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Alexa Ura reported for The Texas Tribune from 2013 to 2023. She covered the complex dynamics of race, ethnicity, wealth, poverty and power and how they are shaping the future of Texas and Texans, in the long and short term. Alexa started at the Tribune as a reporting intern before graduating from the University of Texas at Austin and joining the staff full time. Originally from Laredo on the Texas-Mexico border, she is a native Spanish speaker and is based in Austin.
The Democratic Party wants a judge to declare the novel coronavirus a circumstance that allows anyone to request a mail-in ballot. The GOP has opposed expanding the state's limited absentee voting rules. Full Story
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In a rare voting fraud case, Crystal Mason was sentenced to five years in prison for casting a provisional ballot in 2016 while on supervised release for a federal felony. She says she did it on the advice of a poll worker. Full Story
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Experts said the state’s testing capability wasn’t where it needed to be to measure how effective efforts to contain the virus have been or where the outbreak is on its trajectory toward peaking. Full Story
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On this week's TribCast — a different format in the time of the new coronavirus — Alexa talks to Edgar and Aliyya about the state's response to a growing outbreak, an assessment of hospital capacity and the impact of school district closures. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott has yet to issue guidance on the May 26 runoff election. Full Story
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Years of work went into planning neighborhood canvasses and educational efforts to reach out to every Texan, especially those most likely to be missed in the tally. Now those efforts are down for the count. Full Story
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Officials made the announcement late Thursday. One out of five new cases disclosed in Dallas County came from someone who has no travel history. Full Story
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On this week's TribCast, Alexa talks to Edgar, Matthew, Evan and Cassi about the status of the new coronavirus outbreak in Texas, Super Tuesday voting blunders and outgoing House Speaker Dennis Bonnen's comments on his own downfall. Full Story
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County officials asked for a redo of their vote count after discovering they missed ballots from 44 tabulating machines. Full Story
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It was largely human error and inexperience that caused massive lines and statewide vote miscounts during the March 3 primaries. Local election officials are trying to learn their lessons and avoid similar blunders in the general election. Full Story
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