57% of county can vote

At least half of Bastrop County is eligible to vote in November’s general election.

On Monday, Oct. 10, there were 55,622 registered voters out of the 97,216 residents in the county, based on the 2020 U.S. Census. Approximately 57% of the population was registered ahead of the Oct. 11 voter registration deadline.

The Census Bureau estimates Bastrop County’s population may have grown to 102,058 as of July 2022. If accurate, the over 55,000 voters would still make up more than half of the county.

To vote in the Nov. 8 general election in Texas, registered voters needed to:

• be a United States citizen;

• be a resident of Bastrop County;

• be at least 17 years and 10 months old on the date your voter registration application is submitted, and at least 18 years of age on Election Day;

• not be a convicted felon, although you may be eligible to vote if you have completed your sentence, probation and parole; and

• not have been declared by a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be either totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.

Voter registration in Texas is county-based. Residents can check to see if they’re already registered by visiting the secretary of state’s Am I Registered portal at https://tinyurl.com/4wcn4b9x.

Early voting runs from Oct. 24 to Nov. 4. The last day to receive an application for ballot by mail is Oct. 28.

For more information, visit https://www.bastropvotes.org.

What’s on the ballot?

In Elgin, while there are no city or school seats on the ballot, the municipal government asks in Proposition A, “Shall an initiative petition be approved to eliminate enforcement of low-level marijuana offenses in the City of Elgin?” Residents in voting precincts 4024, 4025 and 4026 can vote for or against the ordinance.

Area candidate races include a three-way contest for Bastrop County judge. Republican Gregory Klaus, Democrat Dock Jackson and independent Ronnie McDonald are vying for the county’s top seat.

There are two commissioner court seats on November’s ballot. Republican Clara Beckett is the incumbent in Precinct 2 as she faces Democrat Willy Ray Culberson. Precinct 4’s race is between Republican David Glass and Democrat Cheryl Renee Reese.

Precinct 1 has a justice of the peace contest. Incumbent Cindy Allen represents the Republicans against Democrat Dayna Beck.

There will be a few boxes to check for Austin Community College board of trustee seats. Places 4 and 5 are uncontested, but Place 6 is between Nathaniel Hellman and Steve Jackobs.

Residents within McDade Independent School District have two school bond proposals to examine, one for $2 million and the other for $23 million. A third proposition asks residents to ratify the property tax rate of $1.025 per $100 valuation, a rate that will result in an increase of 38.22% in maintenance and operations tax revenue for the district for the current year as compared to the preceding year, which is an additional $524,832.97.

Outside but pertaining to Bastrop County, the governor’s race is between incumbent Republican Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke. Other statewide races include lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner, railroad commissioner and the Texas Legislature. At the federal level, residents will vote in one of two U.S. House of Representatives seats that include Bastrop County.