Early Voting Begins Oct. 24
Early voting in the Nov. 8 general election begins Oct. 24 and runs through Nov. 4. Applications for voting by mail must be received by Oct. 28, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Texans are eligible to vote by mail if they are 65 or older; sick or disabled; are expected to give birth within three weeks of Election Day; will be absent from the county where they vote during early voting and on Election Day; or are in jail but otherwise eligible.
If voting by mail, Texans are urged to carefully read the instructions before putting their ballot in the mail. More than 12% of mail-in ballots were rejected in the March primary for not complying with tighter voting regulations enacted in the last legislative session, according to kut.org.
Meanwhile, the latest poll shows the race between Gov. Greg Abbott and Beto O’ Rourke has tightened since the Sept. 30 debate between the two, the Corpus Christi Caller Times reported. The latest poll by Marist College shows Abbott’s lead has dropped to 4 percentage points.
As the race hits the homestretch, O’ Rourke reports having slightly more cash on hand in the latest three-month reporting period, which ended Sept. 29. He also outraised Abbott by a slight margin during the same period.
EPA Sued Over Pollution from Coal Plants The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been sued by two national environmental advocacy groups for allegedly failing to ensure eight Texas coal-fired power plants are meeting approved emission standards. The Austin American-Statesman reported the suit was filed last week after the EPA missed a deadline to stop the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality from exempting the coal plants from regulations limiting particulate matter emissions. An attorney with one of the groups, the Environmental Integrity Project, said the groups have been challenging the TCEQ exemptions since 2010. “Essentially, Texas has these emission limits for particulate matter,” Clark-Leach told theAmerican-Statesman. “Particulate matter is soot, it’s the black stuff you see coming out of smokestacks. It’s a bad idea if you’ve got people living nearby to emit in excess of those limits.”
The EPA’s website says that exposure to particulate matter can be harmful and is linked to lung and heart issues. Since being exempted by TCEQ in 2010, the plants have increased emissions as much as 33-fold. However, four of the plants have in recent years either switched to natural gas or shut down completely.