Hidalgo County: Elections next Tuesday
By Gregg Wendorf
Advance News Journal
Okay, so you’ve been asleep since last July. It was too hot. You turned up the AC and went to bed. Now it’s November, you wake up, and remember there are local elections coming due next Tuesday. What to do? Well, for starters, it’s too late to get a politiquera job. That train has left the station along with the white Caddies driven by the most successful vote-getters.
Still, you can vote and try to improve your state, local municipality, school district.
Since everything and almost everyone is online these days, to read about the 14 amendments on next Tuesday’s ballot, including the one to increase the homestead tax exemption to $100,000, simply Google “Texas propositions 2023.”
The Ballotpedia link will pop up, and there are the props to review.
Depending on where you live, if you’re still not sure where to vote, go online and Google “Hidalgo County Elections Department.” That county site will tell you anything and everything you need to know about casting your vote next Tuesday, Nov. 7. The locations, the times, what you need to bring to the polling place.
No, you can’t vote twice. If you still can’t find the info you’re looking for, the Elections Department actually has a phone number (a landline, no less) listed in plain sight on its website. Call it and an actual living person will answer your call.
Local municipal elections slated for next Tuesday include Edinburg, Alamo, Donna, Weslaco, and La Joya.
The elections in La Joya, Donna, Alamo, and Weslaco include mayoral races, so you’re probably seeing a lot of political signs, more white Caddies, in those locations.
It’s the time of year when political signs are all the rage. They’re supposed to be taken down within seven to 10 days after an election (need to check the state election code), but still, many will still be waving "hi" as you drive by well past Thanksgiving.
It’s a Rio Grande Valley tradition — political roadway signs up the wazoo.
Besides the propositions and local municipal elections, eight school districts are asking voters to approve tax ratifications: Progreso, Hidalgo, Monte Alto, PSJA, McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, and La Joya.
If you don’t understand the tax ratifications, visit your local school district’s website. They can’t advocate for or against, but they should be able to explain what it is, and if passed, what it will mean for the school district.
Edcouch-Elsa (the combined school district, not the cities with casino problems) is holding a bond election, and so is Weslaco ISD. In both cases, $40 million for EE, and $180 million for Weslaco, if passed, the bond monies will go toward improved school infrastructure and transportation needs, which, with growing student populations, is a necessity for many school districts, many will argue.
If you are the sort who loves political signs along almost every stretch of roadway, and you risk withdrawal symptoms once they come down, no worries. There are some heated county primary elections slated for next March, so stay tuned.