Election News

Gov. Greg Abbott messes with Texas' absentee ballots for presidential election

The governor of Texas has made it much harder to cast an absentee ballot.

Photo courtesy of The Heritage Society Museum

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has closed down locations across the state where absentee ballots could be accepted, making it harder for residents to vote early.

The governor ordered counties to stop accepting hand-delivered absentee ballots at more than one location per county.

Among the most profoundly affected: Highly populated counties like Harris County, which includes Houston and has more than 4.7 million residents.

Harris County previously had 11 locations where you could drop off ballots. Now there will be one, requiring some residents to drive more than an hour.

Dallas County had five drop-off locations prior to the order. Now: Just one, for a county with a population of more than 2.5 million people.

The drop-off sites were a plus for voters trying to avoid crowds on Election Day.

The new order will also make it difficult in rural counties like Brewster, the largest county in Texas, which covers 6,192 square miles, requiring ridiculously lengthy drives to deliver ballots.

Abbott said the new order is to ensure the security of the ballots, and repeated the disputed claim that this will help stop attempts at illegal voting.

Dallas County Judge Jenkins said in a statement that Abbott's new order had Trump "written all over it."

"Today, Governor Abbott used his executive authority to unilaterally close down dozens of satellite voting locations across the state established to assist Texas voters during this pandemic," Jenkins said. "While Dallas County’s one designated drop-off site is safe, the requirement that early voting clerks must allow up to two poll watchers from every candidate to observe ballot delivery puts our older, most dedicated workers at more risk with this forced exposure."

"This has President Trump written all over it with the Governor changing the rules with 33 days until the most important election of our lifetime to make it harder to vote," he said. "It is imperative that everyone today make a plan to vote. Decide where, when, and how you will cast your ballot."

The one remaining drop-off point in Dallas County to return their mail-in ballots is at:

Elections Department
1520 Round Table Dr.
Dallas 75247

Voters can bring their completed ballots along with their state approved identification to the Elections Department. For questions or to confirm the hours that ballots can be accepted each day, call 469-627-VOTE (8683).

On July 27, Abbott added six days of early absentee voting, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic - an order that Texas Republicans are challenging in court.

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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