Friday marks final day for early voting amid 'slow' turnout

Just 4% of Hays County registered voters have cast their ballots during early voting with Friday as the last day to head to the polls before election day. 

According to the secretary of state’s office, 6,247 Hays County residents voted in the Nov. 2 election — 4% of 156,297 registered voters — as of Wednesday.

“Turnout is slow so far,” Hays County Elections Administrator Jennifer Anderson said. “We have just over 4 % turnout so far … We range anywhere between 5.5% and 13% in past Constitutional Amendment Elections.”

Hays County voters will have eight Texas constitution amendments on the ballot as well as local city, school and emergency services district elections, depending on their precinct. 

In San Marcos, city council Place 5 incumbent Mark Gleason is challenged by Zach Sambrano. In Place 6 two former San Marcos City Councilmembers Jude Prather and Mark Rockeymoore will vie for the seat. Rockeymoore was recently a city councilmember from 2018-2020. Prather served terms on the city council from 2010-2016. 

There are also 13 propositions on the ballot for San Marcos voters: (Propositions are listed as they will appear on the ballot)

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION A

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 1.03 of the City Charter (Statement of Goals) to replace the current section with a new statement of goals of city government that is organized by the categories of people, place, environment, economy, and public services.

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION B

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 3.01(c) of the City Charter (City Council -- Number, Selection, and Term) to establish term limits for council members by providing that a council member elected at the regular election held in November of 2022 or at any regular election held thereafter shall be ineligible to run for any city council position, other than mayor, for two years after serving three consecutive terms of office.

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION C

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 3.01(c) of the City Charter (City Council -- Number, Selection and Term) to establish term limits for the position of mayor by providing that a person elected as mayor at the regular election held in November of 2024 or at any regular election held thereafter shall be ineligible to run again for mayor for a period of two years after serving four consecutive terms in that position.

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION D

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 3.09 (Meetings of the City Council) to require all regular city council meeting agendas to include “Citizen Comment Period” and “Question and Answer Session with Press and Public” as agenda items.

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION E

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 4.01(b) of the City Charter (City Manager -- Term and Salary) to allow the removal of city manager by a vote of four members of the entire city council instead of five members, as currently required.

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION F

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 4.01(c)(2) of the City Charter (City Manager -- Duties of the City Manager) to remove the requirement for city council approval of the city manager’s appointment of assistant city managers.

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION G

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 4.02 of the City Charter (City Clerk) to remove the requirement for city council approval of the city clerk’s appointment of assistant city clerks. 

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION H

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 4.02 of the City Charter (City Clerk) to change the residency requirement for the position of city clerk to allow the person appointed to that position to reside in either the city limits, as currently required, or within Hays County or within the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION I

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 4.03(b) of the City Charter (Municipal Court) to remove the requirement for city council approval of the presiding judge’s appointment of a municipal court clerk and assistant clerks.

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION J

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 4.03(b) of the City Charter (Municipal Court) to remove the residency requirement for appointment of the presiding judge.

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION K

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 4.04 of the City Charter (City Attorney) to remove the requirement for city council approval of the city attorney’s appointment of assistant city attorneys.

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION L

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 7.01(a) of the City Charter (Planning and Zoning Commission) to add a provision stating that no action of the planning and zoning commission shall have any force or effect unless it is adopted by a vote of five or more of its members.

CITY OF SAN MARCOS, PROPOSITION M

Vote for or against: The amendment of Section 12.12(a)(4) of the City Charter (Charter Review Commission) to require the charter review commission to make a final report of its recommendations and require that the chair or a designated member of the commission present the report to the city council.

Voters can call the elections offices at 512-393-7310 if they don’t know their precinct, Anderson said. Hays County voters can also visit https://hayscountytx.com/departments/elections/current-year-elections/02... to see a sample ballot for their precinct. 

“It’s important to see what is on your ballot and do any research needed before heading out to the polls,” Anderson said. “Lines are short this year, so come on out and vote.”

San Marcos early voting locations include: 

• Broadway, 401 Broadway Street #A 
• Hays County Government Center (Main Early Voting Site), 712 South Stagecoach Trail 
• Hays County Transportation Department — Yarrington, 2171 Yarrington Road 
• Texas State University, LBJ Student Center, 601 University Drive 
• Brookdale San Marcos North, 1720 Old Ranch Road 12

Voting Friday takes place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Election day voting takes place Tuesday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Results will be posted shortly after 7 p.m.