More than 300 ballots to be reviewed as Fort Worth schools bond hangs in the balance
The fate of a $1.2 billion bond proposal to renovate Fort Worth schools remains uncertain as more than 300 absentee and provisional ballots from Tarrant County voters are set to be reviewed and counted early next week.
The proposition, which would provide for major renovations of all district middle schools and the construction of four elementary campuses, ended election day with 50.09% of the vote in its favor — 12,342 votes for the bond and 12,300 against.
Because of this slim margin, absentee and provisional ballots could affect the approval of the proposition.
Absentee ballots postmarked by Tuesday and received by the county by Wednesday will be reviewed by the county Early Voting Ballot Board.
The board, made up of county Republican, Democratic and Libertarian party members, will review the ballots and determine if they’re eligible to be counted.
Tarrant County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia said the county received 171 ballots on Wednesday. These ballots are countywide, not exclusive to Fort Worth school district voters.
Additionally, ballots mailed from U.S. citizens residing outside the country, such as military voters, will be reviewed if clearly postmarked on or before Election Day and received by the county by Monday. It’s unclear how many ballots the county will receive.
There were also 164 provisional ballots cast on Election Day. Provisional ballots are used to record a vote when there are questions about a voter’s eligibility that must be resolved before the vote can count.
The Tarrant County Elections Office is reviewing these provisional ballots and will provide a recommendation to the ballot board, which will determine which ballots are eligible. Then all the eligible ballots will be opened and counted.
This process could be complete as early as Tuesday or Wednesday, Garcia said.
Once the votes are counted, the Tarrant County Elections Office will update the vote count on its website and provide the vote count to each entity to canvass the results.
Voters rejected three other Fort Worth school district bond proposals as part of the $1.49 billion package:
- Proposition B would have provided more than $98 million for the renovation of middle school and high school auditoriums.
- Proposition C would have provided more than $104 million for three stadiums.
- Proposition D would have provided more than $76 million for the renovation of school gyms and fields.
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 5:34 PM.
