Bond elections like the $850 million San Antonio City bond issue and the Alamo Colleges bond package, both of which were approved by voters last weekend, would be null and void under a bill making its way through the Texas Senate, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
State Sen. Don Huffines (R-Dallas) says his bill, would require that any city, county, college, subdivision or school bond proposal be approved at an election which has at least 15% turnout in order to be valid.
The turnout last Saturday was just 11%, meaning those proposals would not reach the threshold demanded by Huffines' bill.
"Many Texans believe that bond elections are conducted in a way that is meant to intentionally produce lower voter turnout," Huffines said.
Huffines and supporters of his bill point out that, even though they could legally present bond issues for a public vote at the November election, when turnout is always about 55%, governmental agencies choose to hold the election in May, when turnout is known to be far lower.
Analysts say the lower the voter turnout, the more likely a bond issue is to be approved. That is because the employees of the agency which would get the money, and the contractors who stand to line their pockets with the bond money, are more likely to influence the outcome of the election.
Huffines says this is a very serious problem, because Texas now has the second highest level of local debt of any state in the country, and much of that is because bond issues are almost always approved at low turnout elections.
"A small percentage of the voters are agreeing to encumber the political subdivisions with a lot of debt," he said.
A proposal being considered by the San Antonio Charter Review Commission and by the Legislature would require that all municipal voting take place at the November election date, specifically to increase turnout. Huffines says subdivisions have the right to do that now, on their own accord, but choose not to specifically because lower turnout increases the bond's chances.
Opponents included fast growth school districts, who complained that under Huffines' proposal, a bad thunderstorm on election day could result in badly needed school buildings going unbuilt.
State Sen. Sheila Garcia (D-Houston) pointed out that at the election when Huffines himself was elected to the Senate, turnout was only 13% and asked why his bill covers only bond elections and not candidates.
Garcia said if the question is low voter turnout, the key is to increase the turnout.
"Let's work on registering voters," she said. "Let's work on voter education campaigns."
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