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Low voter turnout marked the Nov. 7 Constitutional Amendment Election that also included several city, school and emergency service district elections.
City of Beaumont voters largely approved four of five propositions on the Nov. 7 Constitutional Amendment Election ballot, with unofficial results from the Jefferson County Elections Office showing 54% voted against Proposition A, which would have increased city council term limits from two years to four-year staggered terms with three-term limit totaling 12 years in office.
Voters approved Prop. B (85%) to amend the City Charter to require the city council to hold such regular meetings as needed. Prop. C passed with 84% of the vote to amend the City Charter to clarify the authority of the city manager and city council’s roles.
Voters approved Prop. D amending the charter for consistency and compliance with state law and Prop. E. amending charter to delete repetitive and unnecessary provisions.
In Port Neches, voters approved a .25% increase in sales tax and Jim Wallace garnered 59% of the vote to defeat Mike Beaty for the Place 3 council seat.
Nome voters approved a 50% increase in sales tax to 1.5%.
Overall, 13.35% of registered voters in Jefferson County cast ballots, while Hardin County and Orange County both recorded 15% voter turnout.
School elections
Approximately 63% of Silsbee ISD voters rejected a $84.5 million bond, while Orangefield ISD passed a $42.9 million bond with 69% of the vote.
In Sabine Pass ISD, 65% of voters approved a tax rate of $1.05 cents per $100 property valuation.
In the school board race in Port Neches-Groves ISD, Brenda Duhon won the Place 6 seat with 68%, while incumbent Jake Lefort secured the Place 7 seat with 78% of the votes.
ESD elections
Roughly 78% of Hamshire-Fannett area voters approved the creation of Jefferson County Emergency Services District (ESD) No. 5.
Voters in Jefferson County ESD No. 3 and 4 approved a 1.5% tax increase.
A proposal to create Hardin County Emergency Services District No. 7 (Thicket-Votaw VFD) passed with 69% of the votes. Voters in ESD No. 3 approved a 2-cent tax increase.
Constitutional Amendments
The unofficial results from the Nov. 7 Constitutional Amendment Election have been released.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, more than 2.55 million (15%) of registered voters cast ballots in the Constitutional Amendment Election.
Statewide, voters passed 13 of 14 Constitutional amendments. The only one to fail was Prop. 13, which was to increase the mandatory age of retirement for state justices and judges; it received only 37.3% of the vote.
Prop. 4, which increased homestead exemptions from $40,000 to $100,000, passed with 84.4% of the vote, as did Prop. 9 (83.7%), which authorizes a cost-of-living adjustment to the Teacher Retirement System.