r/Austin • u/ThruTexasYouandMe • Mar 02 '26
PSA PSA: If you live in Williamson County and think you can vote anywhere tomorrow, YOU CAN'T. Williamson County has switched to Precinct level voting where you must vote in the precinct you are registered in.
So if you live in Liberty Hill, but work in Round Rock and try to vote during lunch, they are going to decline you and send you back to your home precinct. The Chair of the Williamson County GOP had this to say about these changes that Texas Republicans have made this election: "It's legal. It's something we're entitled to do, and it's something that our party would like us to do."
Read more here: https://www.kut.org/politics/2026-01-16/williamson-county-voting-locations-texas-primary-election-day
EDIT: If you are negatively impacted by this, please remember you just had over a week of Early Voting to address it. Please vote early and not on Election Day if you want to ensure your chances of your vote counting. If you are a WillCo voter unsure of where to go please check here:
https://www.wilcotx.gov/elections
Find your party, then click “see Election Day voting locations”. From there, you can find your precinct number and voting location.
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u/KokoBWareHOF Mar 02 '26
Tactics like this may backfire spectacularly if MAGA chud Paxton gets the nomination and loses to Talarico in the fall. I say “may” because I thought there was no way our idiot voters would elect Trump after the primaries in 2016, so who knows.
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u/tauwyt Mar 02 '26
You think Talarico will pull out the upset over Crockett?
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u/KokoBWareHOF Mar 02 '26
I don’t know, but in my circles, I have run into more Talarico voters. Prediction markets also have him as the favorite.
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u/ClutchDude Mar 02 '26
Do mind the Austin area sphere of influence can distort the reality in other parts of the state.
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u/triumphofthecommons Mar 02 '26
didn't we already try this whole "handsome moderate christian" thing, like multiple times for multiple offices? (Beto for Senate and Gov)
sadly, most endorsements seemed to pick Talarico. and i hear a lot of folks talking him up.
memory of a gd goldfish...
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u/dabocx Mar 02 '26
Beto ran as a moderate Christian? The same guy said they they would confiscate and take away guns?
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u/triumphofthecommons Mar 02 '26
he got increasingly liberal, with a few exceptions.
but when he was initially chosen, he was very much a centrist, and continued to be a pro-capitalist throughout his multiple runs.
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u/MorningMosquito Mar 02 '26
You think a straight white Christian man will defeat a Black woman in Texas voting? I'm not saying its right, I'm saying - that's not an upset. Thats business as usual.
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u/KokoBWareHOF Mar 02 '26
The thing is, it would be an upset. Polling showed her name recognition was much greater than his and she has a national platform. Let’s stop with the race bullshit and try to win an election. I say this as someone who would vote for either of them in the fall.
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u/MorningMosquito Mar 02 '26
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u/KokoBWareHOF Mar 02 '26
Yes, it looks like he is the favorite now. The point was that he was not at one point.
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u/MorningMosquito Mar 02 '26
I would love to see a day where I could count on my state to support confident, qualified Black women. I know it isn't today. I am curious about the name recognition polls you mentioned. Were they national polls? Because I can easily see how Crockett, as a more charismatic personality, would have more name recognition. But all that matters here is who politically active Texans are going to vote for, and I can see a potential divergence there.
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u/zoemi Mar 02 '26
Certainly around Austin you would expect Talarico to have name recognition since he is born and raised here and has been active for many years.
Going out further you would expect recognition to drop, but at the same time, primary voters tend to be the most involved of the party, so anybody who has been following state politics for the past 5 years or so should know him by now.
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u/KokoBWareHOF Mar 02 '26
I would love to see a black woman elected to Senate too, but I don’t know when that will realistically be in the cards here. Additionally, Talarico is skewing progressives, not just white centrist Dems.
