Skip to main content

Follow Us

Social networking will appear here

Support Us

Join  |   Donate  |   Volunteer  |   Subscribe

Contact Us

Email: info@lwvhaysco.com
Phone: 512-710-5793
LWV Hays County, Texas
P.O. Box 414
Wimberley, TX 78676

 Copyright © 2024 • All Rights Reserved • Terms of Use Privacy Policy • Powered by ClubExpress

Need support? Call ClubExpress M-F 6:30am to 9pm, 1-866-457-2582,support@clubexpress.com

Early Voting is Mon. October 21 – Fri. November 1
Use VOTE411.org to discover all candidates and issues on your ballot.

The window to register to vote or update registration information for the November 5 Election closed October 7


HomeElections & Voting Basics

College Student Voters…

  • Can register in your home counties OR in the county of your college or university

May want to consider voting where you are in school.

  • Advantages:
    • When voting is closer, the complication of getting to vote is lessened.
    • You may not have your own transportation to travel to vote while a student living on campus.
    • It is more likely you will be successful in getting to vote if you register to vote where you live now since Election Day and Early Voting periods are not holidays. The schedule of mid-terms and papers or projects due is likely to make it hard to travel back home to vote on a day when the polling places are open there.
    • Registering to vote where you live now makes it more likely you can vote in local elections, not just major (gubernatorial or presidential) elections
    • Voting where you live allows you the voter to make an impact on the place where you expect to live for four years

Accordion Widget
Register to Vote in Hays County
Register to Vote in Hays County
Accordion Widget
Nonpartisan* vs. Partisan Elections
Nonpartisan* vs. Partisan Elections
There are two basic types of elections. Check out Nonpartisan* vs. Partisan Elections.
Accordion Widget
Local Elections
Local Elections
Types of governmental subdivisions and the schedule options for Local Elections can be found in this section.
Accordion Widget
County Elections
County Elections
A number of races that are for part or all of a county are considered County Elections.
Accordion Widget
State Elections
State Elections
Races that cover more than a single county for an office at the state level are District and State Elections.

Accordion Widget
Runoff Elections
Runoff Elections


Primary elections with no candidate receiving 50% +1 of the vote will go to a Runoff Election.


  • Disadvantages:

Those new to a community may not know:

  • how or where to get registered,
  • where to find information on election timetables,
  • information about local issues,
  • information about candidates,
  • or know when and where to vote

Since Hays County has a League of Women Voters local organization to provide the information voters need and want, those disadvantages vanish – once students learn about the reliable, authoritative, nonpartisan information available from the LWV of Hays County through this website (lwvhaysco.com) and the online voting guide, Vote411.org.


Accordion Widget
Federal Elections
Federal Elections
Federal Elections are the final level of election to discuss.
Accordion Widget
Primary Elections
Primary Elections
 Understand how Primary Elections work.
Accordion Widget
General Elections
General Elections
General Elections give the final outcome for the electoral process (barring runoff elections for races that did not have an outcome that achieved a majority of votes cast.
Texas State University has a polling place on campus at the LBJ Student Center. The League of Women Voters of Hays County and other local voting rights groups fought for students to have a convenient place to vote that would not require separate transportation to get to. If the on-campus location is not well-used by student voters, the county Elections Office could find another polling location.

An effort to remove polling places from colleges and universities was part of legislation introduced by a state representative in 2023. The state LWV was one of many groups that worked hard to ensure that provision was never voted on.

Turnout is one way to ensure that this polling location is renewed for each election.
TX_State_Residence_Hall_Addresses2.jpg

If you live in a Texas State University residence hall, look up the street address here. DO NOT put the name of the residence hall in the address field, just the street address. Where you are asked for your residence address, after the street number add a comma and then add your room number.


For Mailing Address use the street number comma and box number if you have it. Otherwise just write SAME. The residential adviser (if you have one) should help get your voting certificate to you. It will be mailed there in about 30 days.

Ballots can be lengthy. Research candidates using the League of Women Voters print Voters Guide or the online voters guide, Vote411.org.

Nonpartisan* vs. Partisan Elections


Nonpartisan* Elections:  Local Elections


Local elections are city council, school board, or groundwater conservation district elections. Those races are considered nonpartisan  – with candidates not listed or running as a member of a political party.  *However, often one of the parties is backing a particular group or slate of candidates.

