bonds to fund a new medical examiner's office.
Continue reading below for updated results posted throughout the evening Tuesday.
Wolfforth to become home-rule city
The proposal to adopt a charter for the City of Wolfforth and make the town a home-rule municipality received overwhelming support, passing 88% to 12%.
— Alex Driggars, 11:07 p.m.
Updated Texas proposition results
Early voting numbers — with 87% of counties reporting — posted by the Texas secretary of state's office results were broken down by the American-Statesman into percentages below:
Proposition 1: Limiting regulations on farming — 78.22% for, 21.77% against
Proposition 2: Tax breaks for child care centers — 65.29% for, 34.71% against
Proposition 3: Barring an individual wealth tax — 68.08% for, 31.91% against
Proposition 4: Authorizing property tax cuts — 84.05% for, 15.95% against
Proposition 5: Research at public universities — 65.33% for, 34.67% against
Proposition 6: Funding for water projects — 78.89% for, 21.11% against
Proposition 7: Funding for electricity plants — 65.31% for, 34.69% against
Proposition 8: Expanding high-speed internet — 70.18% for, 29.81% against
Proposition 9: Cost-of-living increase for teachers — 84.07% for, 15.93% against
Proposition 10: Tax breaks for medical manufacturers — 56.14% for, 44.86% against
Proposition 11: El Paso County parks — 64.39% for, 35.61% against
Proposition 12: Abolishing the Galveston County treasurer's office — 54.39% for, 45.61% against
Proposition 13: Retirement age for judges — 38.94% for, 61.06% against
Proposition 14: $1 billion for state parks — 76.68% for, 23.32% against
— Austin American-Statesman, 10:44 p.m.
ME's office bond passes with final results in
According to final but unofficial results from Lubbock County, 57.69% of voters in the county approved the nearly $35.5 million in bond funding for a new medical examiner's office in the county. About 42% voted against the bond package.
— Alex Driggars, 10:25 p.m.
Statewide election update
After 3 hours of polls closing, Texas voters are poised to pass 13 of the 14 constitutional amendments on the ballot — among them is Prop 5.
With the Secretary of State's website reporting 49% of polling locations, Prop 5 has been holding firm between 65% to 63% of voters approving it, sitting at 63.56%. A few points lower than last time reported but well above the needed percentage to pass.
— Mateo Rosiles, 10:09 p.m.
Abernathy alcohol and school elections
Abernathy Independent School District voters considered three bond proposals — (Measure A) $2.6 million for facility renovations, land and school buses, (Measure B) $750,000 to replace the turf at the district's football stadium and (Measure C) $5.9 million for a pre-K through 12th grade activity center. Early voting numbers from Lubbock County only showed all three with majority support. Measure A had 63.64%, Measure B had 52.33% and Measure C had 54.02%. Those numbers don't include vote totals from Hale County, which weren't immediately available.
In the city of Abernathy, voters are also choosing whether the city becomes "wet," deciding whether to authorize a local option allowing the sale of beer and wine for off-premise consumption. Through early voting, passage of local option proposition was leading by a more than two-thirds margin, with about 68% of early voters in favor and 32% against.
— Adam Young, 9:23 p.m.
Wolfforth city charter popular with early voters
A proposal to adopt a charter for the City of Wolfforth and make the town a home-rule municipality received nearly 90% approval during early voting. 89.4% of early voters approved the charter, while 10.6% said no.
More: Wolfforth voters to consider adopting charter as home-rule city
Wolfforth is currently classified as a Texas class A general law city, which do not have city charters and are generally municipalities with under 5,000 people. Texas home rule cities generally have more flexibility in governance and policy compared to general law cities, and cities can vote to become home rule cities once their populations surpass 5,000. Wolfforth's population is estimated at just over 6,000, according to the latest U.S. Census data.
— Alex Driggars, 8:27 p.m.
Texas Tech's TUF funding moving closer to reality
With the establishment of a $3.9 billion research fund that will help benefit Texas Tech University among other universities on the line, Lubbock County and Texas early voting numbers are looking favorable for the fund.
More: Texas University Fund goes to vote in November, here's what to know
81.53% of Lubbock County voters agreed with Prop 5, with the Texas Secretary of State's website reporting that 65.85% of Texans have voted in favor of the fund.
— Mateo Rosiles, 8:02 p.m.
Early voting results look favorable for ME's office bond
Early voting results released just before 8 p.m. show the majority of Lubbock County residents who cast an early ballot were in favor of nearly $35.5 million in bond funding for a new medical examiner's office in the county.
About 59% voted in favor and about 41% against the bond package during early voting.
— Alex Driggars, 7:54 p.m.
Watch Lubbock County officials count ballots live
Under a relatively new state law, Texas counties with more than 100,000 residents are required to livestream ballot counting and storage to its website. The Texas Legislature passed the law in 2021 in an effort to combat voter fraud and ballot tampering.
Lubbock County's streams are available at this link.
More: Some Texas counties are required to livestream election ballot storage areas. Here's why.
— Alex Driggars, 7:44 p.m.
Polls are now closed
Polls closed at 7 p.m. across the region, though anyone in line before 7 o'clock was able to cast their ballot. Results are expected to begin rolling in later this evening. Check back on this page and for updates and find additional coverage at lubbockonline.com.
— Alex Driggars, 7:13 p.m.
What was on the ballot?
In Lubbock County, voters will decide whether the county can issue $35.5 million in bonds to fund a proposed new medical examiner's office.
If approved by Lubbock County voters, the $35.5 million in bond-supported funds would be used along with $10 million in federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding previously approved for allocation by the county to pay for what would be an approximately $45 million project to re-establish an in-house medical examiner's office in the county, according to previous reporting.
The bond proposal would add about 3/4 of a cent per $100 valuation onto the Lubbock County property tax rate. That would amount to about $15 more per year on a $200,000 home, the Avalanche-Journal previously reported.
Voter guide: What to know to vote on statewide proposals, ME's bond in Lubbock County
Meanwhile in Wolfforth, voters considered whether to adopt a city charter to become a home-rule municipality.
Wolfforth is currently classified as a Texas class A general-law city, which do not have city charters and are generally municipalities with under 5,000 people. Texas home-rule cities generally have more flexibility in governance and policy compared to general-law cities, and cities can vote to become home-rule cities once their populations surpass 5,000. Wolfforth's population is estimated at just over 6,000, according to the latest U.S. Census data.
A charter commission was appointed in February and has worked since March to craft the "constitution of Wolfforth," which voters had the opportunity to approve on the Tuesday ballot. The charter, if adopted, will determine how the City of Wolfforth is governed and grants additional powers to its citizens.
In Abernathy, residents will decide whether the city becomes "wet," deciding whether to authorize a local option allowing the sale of beer and wine for off-premise consumption.
Abernathy Independent School District voters considered a pair of bond proposals — $2.6 million for facility renovations, land and school buses, and $750,000 to replace the turf at the district's football stadium.
More: 14 constitutional amendments on the Texas ballot on Election Day and what they mean
In addition to the local issues, 14 Texas constitutional amendments were on the ballot, including a proposition that would create the Texas University Fund, providing billions of dollars in research funding annually for Texas Tech and other emerging state universities.
— Alex Driggars
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock County election results: What passed, failed around the region