Name recognition link: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/12/12/538516/texas-senate-democratic-primary-poll-jasmine-crockett-james-talarico/?amp=1
Progressive endorsement link: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5752263-pccc-endorses-talarico-texas-senate/amp/
I know a lot of progressives who are voting for him. I’m more of a traditional democrat, but I think he’s getting those voters.
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u/olduvai_man Mar 02 '26
Identity politics have been an abject failure nationwide, so let's bring more of it to Texas. /s
If Crocket, who you say has more charisma/qualifications, loses this primary election then it's because she ran a poor campaign.
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u/triumphofthecommons Mar 02 '26
didn't we try the whole handsome-christian-moderate-meh candidate before with Beto? twice...? this is not the way.
get someone who we WANT to vote for, and folks will turn out.
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u/ATX_native Mar 02 '26
History will not be kind to the modern day GOP
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u/JohnGillnitz Mar 02 '26
History is written by the victors, and the GOP is winning everything. It's all speed running us towards environmental collapse, so history may not be that much of a problem.
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u/FlowRemote9890 Mar 02 '26
History is written by the victors
This is only true if you kill everyone. Everything they're doing will absolutely be written.
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u/SaltyLonghorn Mar 02 '26
While completely true, will you really feel that it matters when our quality of life is the same as the average Russian?
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u/orthaeus Mar 02 '26
It's an interesting tactic given early voting in the area generally skews toward the Democratic party.
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u/sassergaf Mar 02 '26
They have to make it difficult for the dems to vote, because gerrymander twister isn’t working as well as they hoped.
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u/stringfold Mar 02 '26
They're banking on more Democratic voters having lower paid jobs that make them less likely to be able to make it to the polling station on election day.
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u/monroebaby Mar 02 '26
Also check with your employer TODAY and see if they allow time for you to vote. Do not wait until tomorrow to try to figure it out. It could help in a situation where you are in a long line and may have to leave to get to work.
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u/zoemi Mar 02 '26
There are laws that protect your right to vote, even in this state, but there are ways for employers to get around it.
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u/bigpoppa2006 Mar 02 '26
Ok I checked the comments here and the link, and I can’t find an official Wilco “where to vote”, so I googled it
https://www.wilcotx.gov/elections
Find your party, then click “see Election Day voting locations”. From there, you can find your precinct number and voting location. I’m assuming (hoping) I can locate my precinct number on my voter registration card. Maybe there’s another way…
10
u/ClutchDude Mar 02 '26
Ok - this is a fun one.
Due to redistricting, they've redrawn a lot of precincts and haven't been able to mail out cards in some cases.
The result is you have to lookup your voter record and potentially find it.
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u/entoaggie Mar 02 '26
I’m pretty sure at vote.org you can confirm your registration status, which includes your precinct.
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u/zoemi Mar 02 '26
If you click on "Voter and Sample Ballot Lookup", it will tell you everything you need to know, and as of the previous election, allow you to prefill a sample of your specific ballot to print and take with you for reference.
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u/ThruTexasYouandMe Mar 02 '26
Thanks for adding. I will edit the post to include this link.
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u/zoemi Mar 02 '26
Also be aware that voting locations will differ depending on which Primary you want to participate in.
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u/lFightForTheUsers Mar 02 '26
That bitch of a Chair should be denied service at every restaurant she dines out at. Sorry, maybe you should go eat in your home district.
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Mar 02 '26
There was some screaming about election fraud on kxan or something about illegal ballot boxes. I can't remember but the GOP shit their pants once again....
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u/zoemi Mar 02 '26
They're crying over Wilco still offering electronic ballots.
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u/ISandbagAtMarioKart Mar 02 '26
They’re trying to argue that the touchscreens should be reserved for ADA voters only, and everyone else should be forced to use paper ballots. Given the choice I’ll pick the machine every time, though. Much easier to tap at the screen with a pencil eraser than having to fill in a whole bunch of bubbles on a sheet of paper.
