Elections

Historic voter turnout could not reach the levels needed to end arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana, and two sitting city council representatives head into a runoff for the mayoral election. Almost half the city council seats were filled by unopposed elections this year. This also ends a two-year stretch during which, for the first time, Lubbock’s city council was seated by a majority of women.

Lubbock's general and special municipal elections on Saturday, May 4, will see many shake-ups, some unopposed replacements, and a proposition to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. Here's what you need to know for Election Day.

This year's elections have already proven to be unique. Early voting alone in Lubbock County this year saw the highest turnout for a city and school May election—early voting and election day turnout combined—since at least 2006, with 26,103 early voters between April 22 and April 30.

Early voting for the May 4th election runs April 22 through April 30. Our reporter Bishop Van Buren has more on what Lubbock residents can expect on the ballot. And KERA's Bill Zeeble reports on a federal appeals court blocking part of a bill requiring book vendors to rate books for sexual content before selling to schools.

Conversations around the proposed ordinance to decriminalize marijuana possession in Lubbock have voters asking questions about what's true, but one Lubbock addiction researcher says the politics are diverting attention from current substance use issues in the city, especially among Lubbock youth.

Today is the last day Texas citizens can register to vote in the May 4th general election. More information at votelubbock.org or from the elections office at 806-775-1338. And KERA's Zara Amaechi reports on pro-Palestinian student groups' concerns in the wake of an executive order issued by Governor Abbott.

A little more than 34,000 people in Lubbock County voted in this year’s primaries if you include early voting. compared to the last presidential primary in 2020, that's a decrease of more than 7,000 voters. Our reporter Samantha Larned visited polling stations around town and asked voters what brought them out and what they thought of the process.

It’s Super Tuesday, and vote centers are open around Lubbock and communities across the country. To find a list of Lubbock County polling locations, click here. The Texas Newsroom’s Julian Aguilar has details on a new report showing the state of Texas could see hundreds of thousands of new citizens cast ballots this year.

Early voting for Texas’ primaries has begun and will run through Friday, March 1. A link to sample ballots and a list of polling locations can be found at votelubbock.org. More than five years since the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum closed down and about 16 years since the loss of Lubbock’s professional hockey team, the Cotton Kings, our reporter Olivia O’Rand has more on the revival of hockey and hockey fans in West Texas.

Today is the last day Texas citizens can register to vote in the primary election coming up on March 5. And Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies reports with Texas near-total ban on abortion without an exception for rape, pregnancies caused by rape are becoming a growing problem in the state.