Harris County, Texas, Heads to the Polls Again

Voters in Harris County are heading to the polls this week for a runoff election to decide who will serve on the county appraisal board — the fourth election in the county this year.

“It’s time for Texas to change that by consolidating local and state elections into a true, uniform election date,” - Doyer, legal policy director for Honest Elections Project Action.

The issue is not unique to Harris County, with multiple elections being held in quick succession across Texas, leading to low voter turnout and increased opportunity for manipulation by special interests.

While federal, statewide, and county elections take place in November of even-numbered years and generate high turnout, local elections for city officials, school boards, and utility district boards are often held separately, leading to voter fatigue and decreased participation.

The impact of this system is clear. A recent city council runoff election in Leander, TX, was decided by just four votes, with turnout representing only a fraction of the total population.

The current Harris County Appraisal District Board of Directors' election is expected to have low turnout, following the previous election, which saw only 2.18% of voters participate. Such low turnout gives special interest groups a disproportionately high level of influence and can lead to decisions that may not truly represent the community's best interests.

The frequent elections also place a significant burden on election officials, who are already facing high turnover rates and staffing shortages. The current model is expensive, impractical, and detrimental to public confidence in the electoral process.

A proposed solution is to move towards a routine calendar for elections, consolidating all elections, except for primaries and certain special elections, onto a single November date. This would give voters more opportunities to engage with local issues and candidates, increase turnout, and reduce the strain on election officials.

URL Citations

• https://honestelections.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Model-Bill-Uniform-Election-Date.pdf
• https://ballotpedia.org/Off-cycle_elections
• https://electionlab.mit.edu/research/election-timing
• https://www.fox7austin.com/news/leander-city-council-runoff-election-came-down-four-votes
• https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/leander-tx-population
• https://www.leandertx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3193/e2024_canvass_general?bidId=
• https://www.leandertx.gov/527/City-Council
• https://hcad.org/about/
• https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/election-2024/2024/06/03/489447/harris-county-appraisal-district-board-seats-up-for-grabs-as-early-voting-begins-for-latest-election/
• https://files.harrisvotes.com/harrisvotes/prd/Reports/Official-Cumulative-Results-5-13-2024_04-07-21_PM.pdf
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ahNOZggHrPxqfWBhb-Eguxj3ZjxNZTtH/view
• https://nowpublishers.com/article/Details/QJPS-11056
• https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/bc1/schools/mcas/polisci/pdf/pubs/off-cycle-and-out-of-sync-how-election-timing-influences-political-representation.pdf
• https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/09/election-administrator-turnover-rates-increases/
• https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/2022_EAVS_Report_508c.pdf
• https://www.kxan.com/state-of-texas/state-of-texas-the-job-is-hard-counties-struggle-to-find-poll-workers-as-election-nears/
• https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2022/03/08/420614/harris-county-republican-leaders-press-to-have-the-elections-administrator-fired-after-primary-nights-vote-count-debacle/