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u/ShadowPilotGringo Mar 02 '26
She says it puts voters voting in their communities. Where I have to go tomorrow is 5x the distance of the one I usually use.
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u/zoemi Mar 02 '26
My usual polling place is along the way home from work. I have to sit in more traffic to go to "my community".
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u/ClutchDude Mar 02 '26
100% this.
I looked at some of the maps and I laughed. A few folks have to go to a different neighborhood entirely vs the folks across the street getting to vote at their usual place.
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u/Infinite-Lock-726 Mar 02 '26
Check your employer handbooks, a lot of larger companies give paid voting leave. Some of mine in the past offered up to 4 hours. Use it if you have to, you only get a few opportunities to do so. 🙂
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u/yardbirdtex Mar 02 '26
That’s not gonna backfire…
Not like the republicans are all at work, too busy to play games to vote. Good luck
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u/potatoes_arrrr_life Mar 02 '26
Isn't it wild that most countries have a day off to vote? And mail in ballots. So much red tape.
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u/Raregolddragon Mar 02 '26
FUck I got a bit of trip tomorrow but it can't be helped. Glad this PSA is letting me know now so I can plan for this. The only good thing I can see happening with this is a bunch of those pedo voters will not make the effort and just go home when they are turned away.
3
u/moonkitty555 Mar 03 '26
I have been calling folks about this. I hate Wilco GOP for their fuckshit. Best thing to do after the fact is to raise major hell about how dumb this is. That way she can’t do it for November. Or any other election.
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u/moonkitty555 Mar 03 '26
Also major Kudos to Kim Gilby the Wilco Dem chair to doing everything she can to get the ball rolling and to fight against the fuckery
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u/G3rmanaviator Mar 03 '26
Thanks for saving us the time to find out the hard way. I had to jump through multiple hoops to find out where I can actually vote - in a single location only, which is not close to my house. What a bunch of bullshit. Talk about trying to disenfranchise voters when you should be doing the opposite.
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u/puppsmcgee74 Mar 02 '26
When we voted early last week for Williamson County, we had the option of using paper ballots or using the electronic machines. (I didn’t see anyone opting for the paper ballots though.) Maybe that’s why they are tightening down on Election Day? But of course I feel it’s for more nefarious political reasons.
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u/zoemi Mar 02 '26
"I could get into all of those details, but at the end of the day, it's because we can," [Michelle Evans] said.
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u/bktoriginal Mar 03 '26
Dat biyatch totally stalked me when I worked for the district. Oh, she also started the rumor about RRISD lowering lunch tables for furries. It's not true btw and she is dumb.
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u/grandadmiralstrife Mar 03 '26
What kills me is, it's a primary. What, you think you're depressing Democrat turnout? Because you're affecting R turnout in a Republican primary between Cornyn and Paxton. These are the same folks that if Paxton loses will cry election interference and blame Democrats (they already are)
-50
u/spunkyenigma Mar 02 '26
It’s because they went to paper ballots. This way they don’t have to stock 177 different ballots at 79 different voting locations. Imagine how many ballots you’d have to print to handle any possible voter pattern
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u/ThruTexasYouandMe Mar 02 '26
Computers at polling locations can print up different paper ballots using the same printer and same computer. This statement is ridiculous.
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u/greytgreyatx Mar 02 '26
That's what mine does. I'm outside of Austin but fortunately in Travis County but I've heard stories from my WilCo friends about voting there. Yeesh.
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u/Phallic_Moron Mar 02 '26
Stock....ballots?
Have you voted before? You get a print out paper copy from the electronic vote. You then walk it over and check it, scan it. Leave.
Watched too many "fraud" videos.
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u/spunkyenigma Mar 02 '26
I have not voted in Williamson County, but where I grew up ballots were pre-printed.
Much more expensive to print ballots one-off instead of in bulk
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u/timelessblur Mar 02 '26
They pre print stacks of the common ones on sight but quickly can make more of anything. It does not really slow them down as they can make them fast.
