Voters Approve All 17 Proposed Amendments

Texas voters approved all 17 constitutional amendments on the ballot last week, the Houston Chronicle reported. Those included measures to raise the homestead exemption and reduce property taxes for businesses, and to provide $1 billion annually for a statewide water fund.

Other propositions passed would allow judges to deny bail to people accused of serious crimes and create a $3 billion dementia research fund.

“This legislative session, we delivered the conservative victories Texans demanded,” Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in a statement. “And this November, Texans showed up to enshrine them in the Texas Constitution.”

Nearly 3 Million Cast Ballots Statewide 

Texans showed up in record numbers for this off-year election. Unofficial statewide returns indicate nearly 3 million cast ballots – nearly 15% of all registered voters in the state, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

That appears to set a new record for off-year election turnout in Texas, driven in part by key local issues in larger counties, such as Travis and Bexar counties.

The statewide leader in voter turnout was tiny Loving County on the Texas-New Mexico border, where more than half of the county’s 140 registered voters cast ballots.

Nelson Fighting GOP Lawsuit Over Closed Primaries 

The state’s top election official is fighting a GOP lawsuit that seeks to restrict the state’s primaries to registered party members, the Texas Standard reported. Republican Secretary of State Jane Nelson in her filing said that decision should be left up to state lawmakers, not the courts. She said that a court ruling now, with the March primaries just a few months away, would “confuse voters, unduly burden election administrators, or otherwise sow chaos or distrust in the electoral process.” The Texas Republican Party claims the state’s open primaries violate their constitutional right to freedom of association. Key Republicans, such as Attorney General Ken Paxton, complain Democratic and independent voters are casting ballots in Republican primaries to back more moderate candidates.

Closing Texas primaries would require overhauling the state’s voter registration system, require changes in state law, and take years to implement, the Standard reported.

Lawmakers filed at least six bills in 2025 to close the primaries but all failed. Nelson said state lawmakers could take the issue back up in the 2027 session.