A total of 58,293 Travis County voters cast ballots early for the May 7 election. The Travis County Clerk’s website showed fewer than 7 percent of registered voters had cast ballots as of the end of the day Tuesday. Austin residents are deciding whether to instruct police not to arrest people with small amounts of marijuana and to ban so-called no-knock warrants that have proved deadly for people caught in the crossfire. Statewide, voters are deciding on two propositions. Prop 1 would lower the tax rate on school district taxes for people 65 and older or with disabilities, while Prop 2 would increase the homestead exemption for school property taxes from $25,000 to $40,000. That in turn will reduce the taxable value of a home, but would also cut into the amount school districts will collect from taxpayers.
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor. More by Jo Clifton