November 7 election gives Dallas voters 14 constitutional amendments to decide

November 7 is election day, giving 1.4 million registered voters in Texas the opportunity to cast ballots on 14 proposed Texas Constitution amendments, including items on property tax cuts and an increase in pay for retired teachers.

In some towns, voters will also decide on city council spots, as well as school, city, and county bond elections.

In Mesquite, voters can cast ballots for mayor and all six city council spots.

In Collin County, residents are voting on a $683 million bond package that proposes funding for a new animal shelter, roads and bridges, a medical examiner’s facility, and parks projects.

In Duncanville, voters are deciding on a $170 bond issuance by the Duncanville ISD that includes school buses, tech and security upgrades and infrastructure improvements.

Other major municipal races across DFW include mayoral and council races in Benbrook, Blue Mound, Josephine, Lavon, Lowry Crossing, Murphy, Princeton, The Colony, Weston, and White Settlement.

Metroplex voters who didn’t take advantage of the state’s two weeks of early voting can head to the polls until 7 pm. Tarrant County reports a 3 percent early turnout while Dallas County reports 2 percent of voters have cast ballots by mail.

The constitutional amendments – the most to appear on a ballot since 2007 – are on all ballots in the state, measures that were approved by state lawmakers. They range from items that would permit local governments to exempt child-care facilities from property taxes to an amendment to authorize a property tax exemption on equipment and inventory manufactured by medical or biomedical companies.

Of particular interest to homeowners is Proposition 4, which would raise the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $100,000.

Another amendment – Proposition 6 – would have the state create the Texas Water Fund, a state treasury account that would be overseen by the Texas Water Development Board to finance water projects across the state.

Transportation and other details
DART is providing free transportation on all DART buses, trains, GoLink, the Dallas Streetcar, Paratransit Services, and the TRE between EBJ Union Station and CentrePort/DFW Airport Station. Customers need to show a valid voter registration card. More details can be found at dart.org/vote.

Trinity Metro is celebrating its 40th anniversary and is already offering free rides in Tarrant County all month long. That includes all buses, TEXRail, ZIPZONE on-demand rideshare services and ACCESS paratransit.

Voters in Dallas, Tarrant and Collin Counties can cast ballots at any of their respective county’s voting locations, as part of the state’s Countywide Polling Place Program. In Dallas, that means voters can chose from 455 locations to cast a ballot.

Those with questions of where to vote and other information can consult their county elections office.

Voters must present photo identification at the polls. Acceptable forms of identification include a Texas driver license, election identification certificate, Texas personal identification card, Texas gun license, U.S. military identification card with photograph, U.S. citizenship certificate with a photograph, and U.S. passport. Forms of ID can be expired up to four years.

Election night results for statewide ballot propositions will be available through the office’s election night returns portal. Voting booths are open until 7 pm.