Texas elections, 2013

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Texas election information for 2013 is listed below.

On the 2013 ballot
No regularly scheduled elections in Texas. Exceptions included special elections Find current election news and links here.
U.S. Senate	d
U.S. House	d
State Executives	d
State Senate	a
State House	a
Ballot measures	a
Click here for all November 5, 2013 Election Results

State Senate

State Senate

See also: Texas state legislative special elections, 2013.

State Senate District 6
Mario Gallegos (D) died of liver failure in October 2012. However, he ran for re-election and his name remained on the ballot. He was re-elected on November 6, 2012, triggering a special election to fill the seat. The special election was held January 26, 2013. With eight candidates, it looked likely that a runoff for the top-two vote getters would be necessary, and indeed that is what happened. Democrats Sylvia Garcia and Carol Alvarado met in a runoff on March 2, which Garcia won.

Related: See election results here.

State House

State House

See also: Texas state legislative special elections, 2013.

State House District 50
Rep. Mark Strama (D) resigned to lead Google's fiber optics operation in Austin, Texas. A special election has been called for November 5. Celia Israel and Mike VanDeWalle faced off in the January 28, 2014, runoff election. Candidates had until September 4 to file certified nomination papers.

Related: See election information here.

Statewide ballot measures

Statewide ballot measures in Texas

See also: Texas 2013 ballot measures

Nine statewide ballot questions were certified for the November 5, 2013 statewide ballot in Texas. All nine measures were approved.

The only form of ballot measure allowed in Texas are legislatively referred constitutional amendments, which may only be sent to the ballot while the legislature is in session. The Texas' state legislative session began January 8, 2013 and concluded on May 27, 2013. An expanded special legislative session was then called on May 27 and concluded on June 25. A second special session was called on July 1 and concluded on July 30. The Texas legislature had a total of three special sessions, with the last one beginning on July 30 and ending on August 5.

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Proposition 1	Taxes	Property tax exemption on residence for surviving spouse of armed services member killed in action	a
LRCA	Proposition 2	Admin. of gov't	Elimination of an obsolete requirement for a State Medical Education Board and a State Medical Education Fund	a
LRCA	Proposition 3	Taxes	Increase in number of days that aircraft parts may be located in the state and be exempt from taxation	a
LRCA	Proposition 4	Taxes	Property tax exemption for partially disabled veterans on their residence under certain conditions	a
LRCA	Proposition 5	Housing	Rules and regulations governing reverse mortgage loans	a
LRCA	Proposition 6	Budgets	Transfer funds from Rainy Day Fund to water projects	a
LRCA	Proposition 7	County governance	Rules governing how to fill vacancies on governing bodies of home-rule municipalities	a
LRCA	Proposition 8	Healthcare	Eliminate the state constitutional provision that authorizes a hospital district in Hidalgo County	a
LRCA	Proposition 9	State judiciary	Expansion of types of sanctions against state court judges after disciplinary proceedings	a

Related: 2013 ballot measures

Voting in Texas

See also: Voting in Texas

Important voting information

• Texas uses an open primary system, meaning voters are not required to declare a party preference when registering to vote.
• Registration must be completed 28 days prior to the election.
• Texas does not permit online voter registration. Texas has a bill pending in the 2013 legislative session which would authorize online voter registration. The bill passed the Texas Senate on April 23, 2013. It now goes to the Texas House of Representatives for consideration.

Voting absentee

See also: Absentee voting by state

For information about eligibility, deadlines, military and overseas voting and updates to the voting laws in Texas, please visit our absentee voting by state page.

Voting early

See also: Early voting

Texas is one of 34 states that has early voting with no specific requirements as to who can vote early. Early voting begins the 17th day before an election and ends on the fourth day prior to Election Day. The average number of days prior to an election that voters can cast an early ballot is 21 days in states with a definitive starting date.

Elections Performance Index

See also: Pew Charitable Trusts' Elections Performance Index

Texas ranked 23rd out of the 50 states and District of Columbia in the Pew Charitable Trusts' Elections Performance Index (EPI), based on the 2012 elections. The EPI examined election administration performance and assigned an average percentage score based on 17 indicators of election performance. These indicators were chosen in order to determine both the convenience and integrity of these three phases of an election: registration, voting and counting. Texas received an overall score of 66 percent.

See also

• Portal:Elections
• Elections and events calendar
• Election result resources
• Voter guides
• State Blue Books
• Voting in Texas
• Absentee voting
• Early voting