Sample Ballot for March 4 2014 Primary may be found here...
Of course you already knew this.
http://tcweb.tarrant...?a=770&q=491067
Posted 06 February 2014 - 11:40 AM
Sample Ballot for March 4 2014 Primary may be found here...
Of course you already knew this.
http://tcweb.tarrant...?a=770&q=491067
Dave still at
Visit 360texas.com
Posted 06 February 2014 - 12:31 PM
is it possible to vote in both primaries, or is it one or the other?
Posted 06 February 2014 - 12:46 PM
I believe that you can only vote once. You can pick the one with the dumbest referendums, and vote against them.
Posted 13 February 2014 - 01:45 PM
Not exactly on topic here, but as an attorney I advocate abolishing the election of local and state judges along political party lines, especially regarding criminal law. And I don't like the primary election system in this regard.
I doubt that being a Republican or Democrat influences whether a criminal judge is harder or softer on defendants when it comes to sentencing. Each case is different and usually has little to do with political ideology or party affiliation. In civil law, judges are usually more pro-business than pro-consumer, or vice versa, but that could apply to Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives. Again, the facts of each case may sway a judge more than political ideology.
Regarding qualifications to be judge, does anyone in the electorate really know who they're voting for? Yes, there are those in the general electorate who've had good or bad experiences with incumbents running for re-election, but not many are that knowledgeable. The local and state bars conduct judicial qualification polling among their attorney members (including myself). But, though we as attorneys may have knowledge and experience with some of the judicial candidates, even we don't know them all. Often I, as an attorney, make a guess in the general election in favoring one judicial candidate over another. .
The problem with primaries where that's concerned is, if you're a Democrat you are locked in to voting for a particular judicial candidate who may be less deserving than a Republican judicial candidate (and vice versa if you're a Republican). Definitely not a good system!
I favor having a panel of judges and attorneys choose our local and state judges based on their merit.
Posted 14 February 2014 - 09:20 AM
Posted 14 February 2014 - 11:56 AM
I don't see how having an appointment system like that does anything to eliminate bias, political or otherwise. I would almost say that creates a bigger problem. How do you address judges hearing cases involving the very attorneys that elevated them to the bench?
Good point, and it's a drawback with any appointive system (an abuse of which is patronage). I would hope it would be an impartial panel of judges and attorneys. But the election of judges isn't perfect, either, as I pointed out above. For that matter, the electoral system we have now usually amounts to the winner coming out on top because his friends and relatives take advantage of low voter turnout, or the general public chooses the guy or gal with the most visible yard signs.
Posted 14 February 2014 - 12:05 PM
I totally agree with that and I assume you're referring to elections in general and not just judicial. I've made a conscious effort to always research candidates on both sides of any election before I vote and, if I don't have time to research a particular race or I can't differentiate a candidate, I don't vote in that race.
Posted 14 February 2014 - 01:10 PM
I totally agree with that and I assume you're referring to elections in general and not just judicial. I've made a conscious effort to always research candidates on both sides of any election before I vote and, if I don't have time to research a particular race or I can't differentiate a candidate, I don't vote in that race.
You are, of course, in the minority when it comes to candidate research.
I just read an article about a billionaire (Tom Perkins) advocating--tongue-in-cheek, he says--that people with the most money should get awarded more votes to cast. The premise to this logic is that rich people's intelligence aided in them acquiring wealth; ergo, they're more worthy voters than us poor folks who are poor because we're ignorant and, hence, less deserving to cast a ballot. And in colonial days, the landed gentry had the exclusive right to vote (presumably because they are smarter than the common man),
Of course, in this day and age of the power-ball lottery, mega bucks are going to some people who may not even have a high school degree. So goes the merits of Mr. Perkins' theory.
.
Posted 14 February 2014 - 02:10 PM
Posted 27 February 2014 - 07:06 AM
Interesting about Texas's primary election treatment of voter referendums, which we call proposed constitutional amendments. We don't have a "general" referendum, at least not this time around. General, meaning the same question asked in both GOP and Demo primaries. Instead, if you're a Democrat, you vote for Democrat-favored constitutional amendment proposals in their primary (like choosing the party's platform positions at a convention). Vice versa for Republicans. Have we always done it this way and I just never noticed before?
Posted 27 February 2014 - 10:00 AM
The problem with primaries where that's concerned is, if you're a Democrat you are locked in to voting for a particular judicial candidate who may be less deserving than a Republican judicial candidate (and vice versa if you're a Republican). Definitely not a good system!
Although being "harsh" is exactly what some of these candidates platform consists of, judging by their signage.
Not exactly on topic here, but as an attorney I advocate abolishing the election of local and state judges along political party lines, especially regarding criminal law. And I don't like the primary election system in this regard.
I doubt that being a Republican or Democrat influences whether a criminal judge is harder or softer on defendants when it comes to sentencing.
Of course, you aren't "electing" anyone in the primary, you're just saying that this person will then go on to the general election to run against the matching candidate of the other party. If there is no candidate of from the other party, then of course there won't be an opponent, which brings up the quesiton- do you have to be party affiliated and run in the primary as a judge in order to be on the general election ballot? What about independants?
Yikes, sorry about the formatting. I tried!
Posted 27 February 2014 - 11:58 AM
Independents! Good point!
Posted 02 March 2014 - 11:12 AM
I tried to put in a link to Libby Willis for State Senate District 10 campaign without success. Maybe that function has been disabled..as the link posting dialog box basically froze and I had to close IE 11 to exit out of it. I've known Libby since her days with the National Trust for Historic Preservation branch office downtown. I always found her to be knowledgeable about local issues and very realistic in her assessment of historic preservation matters in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. Had I not seen a campaign sign in a yard yesterday I would not have known she was running. I could not find a campaign website but did find a FB page (which I couldn't link to) For most Fort Worth residents, historic preservation is barely a blip on the screen but for a few of us, it does carry some significance. I think her administrative experience would serve her well in the Senate and she vows to carry on the policies of Wendy Davis our former City Councilwoman for downtown, Samuels Ave./Rock Island and the rest of her urban district. She would be welcome to place a campaign placard in our yard and I wish her the best in her efforts.
Posted 04 March 2014 - 12:44 PM
My guess is overall primary election voter turnout will be low today, even with early voting. Especially so on the Democrat side where there are fewer contests than in the Republican primary. Hope I'm wrong.
BUT the general election turnout should be much larger this time around because of the non-incumbent gubernatorial contest!
Posted 27 October 2014 - 11:12 AM
I wonder when the November 2014 sample ballot will published ?
I checked today .. The link above only the March 2014 version.
[line removed]
HOWEVER, I checked again and found on this page:
http://tcweb.tarrant...?a=770&q=493034
Ballots .pdf's - straight ballot Governor etc
http://tcweb.tarrant...s/tc_sample.pdf
Tarrant County Propositions 1,2,3
http://tcweb.tarrant...lots/06-ftw.pdf
Dave still at
Visit 360texas.com
Posted 27 October 2014 - 12:24 PM
That Tarrant County elections page says: "if you print sample ballots for anything other than personal use, please note that Election Code Section 52.008 requires sample ballots to be printed on yellow paper."
If we print our own copies that we take to the polls, I would interpret that as personal use, so regular paper should be fine.
Posted 27 October 2014 - 02:17 PM
Hmmm you are correct.... miss read. Will fix my comment above
Dave still at
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Posted 29 October 2014 - 07:32 PM
Early voted this morning. There had already been ~118k early ballots cast since the start of early voting for Tarrant County. Not a bad turnout?
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