Regarding the upcoming primary elections in Brazoria County.

- Texas Secretary of State: Offices up for Election in 2024.
- Texas Secretary of State: Election Dates 2024.
- Brazoria County Elections Division.
- Brazoria County: Voter Registration.
- Brazoria County: Voter Precincts.
- Brazoria County: Candidate Information.
- Brazoria County Democratic Party Candidates. 
- Democratic Sample Ballots.
- Brazoria County Republican Party Candidates. 
- Republican Sample Ballots.

From the Brazoria County Elections Department: Election Results 2012 to present

For perusal in 2305 and 2306 today.

There's an argument that voter turnout is low in the Unites States - and especially Texas - because we have so many elections, and so many elected offices.

Here's evidence.

- Click here for the page.

Early voting begins in Texas

Yesterday anyway - I'm a tad tardy on this.

A few items:

- Houston Public Media: Big Turnout On First Day Of Early Voting In Harris County.

Early voting is under way in Texas and turnout has been strong across greater Houston, including Harris County.

The office of Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart calculated that, on average, 6,000 people were voting per hour during the morning of October 24th, the first day designated for early voting.

“That’s higher than what we’ve ever done before in Harris County’s history. So, the turnout is strong and, with the expanded hours that we have this, you know, first week, it will even be a higher turnout this week,” Stanart commented as he visited the polling place located at the Metropolitan Multi Service Center, on West Gray Street, near the Montrose Area.

Several voters who went to that location said they had never seen such a long line.

- KPRC: Record turnout expected for early voting.

Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart says he’s expecting a record turnout as early voting begins Monday for the two weeks prior to the Nov. 8 Election Day.

As the possibility of cheating continues to be a national topic, Stanart says voting fraud is rare but is a possibility, especially with the ballot by mail process.

”We do have many cases where we suspect voter fraud in our ballot by mail process but to get to where we can get an indictment is a whole different case,” he said. “You’ve got to actually find the exact person that’s doing it because it’s obvious there’s something going on, but to be able to prove it so we can get the conviction, that’s where the difficult part is.”

Stanart has heard Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's claims that the election is rigged and that there is a chance for him to lose the election because of fraud. Stanart says while it is not perfect, the Harris County system will not be easily compromised and he sought to allay people's concerns that their votes will not be counted.

- The Facts: Brazoria County prepares for higher turnouts with new equipment, extra polling locations.

In a presidential election season where anything can, and will, happen, the Brazoria County Elections Department plans to make sure voters have no surprises at the polls.
“I keep telling everybody I want to go out with a bang, but I want it to be a good bang,” joked Janice Evans, the county’s outgoing elections director.

Elections officials spent $162,000 for 56 new voting machines from Hart InterCivic Inc. to brace themselves for a voter rush at the polls, as well as accommodate the 10 extra polling locations added for the Nov. 8 election to stem the flow in certain areas.

“We were waiting for the big turnout so we want to be prepared,” Assistant Elections Director Lisa Mujica said. “We have about 800 pieces of equipment back here.

“We’ve already brought them in and set them up and labeled them and tested them. We’re ready to go.”

Voter turnout is historically paltry both statewide and locally, with only 30.46 percent of registered Brazoria County voters showing up to the polls last year. However, the most contentious presidential election in recent memory has primed election officials for higher numbers.

“It’s the intensity of it,” Mujica said.

From the Texas Tribune: Record early voting numbers reported across Texas.

After the first day of early voting, Williamson, Bastrop and Hays counties all report having a record-breaking number of people showing up to the polls, the Austin American-Statesman reports.

The lines at various polling places were particularly long, and some voters said they had to wait for hours before casting their ballot. “I usually vote early for the very reason for escaping the lines, and this year that didn’t happen, so we’ll try again,” Amanda Stephens of Corpus Christi told the Tribune. She said she didn’t recall having trouble voting during previous election seasons.

As the Tribune’s Jim Malewitz reports, the Harris County Clerk’s Office said about 53,000 people had cast ballots by 4:30 p.m., which surpassed the roughly 47,000 votes cast on the first day of early voting during the 2012 presidential election. Denton County also saw a large turnout, although voting at 11 places started late because some machines needed to be reprogrammed.

According to Alicia Pierce, a spokeswoman for Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos, it’s difficult to say whether the high polling turnout will continue throughout early voting, which continues until Nov. 4. “Historically, presidential elections tend to attract more voters, especially when there is not an incumbent in the White House,” Pierce said.

From the Houston Chronicle: Harris County breaks record for first day of early voting.

After more than 18 months of exhaustive media coverage, two grueling nomination fights and three combative debates, voters in Harris County and across Texas lined up in record numbers Monday to cast early ballots in the presidential election.

