Fort Worth hopes to delay May 2 election until summer, asks Gov. Abbott for permission
Fort Worth officials don’t want to hold the crime prevention sales tax election on May 2, when residents may still be in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the city can’t wait until Nov. 3 for voters to weigh in on the Crime Control and Prevention District sales tax because it expires before then.
Now they hope Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will give them an option to delay the May election until summer.
Abbott last week, worried about a large number of voters heading to the polls, issued a proclamation letting local officials postpone their May 2 elections until Nov. 3. And he delayed the May 26 primary runoff until July 14.
“We’ve been working closely with the Governor’s office and other state leaders since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mayor Betsy Price told the Star-Telegram in a statement. “I’m optimistic we can find a solution to move our CCPD election — hopefully to coordinate with the already called July 14th election.”
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Star-Telegram.
The only catch is that Tarrant County runs the elections and plans to start sending paper ballots next week to those who asked for them for any local election scheduled for May 2. These ballots should have been mailed out last week, Tarrant County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia said.
Most cities, school districts and entities in Tarrant County already have chosen to delay their local election until November.
Pelican Bay and the Eagle Mountain Saginaw school district have meetings scheduled Monday, where officials are expected to delay the May 2 election.
Election workers will be running public tests on election equipment for any election not moved off May 2 and then sending out the paper ballots, Garcia said, adding that some ballots have already been mailed to voters overseas.
There are two cities scheduled for the May 2 election: Fort Worth and Westworth Village.
▪ In Fort Worth, voters need to decide whether to continue a sales tax that pays for police and crime-prevention programs. The half-cent tax, formally known as the Crime Control and Prevention District, must be approved by voters. It began in 1995. Voters are being asked to extend the tax for 10 years. It expires on Sept. 30.
▪ And In Westworth Village, four seats on the City Council are up for election. The council is made up of five council members and a mayor. Four council seats are up for election in May and three of the incumbents are not seeking re-election.
“This is an important election in our little town because of so much turnover,” Westworth Village Mayor Kelly Jones said. “In the past, we accepted resignations and the spots have been filed by council appointments. I don’t like doing it that way. When you have four seats up for election, that needs to be decided by the citizens. The citizens need to have this election.”
Jones said he would prefer a summertime election as well. And he stressed that moving forward with the May 2 election “is our decision for now.”
If an election is still planned for May 2, early voting will run from April 20-28.
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 6:04 PM.