Local elections may be held in May or November in Texas.

Some Hays County cities have city council elections in May, with school board elections in November. Others have both in May or November. City council elections have a significant impact on the community, even for those who may live outside of the city limits and are unable to vote in city council elections.

School board elections  impact the communities of students and families they serve. Hays County has four public school districts: Dripping Springs Independent School District, Hays County Consolidated Independent School District, San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District, and Wimberley Independent School District. Boundary lines for school districts are much wider than for cities and the districts provide educational services to multiple communities.

The Hays-Trinity Groundwater Conservation District works to conserve, preserve, recharge and prevent waste of groundwater within western Hays County by regulating the spacing of water wells, their productionlies fully within Hays County, with five districts and elections in November. Because of redistricting, all five seats will be holding elections in 2022, with directors drawing straws on serving a two- or four-year term (full-length terms are four years).

Nonpartisan elections do not have primaries; partisan elections do.

Partisan Races


Partisan races field candidates from differing political parties.
•   Candidates from the two major parties are chosen in a Republican or Democratic party primary.
•   Other parties choose candidates at a convention. Candidates from two other parties, Libertarian and Green Party, may appear on the General Election ballot.
•   Federal, state, and county races list candidates by party and are considered partisan.

Primary and General Elections

Primary Elections


Primary Elections are put on by the two major political parties (Republican and Democratic) on the first Tuesday of even-numbered years. The Hays County  Elections Administrator works with the parties to conduct holding and tallying of the vote. All candidates of those two parties go through a filing process to get on the ballot, choose a campaign treasurer, and provide regular reports of campaign donations and expenditures.

The winners of each race face off with the winner for that race in the other party (if one ran) in the General Election which is held in November. Races with more than two primary candidates may require a runoff election to decide the winner.

Other political parties (such as Green Party and Libertarian) hold nominating conventions to choose their candidates to run for various offices.

Texas primaries are OPEN, meaning voters do not register as a member of a party and can vote in either primary or attend a party convention. But once they vote in that primary or convention, they may not change parties during the primary runoff or convention.

Some counties have such an imbalance between the parties that the primary election results in choosing the next office holder, whether the minority party fields a candidate or not. More info here.

General Elections


General elections are held every two years in Texas on the first Tuesday in November, coinciding with the Federal election calendar. Mid-term elections are in non-Presidential even-numbered years. Major state and county elections are held at the mid-terms. All members of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Texas House of Representatives are elected every two years.

For many races, the candidate must get a majority of the votes (50 percent plus 1) to win, which may not occur if there are three or more candidates in the race.  For other races, including that of Governor of Texas, it takes a plurality to win (the highest number of votes of any of the candidates but less then 50 percent).

Primary voters may vote for any candidate of any party in the general election, no matter how they voted in the primary. Voters can vote in the general election without having voted in the primaries; however in many places the primaries decide the election.

A little more on General Elections can be found here.


Federal Elections


Federal elections occur in even-numbered years with members of the House of Representatives elected every two years, of the  U.S. Senate every six years, and the presidency every four years. Find out more about Federal Elections here.

State Elections


State executive branch elections occur every four years during mid-term election (non-presidential) years. Elections to positions in the legislative or judicial branch occur on other schedules. Learn more here.

County Elections


The county government consists of executive, legislative, and judicial positions too. The County Judge is the county-wide executive presiding over a Commissioners Court of four members from different precincts of the county. Terms and information for those and other county-wide offices can be found here.

Other Elections


Constitutional Amendment Elections are held in November of odd-numbered years. Propositions to amend the state constitution are added to the ballot by the Legislature. The propositions that pass make changes that affect every Texan.

In some locales in Hays County a school board or city council election may be on the ballot along with the propositions to amend the Texas Constitution. Local elections can add propositions to their election ballots as well. School boards sometimes add school bond propositions to fund district projects. Cities can also add propositions to sell bonds to fund parks or other big ticket items. Or those local elections can be held the first Saturday in May.

Direct link to this page: https://lwvhaysco.com/electionsvotingbasics


#nonpartisan          #voterregistration            #votinginfo              #studentvoters               #Hayscountytx

Ask about getting a  ballot by mail by emailing  ballotbymail@co.hays.tx.us.
judybennettcounselling.weebly.com