How Williamson County Voted: Nov. 5, 2019

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — Voters cast ballots on a pair of propositions in Williamson County and one in Travis County — the former a bond referendum for the issuance of nearly $450 million in bonds to finance roads and parks and the latter on exposition center funding — on Nov. 5, 2019.

Here's how voters weighed in on various matters:

Williamson County Proposition A

• Description: Allows for issuing $400 million in bonds for road work.
• Result: The measure passed, with 62 percent voting in favor of the measure and 38 percent against.

Williamson County Proposition B

• Description: The referendum posed to voters a plan to issue $35 million in bonds for parks and recreational projects.
• Result: Proposition B passed, with 59 percent voting for and 41 percent against.

Despite organized opposition by some residents, the measure passed partially on assurances by county officials the added indebtedness would not increase the county's service tax rate, and the roads would be easily re-paid given the burgeoning tax base in fast-growing Williamson County.

Travis County Proposition A

• Description: This measure asked voters to approve the re-directing of 2 percent of Austin hotel occupancy tax revenue to finance renovation and expansion of the Travis County Exposition Center.
• Result: The measure passed, with 62 percent voting in favor of the proposal and another 38 percent voting against it.

In terms of voter turnout, about 14 percent of registered voters turned up to cast ballots. The total number of ballots cast in Williamson County was 49,422 among the region's pool of 344,244 registered voters.

New voting system unveiled

Williamson County voters took a new ballot-taking system for a spin, with no reported issued. The Williamson County Commissioner's Court on April 30, approved the purchase of a new voting system for Williamson County from Election Systems & Software that includes ExpressVote ballot marking devices and DS200 digital scan precinct tabulators to be available at every Williamson County polling location. The system also features DS850 central high-speed digital scanners and tabulators to be used at Central Count to tabulate ballots received by mail.

The new voting system was put into use for the first time in October 2019 during Early Voting for the November 5, 2019 uniform election.

With the new voting system, voters received a blank ballot at check-in to insert into the ExpressVote ballot marking device and make their selections. After reviewing their selections on the screen, voters printed out their ballot. Once voters reviewed the selections printed on the ballot, they inserted the ballot into the DS200 digital scanner for tabulation. The hybrid system allowed for the convenience and accuracy of electronic voting, as well as the security of an auditable paper ballot that can be used for manual recounts.

For additional information on Williamson County’s new voting system, click HERE