Data Request for Local ballot Initiatives/Referenda
| Submitted | March 5, 2024 |
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Communications
From: Jimin Han
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
I am requesting data on local ballot initiatives/referenda that took place in the state since 1972. Specifically, I need the following information to be included in the data.
1. Text of the ballot initiative/referendum
2. Local government where the election took place.
3. County where the local government is located
4. Election date
5. Result of election (votes for, votes against, pass/fail)
6. Threshold to pass (50%, two-thirds, etc)
I have located this data at the following link: https://data.texas.gov/Government-and-Taxes/Local-Debt-Bond-Election-Results/kbmc-qmvg/data
However, the data at this link does not contain information on the text of the proposition and it contains only elections for local debt bond, while I request data for all local ballot initiatives/referenda.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Jimin Han
From: State of Texas Secretary of State, Elections Division
Hello,
For the historical election results you request, you might visit this link<https://www.tsl.texas.gov/ref/historicalelections> to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission page on Historical Elections Research, or the resource from the Texas Legislative Council’s Capitol Data Portal at this link<https://data.capitol.texas.gov/>.
Unfortunately, our office in the Elections Division of the Texas Office of the Secretary of State maintains limited historical or archival election records. The Office of the Secretary of State Elections Division maintains election results for races that occur at the district-level or higher; you would need to reach out to the locality or county for the results of a local races. You can do so by visiting the county election website available at this link<https://www.sos.texas.gov/elections/voter/links.shtml#County>, or by reaching out to your County Elections Official at this link<https://www.sos.texas.gov/elections/voter/county.shtml>, or your city officials here<https://directory.tml.org/>.
Election results maintained by the Office of the Secretary of State can be found on our Historical Election Results page for the years 1992 to 2019 at this link<https://elections.sos.state.tx.us/index.htm> and on our Election Night Results page for 2019 going forward at this link<https://results.texas-election.com/landing-page>. After the completion of the statewide canvass, these results will become available for download under the “Reports” tab in PDF or Excel format.
Additional information regarding voter turnout and registration statistics is available on our Election Results page at this link<https://www.sos.texas.gov/elections/historical/index.shtml>. Another potential resource for obtaining archival elections and voting information is the Texas Almanac, available at this link<https://www.texasalmanac.com/articles/elections-of-texas-governors-1845-2010>.
Finally, the individual Texas counties are the custodians of their historical election results and voter registration records. For historical election data potentially maintained at a more local level, you might reach out to the individual Texas counties using the contact information at this link<https://www.sos.texas.gov/elections/voter/current.shtml>.
Should you need any additional information or have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to send us an email at Elections@sos.texas.gov<mailto:Elections@sos.texas.gov>.
Sincerely,
Kate Fisher
Elections Division
Office of the Texas Secretary of State
1019 Brazos Street | Rudder Building, 2nd Floor | Austin, Texas 78701