Monday's turnout of 67,471 in-person voters shattered the county record of 47,093 set in 2012 for the first day of early voting. Another 61,543 mail ballots had been returned as of Monday, bringing the total number of early voters so far to 129,014 in Texas' most populous county.

From the Harris County Auditor's Office: The Final Estimate of Available Resources Fiscal Year 2015

A fun little read for 2306 - and a little detail in what the county auditor does.

It also provides a good list of all the components of Harris County's government.

- Click here for the report.

From the intro, addressed to members of the commissioners court:

In accordance with the Texas Local Government Code (LGC) §111.063, the County Auditor has prepared a “Final Statement of Estimated Available Resources” to be used in developing the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Appropriations Budget for Harris County and the Harris County Flood Control District. The estimate of available resources is comprised of available beginning cash and cash equivalents, plus estimated revenues and transfers‐in for the upcoming fiscal year. The available beginning cash balances for FY 2015 have been adjusted by a projection of the County’s accounts receivable and liability account balances at January 28, 2014. The “Final Statement of Estimated Available Resources” includes all information as required by Chapter 111 of the Local Government Code:

 Outstanding obligations of the County. 

 Cash on hand to the credit of each fund.

 Funds received from all sources during the preceding fiscal year.

 Funds and revenues estimated to be received from all sources during the preceding fiscal year.

 Funds and revenues estimated to be received during the ensuing fiscal year.

 A statement of all accounts and contracts on which sums are due to or owed by the County as of the last day of the preceding fiscal year, except for taxes or court costs.

If that's not enough and you need more on county budgets, here you go:

- Harris County Budget Management Department.
- Brazoria County Budget Fiscal Year 2015.

From Brazoria County: County Offices up for Election in 2016

For 2306's look at both county governments and the upcoming election.

- Click here for it.

To get an idea of what was on the ballot in 2014, click here for the election results.

From Governing Magazine: County Migration Data

Here's an interactive data sheet that let's you see how many people are moving into each county in the nation and which counties they are moving from. Aside from giving a clear indication of internal migration patterns in the US, its a nice time suck.

- Click here for it.

I checked out Harris and Brazoria Counies - of course. Most people who moved into each came from other parts of Texas - ways donw the list came places like Miami and Los Angeles. In 2013-2014 94 people moved to Brazoria County from Miami-Dade County and 93 moved from Los Angeles.

For more from Governing Magazine on Counties:

- What America’s Biggest Counties Have in Common.
- The Counties Where Wealthier People Are Moving.

The 2015 election in Brazoria County

Click here for detail:
- Brazoria Voter Info.
- Brazoria County Clerk's - Election Page.
- Sample Ballots.

From the Atlantic: The Most and Least Healthy Counties in America

The good news is that Brazoria County is among the most healthy counties.

- Click here for the article.



Brazoria County is actually the 24th most health county in Texas.

- Click here for the study that details the factors used to evaluate each county.

Sample Ballot for the November 5, 2013 Brazoria County Election

Click here for Brazoria County's elections page.

ACC is in precinct 41, so here's the actual ballot voters registered here will be presented.

It contains the nine Texas constitutional amendments and an up or down vote on a proposed $212 million bond for AISD.

Brazoria County Regional Water Study

I can't find a "State of Brazoria County Address" but here's a story about efforts to ensure that Brazoria County continues to have adequate levels of water. The Brazoria Water Authority has authorized the creation of a study - the Brazoria County Regional Water Study - to figure out how to do so. The drought and development further north are draining sources that were once reliable. 

2010 Election Results

Here are a few links with last week's election results.

It's worth noting that despite the fact that Republicans did so well in U.S. House races, all area representatives were comfortably reelected. The 2003 gerrymandering seems to have been well done. Republicans did make significant gains in the Texas House though.

From the Houston Chronicle:
- Houston area representatives and state senators.
- Statewide races.
- Harris County results.
- Brazoria County results.
- Galveston County results.

Results from the Texas Secretary of State's office.

From The Hill
- New Members Guide.

Brazoria County Elections - 2009

Sample ballot from the Brazoria County Clerk.

Info on the AISD Bond proposal.

Sample Ballot

Here's a sample ballot from precinct 3 in Brazoria County. We'll go over the races in class Wednesday and Thursday.

Railroad Conventions

A bit of 19th Century history I wasn't aware of (one of the many bits actually).

Railroad Conventions. Opportunities for citizens of different cities and regional to influence decisions about where railroads would go. Obviously important to emerging cities across the country. I stumbled cross this while researching the history U.S. representation of Brazoria County. Several reps had backgrounds speaking for the interests of various cities in railroad conventions.