The City Secretary recommends that City Council approve an ordinance establishing election precincts and polling places for the City of Houston (the “City”) General and Special Elections (the “Election”) to be held on November 7, 2023.
The Election will be conducted on November 7, 2023, to elect municipal officers of the City. The Election will also submit to qualified voters of the City: 1) a proposition to amend Article VII, Section 3 of the City Charter to enable three or more Council Members to place an item on a regular City Council agenda, beginning in January 2024; and 2) a proposition to amend Article IX of the City Charter (by adding new section 25) to allow the City to remain in a Council of Governments or Metropolitan Planning Organization only if voters on the governing board are apportioned proportionately on the basis of population, beginning in January 2024.
Chapter 43 of the Texas Election Code requires that the City Council establish precincts and designate polling places for the Election to be held on November 7, 2023. The City will enter into election agreements with Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery Counties (“Counties”) for use of the Counties’ voting equipment and polling places.
The Commissioners’ Courts of the Counties have recently approved, by their respective orders, the division of the Counties into election precincts, and the Counties have arranged for polling locations for the precincts.
Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery Counties have provided the City with lists of precincts and polling places for the City, approved by their respective County Commissioners’ Courts, which are contained in Exhibit A of this ordinance. Section 4.003 of the Election Code requires the City to post notice of the Election, with a list of precincts and polling places, not later than the 21st day before the Election (by Tuesday, October 17, 2023).
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Pat Jefferson-Daniel, City Secretary