Long Election Lines Mean ‘Great Day for Democracy’

Although many residents complained about long lines and difficulty parking at Tye Preston Memorial Library (TPML) on Election Day, Roxanna Deane, president of the League of Women Voters-Comal Area, described Nov. 5 as a “great day for democracy.”

“No one expected such a great turnout for the constitutional amendments,” said Deane, who also serves as TPML’s library director. “It was a great day for the library with lots of new visitors getting library cards.”

Tye Preston was one of two new vote centers in Canyon Lake. Some 679 Canyon Lake-area residents voted at North Shore United Methodist Church. Vote Centers allow residents to cast ballots at any of the 13 vote centers across the county.

Only Mammen Family Library in Bulverde saw heavier turnout with 1,077 Comal County residents casting ballots there.

A proposed tax increase for Emergency Services District. 3, better known as Canyon Lake Fire/EMS, lost by 12 votes. Unofficial tallies showed 49.86 percent of Canyon Lake residents supported an increase in the maximum rate of the ad valorem tax from eight to 10 cents per $100 valuation while 50.14-percent of voters voted against it.

To view Comal County’s unofficial joint general and special election results for the constitutional amendments, click here.

Comal County turned out at near-record levels for Tuesday’s constitutional amendments election, with both the raw number of voters and turnout percentage coming close to 2013’s recent high (driven by a school district bond election on the same ballot that year), county officials said.

According to Comal County’s Facebook page, these numbers “pale in comparison” to the 68.09-percent and 61.84-percent of registered voters who turned out in the 2016 and 2018 elections, respectively.

Texas Tribune reported only 12-percent of all registered Texas voters actually cast ballots on Tuesday.