Voting

High school students at Rapoport Academy spent this fall learning about races and candidates. On Election Day they had a say in their future.

While many state and federal offices in the midterm were called late Tuesday night, some ballot items in Lubbock County remained unknown until early Wednesday morning. Delays came as the Lubbock County Elections Office dealt with discrepancies that triggered a recount. Now, with those final – but unofficial – results in hand, our Samantha Larned has more on how Lubbock County voters weighed in.

Deepfakes and AI generated political advertisements are legal in Texas, barring the last 30 days before an election, but studies show members of the public are as uncomfortable with the practice as they are susceptible to believe the ads are human-made.

A federal court in San Antonio has dismissed a lawsuit by three civil rights organizations against the Texas Secretary of State. Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider reports the organizations had sought records related to delays in processing more than half a million Texas voter registration applications. The flesh-eating New World screwworm is spreading across the southern United States, with federal officials now confirming 71 cases since June. Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies reports the fly has now reached Arizona, the most recent cases include four dogs and a cat.

A KERA reporter updated her registration but still landed on the voter suspense list. Here's what to do if it happens to you.

Texas public school districts could lose nearly $300 million in state funding to the voucher program, according to a report from watchdog groups Our Schools Our Democracy and Every Texan. Monday is the last day to register to vote for the November 3 election. Our Riley Wilson reports you can check your status at VoteTexas.gov. You can register or update your information in person at the Lubbock County Elections Office at 1308 Crickets Ave, Lubbock, TX 79401 or by mail to the office at 1308 Crickets Avenue, P.O. Box 10536, Lubbock, TX 79408.

It's not known how many applications have been unprocessed. Counties will receive a backlogged surge less than two weeks before the Oct. 5 deadline to register for the Nov. 3 election.

The Lubbock County Elections Office received a backlog of more than 7,500 voter registrations due to a technical error with the Department of Public Safety's online registration portal. Lubbock County’s new Elections Administrator, Troy Havard, assures voters the backlog will not delay or affect anyone’s ability to vote in the November general election when early voting begins on Oct. 19.

Getting on the list can happen for a number of reasons, but it's not hard to update your registration.

Rural emergency medical service providers from West Texas appeared before Texas’ House State Affairs Committee yesterday, requesting that the legislature expand funding for rural ambulance operators. A Texas nonprofit is giving high-school students a chance to practice voting before they're old enough to cast an official ballot. Texas Public Radio’s Kory Cook reports students can participate individually, even if their school doesn't host an event.