Early voting kicks off in El Paso charter election, school board races
The first voters began casting ballots this week for the May 6 election, which features a host of amendments to the El Paso City Charter, as well as a handful of school board seats in El Paso, Anthony, Socorro and Ysleta and city races in Anthony, Horizon City and San Elizario.
Early voting began Monday, April 24, and runs through Tuesday, May 2, while Tuesday, April 25, marks the last day to apply for a mail-in ballot. On Election Day, which falls on a Saturday, polling places are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
All El Paso city residents are eligible to vote in the charter election, but only residents in each school district are eligible to vote in those races. Likewise, only residents of Anthony, Horizon City and San Elizario are eligible to vote in their respective municipal races.
More: When does early voting start in El Paso? May 6 ballot includes climate charter
Among the items to be decided is the hotly-debated El Paso Climate Charter, which will appear on the ballot as Proposition K and was added following a successful petition drive by activist groups Sunrise El Paso and Ground Game Texas.
With voting just getting underway, it's unclear if El Pasoans will turn out early to cast ballots — typically, offseason elections draw much smaller numbers than regular elections held in November. Additionally, with no big-ticket seats on the ballot, turnout is likely to be lackluster at best.
However, the climate charter proposal will likely attract a larger crowd than would normally be expected.
On Monday, the El Paso County Elections Department's website listed wait times at all of the early voting locations as less than 10 minutes.
At the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso around lunchtime Monday, voting machines were empty, but a receptionist in the Elections Department office said there had been a few voters trickling in throughout the morning.
According to the Texas Secretary of State's website, there were more than 506,000 registered voters in El Paso County in 2022. Nearly 165,500 of those voters, 32.7%, cast ballots in the last election and 104,135, 20.6%, voted early.
What charter amendments will appear on the ballot?
This election features 11 charter amendments — 10 were vetted by an Ad Hoc Charter Advisory Committee and approved by the El Paso City Council while the 11th was included via citizen petition — which voters will be asked to vote for or against.
Following is the ballot language for the 10 committee-approved charter amendments:
Proposition A: Should section 3.1 of the City Charter, relating to creation, composition; powers and duties of Council be amended to allow City Council Representatives to appoint and remove district office staff?
Proposition B: Should section 3.18 of the City Charter relating to Leases, Franchises, and Conveyances be amended to authorize Council to lease City owned property for 40 years or less by Council resolution or ordinance?
Proposition C: Should section 3.5A of the City Charter be amended to allow Council to reschedule meetings by resolution to allow for City holidays but shall hold no less than two regular meetings per month?
Proposition D: Should section 3.5A of the City Charter be amended to allow the Mayor to cancel a meeting if necessary due to a Federal, State or Local declared emergency?
Proposition E: Shall Sections 3.9B, 3.10B, 6.1-12 of the City Charter be amended to eliminate provisions which have become inoperative because they have been superseded by state law; replace obsolete references and update terminology to current legal usage?
Proposition F: Should section 3.11 relating to the initiative petition of the City Charter be amended to remove the requirement for a second petition, and institute a process for the public to initiate a City ordinance?
Proposition G: Should (section) 6.1-4 of the City Charter be amended to change the qualifications requirements for Civil Service Commissioners to allow for appointment of Commissioners that reflect the diversity of the community and City workforce?
Proposition H: Should Section 6.7-1 be deleted and 6.8-1 relating to Examinations of the City Charter be amended to remove the requirement for examinations and allow the City to establish Civil Service Rules, policies and procedures for the promotion of City employees?
Proposition I: Should section 6.13-11D relating to the police and fire pension fund be amended to establish that the City of El Paso shall contribute to the El Paso Policemen and Firemen Pension Fund no less than eighteen percent of the total amount expended for wages of the participants, and any increase to the contribution rate shall be as allowed by state law?
Proposition J: Should Section 3.20B of the El Paso City Charter be amended to change the reporting structure of the Chief lnternal Auditor so the position reports directly to City Council?
What is Proposition K?
Proposition K, the El Paso Climate Charter, lays out a number of proposals aimed at moving the city toward a 100% clean, renewable energy by 2045, including pursuing the municipalization of El Paso Electric, a ban on water sales to fossil fuel industries outside of the city, the creation of a city Climate Department and more.
Though the ballot language stretches across multiple pages, voters will ultimately be asked to decide on the following: "Should the City Charter be amended, as proposed by a petition, to add Article IX to create a climate policy requiring the City to use all available resources and authority to accomplish three goals: to reduce the City's contribution to climate change, invest in an environmentally sustainable future, and advance the cause of climate justice."
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Early voting kicks off in El Paso charter election, school board races
