Fernanda Gonzalez
Angel Ballesteros / The Rider
On Election Night, Texas voters approved 13 of 14 propositions on the ballot, meaning changes to the state constitution will be made.
UTRGV Political Science Professor Mark Kaswan spoke about the importance of last Tuesday’s election, since the amendments are going to change the Texas constitution.
“Voters in Texas are giving the opportunity to make changes to our state constitution,” Kaswan said. “The state constitution is the final basis for all laws that are made in the state of Texas.”
UTRGV Political Science Associate Professor Alexandre Couture Gagnon expressed Tuesday night was an important night for the state.
“The main one that attracted the most news coverage and the media was the homestead exemption,” Couture Gagnon said. “The government of Texas, the state of Texas had a surplus $32 billion more in revenue than it had planned for its expenditures all because of COVID, inflation and many reasons. The legislators, the elected officials in Austin felt that it was wrong to keep that money that should go back to taxpayers in Texas.”
Kaswan spoke about the importance of two amendments: the creation of a water fund and Proposition 8, the creation of a broadband infrastructure fund.
“The water fund with climate change water is going to become one of the most important political issues of the 21st century,” he said. “The broadband is similarly important because that’s going to be, that’s going to make a difference in people’s lives, a significant print in people’s lives, especially as we move more and more online and make sure that people have access to resources.”
Elections Administrator Remi Garza expressed that Cameron County is having much higher participation in elections.
“In 2021 and 2019, we only saw about 10,000 people vote for the entire election,” Garza said. “This election, we saw over 20,000 people vote. So, we were really excited that we had a much higher turnout for this particular constitutional amendment election.”
He said the voter turnout for last Tuesday’s election was 8.8%. Garza explained this type of election’s expectations are for a lower turnout.
Couture Gagnon spoke about why students should go out and vote.
“You need to vote for a general reason to show elected officials that you are keeping them in check,” she said. “So, if you vote, they have detailed information on voter turnout for specific age groups. If they see that university college students vote, they will take that into account when [the] next bill comes up on their desk.”
Garza said he invites students to become well-informed for future elections.
“We encourage everybody to find their trusted sources for information so that they are well informed when they go into the polls,” he said.
This is Fernanda Gonzalez for Vaquero Radio.