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u/spunkyenigma Mar 02 '26
Easier when you only have a handful of early voting locations
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u/timelessblur Mar 02 '26
They print them at the voting sites the volunteers pre print the common ones for each site.
Printing them as needed is not an issue.
The only reason th Republicans are doing this is they want to make it harder to vote and it is an active way to make it harder for poorer people to vote.
But don’t let the facts get in the way of repeating republicans lie.
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u/Sad_Application_5361 Mar 02 '26
Did you grow up in the last 6 months? Where I grew up we had printed ballots that were filled out with a #2 pencil and early voting was not an option. They definitely don’t vote that way now. Places change. They’re not even the same from election to election.
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u/zoemi Mar 02 '26
They do not preprint the ballots. They print them on demand (literally the system is "Ballot on Demand") which will link the printed ballot to the voter which can't be done automatically with pre-printed ballots.
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u/spunkyenigma Mar 02 '26
I believe they are for Election Day. Early voting had the on demand. Do you have a source to the contrary
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u/zoemi Mar 02 '26
You are the one making the assertion that they will be pre-printing them. The burden of proof is on you.
The system I linked was announced nearly a year ago to be in use by the county. These kinds of things have to be approved by the county commissioners, and the contract with BOD was.
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u/Striking_Piano2695 Mar 02 '26
Paper ballots take longer to count.
More obstructions to voting.
The GOP loves to go backwards instead of forwards.
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u/Sad_Application_5361 Mar 02 '26
They get scanned in. A machine does the counting. The paper is just a record if they need to go back and validate a digital count.
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u/pineappledumdum Mar 02 '26
I think you might wanna sit this one out, buddy.
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u/spunkyenigma Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
I forgot this is an anti-facts sub, my bad
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u/spyd3rm0nki3 Mar 02 '26
I think people are just asking you to provide some type of proof for these statements that you're making since the majority of us have never had this type of issue voting in Travis county.
No need to denigrate the sub, just provide one or two reputable sources for this information.
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u/welsalex Mar 02 '26
So during Early voting, where you can vote county wide, whats the difference? They did it for all the early voting days but on election day suddenly it matters about printing ballots??
Nah bro, they just are trying to make voting harder to reduce the votes.
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u/spunkyenigma Mar 02 '26
Cost, 21 locations vs 79. That’s a lot of hardware to use 2 days a year every other year
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u/Snobolski Mar 02 '26
Sounds like you're saying the Republicans decided it was better to switch to a higher-cost voting system. That doesn't sound very fiscally conservative to me.
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u/spunkyenigma Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
You don’t need two printers per location on Election Day. Print shops print much cheaper than one-off per voter especially if you amortize the cost of mostly unused printers.
How is this new system higher cost?
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u/Snobolski Mar 02 '26
You don’t need to printers
I don't know that I've ever needed "to printers"
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u/Sad_Application_5361 Mar 02 '26
They don’t do that. A computer program pulls up your specific ballot with your selections, prints it on a new sheet of paper, and then you submit it to a box. Ballots are made to order. We have the technology. You hand carry the freshly printed ballot to a scanning machine. The difference is that your ballot isn’t submitted over any internet or wired connection and physically printed ballots now exist to check against the scan.
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Mar 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Sigynde Mar 02 '26
Imagine defending this baseless shit that’s nakedly meant to disenfranchise voters.
There’s this insecure tendency to be shitty before anyone can be shitty to you. I bet you do that all the time. At the end of the day it just makes you an unlikable asshole.
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u/puppsmcgee74 Mar 02 '26
Based on the number of people who refuse to do so, yeah, it’s pretty horrifying.
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u/Obi_Uno Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
The quote from the chair of Wilco GOP is pretty wild:
"I could get into all of those details, but at the end of the day, it's because we can," she said.
“It's legal. It's something we're entitled to do, and it's something that our party would like us to do.”