Published: October 29, 2009 09:55 pm      

Voters to cast ballots Tuesday

PALESTINE — Voters who normally vote at voting boxes 7, 13 and 20 will have different voting venues during Tuesday’s Constitutional Amendment Election.

According to Anderson County Elections Administrator Casey Brown, voters using box 7, normally at Washington School, will vote at Pilgrim Hill Baptist Church, located at 301 Lowe St.

Voters using box 13, normally held at Sam Houston School, will vote at the Meals on Wheels of Palestine located at 200 N. Church St.

Those who cast ballots at box 20, normally held at the Senior Citizens Center, will vote at this time at the Abundant Life Ministries located at 119 Kickapoo St.

“These are just temporary moves,” Brown said Thursday afternoon. “Washington and Sam Houston schools are undergoing some renovation and the Palestine (Public) Library is now at the old Senior Citizens Center.”

All other voting locations in the county will be open and held in their normal venues. There are 24 voting stations in Anderson County.

Early voting, which is being held at the Anderson County Courthouse Annex, ends at 5 p.m. today.

Voting Tuesday begins at 7 a.m. and will run until 7 p.m.

Texas voters are being asked to vote on 11 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution.

The following amendments will be on the ballot:

• PROPOSITION 1 — The constitutional amendment authorizing the financing, including through tax increment financing, of the acquisition by municipalities and counties of buffer areas or open spaces adjacent to a military installation for the prevention of the encroachment or for the construction of roadways, utilities, or other infrastructure to protect or promote the mission of the military installation.

• PROPOSITION 2 — The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the ad valorem taxation of a residence homestead solely on the basis of the property’s value as a residence homestead.

• PROPOSITION 3 — The constitutional amendment providing for the uniform standards and procedures for the appraisal of property for ad valorem tax purposes.

• PROPOSITION 4 — The constitutional amendment establishing the national research university fund to enable emerging research universities in this state to achieve national prominence as major research universities and transferring the balance of the higher education fund to the national research university fund.

• PROPOSITION 5 — The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to authorize a single board of equalization for two or more adjoining appraisal entities that elect to provide for consolidated equalizations.

• PROPOSITION 6 — The constitutional amendment authorizing the Veteran’s Land Board to issue general obligation bonds in amounts equal to or less than amounts previously authorized.

• PROPOSITION 7 — The constitutional amendment to allow an officer or enlisted member of the Texas State Guard or other state militia or military force to hold other civil offices.

• PROPOSITION 8 — The constitutional amendment authorizing the state to contribute money, property, and other resources for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of veterans hospitals in this state.

• PROPOSITION 9 — The constitutional amendment to protect the right of the public, individually and collectively, to access and use the public beaches bordering the seaward shore of the Gulf of Mexico.

• PROPOSITION 10 — The constitutional amendment to provide that elected members of the governing boards of emergency services districts may serve terms not to exceed four years.

• PROPOSITION 11 — The constitutional amendment to prohibit the taking, damaging, or destroying of private property for public use unless the action is for the ownership, use, and enjoyment of the property by the state, a political subdivision of the state, the public at large, or entities granted the power of eminent domain under law or for the elimination of urban blight on a particular parcel of property, but not for certain economic development or enhancement of tax revenue purposes, and to limit the legislature’s authority to grant the power of eminent domain to an entity.