9 million Texans voted early in 2024. Here’s how that compares to previous years.
The turnout rate dropped more than 8 percentage points compared to four years ago — a high-water mark for the Lone Star State. Full Story
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![Voters visit the Gilmer Civic Center during the first day of early voting on Monday October 21, 2024, in Gilmer.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune -
Electoral misinformation in Texas: What you should know to avoid it.
Disinformation spikes during major U.S. elections. Experts urge verifying sources, fact-checking and careful content sharing. Full Story
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![Voters wait in line at the Lakewood Branch Library in Dallas on Feb. 25, 2022, the last day of early voting in the Texas primary. Dallas County voting centers’ hours were extended till 10 P.M. on the last day of early voting to make up for early closures due to icy weather.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Watch: How the race for sheriff on the border became a referendum on immigration
Del Rio Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez’s run for reelection provides a glimpse at how new patterns of immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border have coincided with, if not driven, changing attitudes among voters who live there. Full Story
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A pro-gun, anti-abortion border sheriff appealed to both parties. Then he was painted as soft on immigration.
Immigration is not part of Joe Frank Martinez’s job. But in Del Rio, like in other majority Latino communities across the country, the issue is high on voters’ minds and is disrupting long-standing political allegiances. Full Story
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![The memory of nearly 20,000 primarily Haitian immigrants arriving at the border is seared into the minds of Del Rio residents. Many fear it could happen again, making immigration one of the key issues in Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez’s race for reelection and disrupting local politics.]()
Credit: From left: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune, Liz Moughon/ProPublica, Gerardo del Valle/ProPublica -
Dan Patrick debunks claims about Texas voting machines switching votes
Republican National Committee Co-Chair Lara Trump said Texas had fixed an error with voting machines, but Patrick quickly said there was no problem to fix. Full Story
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![Polling equipment during a public testing event at the Hays County election office on Sept. 18, 2024.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Texas withdraws request to block U.S. Justice Department from monitoring state’s elections
The federal agency agreed their monitors would remain outside polling locations and wouldn’t interfere with voting. Full Story
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![Voters check in to vote at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston, Tuesday Nov. 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
State oil regulator requests $100 million to tackle West Texas well blowouts
Abandoned wells in the Permian Basin are increasingly erupting with briney, polluted water. The Texas Railroad Commission says it needs emergency money to respond. Full Story
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![Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick, then-Chairman Wayne Christian, and Commissioner Jim Wright listen during an RRC hearing in Austin on Nov. 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Dimitri Staszewski for The Texas Tribune -
A pregnant teen died after trying to get care in three visits to Texas ERs
It took 20 hours and three ER visits before doctors admitted the pregnant 18-year-old to the hospital as her condition worsened. She’s one of at least two women who died under Texas’ abortion ban. Full Story
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![Candace Fails poses for a portrait holding a picture of her late daughter, Nevaeh Crain, at her home in Vidor, Texas on October 24, 2024. Crain passed away on October 29, 2023 at 25 weeks of pregnancy due to preventable causes, including hemorrhaging, after seeking medical help at various hospitals.]()
Credit: Danielle Villasana for ProPublica -
Fairgoers join Ken Paxton in suing Texas State Fair for allegedly violating their gun rights
Three fairgoers are requesting up to $1 million in damages and to allow guns at the State Fair. Full Story
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![The Texas State Fair in Dallas on Oct. 12, 2024.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
In Texas, criminal charges and misdemeanor convictions don’t automatically take away people’s voting rights
Texans serving time for misdemeanor offenses or who are in jail awaiting trial are eligible to vote but only two counties offer voting in jail. Full Story
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![The Linda Woodman State Jail in Gatesville in May 2018.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
When will Texas election results come in? Here’s how the process unfolds.
By state law, Election Day totals must be submitted to the state within 24 hours after polls close. Meeting that deadline requires careful but quick work. Full Story
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![Voters cast their ballots at the Tarrant County College Southeast Campus polling location in Arlington on primary election day, March 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Reading, writing and religion? A Texas curriculum advisory board’s link to faith-based advocacy
The composition of the state’s hand-picked curriculum advisory board raises questions about whether panelists were inclined to green-light Bible-infused coursework. Full Story
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![Holy Bibles rest on chairs at Stonewall Church in Douglass on Feb. 26, 2024. Douglass is about 14 miles west of Nacogdoches on Texas Highway 21.]()
Credit: Joel Andrews for The Texas Tribune -
Texas buys two ranches near the border, including a huge property next to Big Bend National Park
A Starr County property was purchased to build border wall, while Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said the state has many options for a sprawling ranch in West Texas. Full Story
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![A ridge in South Brewster County overlooking Big Bend National Park on Jan. 23, 2024.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Second Texas doctor sued for providing gender-affirming care to minors
These are the first cases under a law prohibiting doctors from providing puberty blockers or hormone therapy to help minors transition. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at the 2024 Texas GOP Convention in San Antonio on May 23, 2024.]()
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A Texas woman died after the hospital said it would be a crime to intervene in her miscarriage
Josseli Barnica is one of at least two pregnant Texas women who died after doctors delayed emergency care. Full Story
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![Josseli Barnica and her daughter in 2020.]()
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There are warring depictions of Robert Roberson’s murder case. Here’s what to know.
Even before the Texas man’s death sentence became a political lightning rod, law enforcement and medical experts had differing opinions on the evidence that convicted him. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson photographed through plexiglass at TDCJ Polunsky Unit in Livingston on Dec. 19, 2023. Texas death row prisoners are housed in Livingston but executed at the state prison in Huntsville, about 43 miles away.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Innocence Project -
Ken Paxton calls on Rep. Jeff Leach to resign over texts to judge in Robert Roberson case
The AG also said he’d make a criminal referral against the lawmaker, who apologized for texting a Court of Criminal Appeals judge about a new trial for the death row inmate. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Texas GOP Convention Thursday, May 23, 2024 in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton resisting Texas House members’ bid to hear Robert Roberson’s testimony
Members of a Texas House committee say in a Texas Supreme Court filing that Paxton’s office is blocking the death row inmate from complying with a legislative subpoena. Full Story
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![The Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence meets to consider the death penalty imposed on Robert Roberson, on death row for the death of his daughter, on Oct. 21, 2024. At issue is Roberson's conviction based on a diagnosis of "shaken baby syndrome," now discredited as "junk science" and specifically rejected by Texas law.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues Biden administration over listing freshwater mussels as endangered
The lawsuit claims the endangered designation for six mussel species is a misuse of environmental law that threatens Texas’ economy. Full Story
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![The Guadalupe Fatmucket is a rare mussel that is exclusively found in the Guadalupe River Basin.]()
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This Trump supporter was labeled a noncitizen and kicked off Texas’ voter rolls
Mary Howard-Elley is the 10th U.S. citizen identified by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and Votebeat whose registration was canceled after her citizenship was questioned. Her saga shows how tough it can be for eligible voters to get reinstated. Full Story
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![Mary Howard-Elley, 52, a Splendora resident, was removed from the state’s voter rolls after being inaccurately labeled as a noncitizen.]()
Credit: Danielle Villasana for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune