AUSTIN, Texas — Early voting for the City of Austin's Proposition A kicks off on April 25, with the special election officially taking place on May 7.
The specially called election ballot item is worded as following:
- City of Austin Proposition A: Shall an initiative ordinance be approved to (1) eliminate enforcement of low-level marijuana offenses and (2) ban the use of “no knock” warrants by Austin police?
- Ciudad de Austin Proposición A: ¿Será aprobada la ordenanza por iniciativa para (1) despenalizar la marijuana en bajo nivel y (2) prohibir las ordenes de “no tocar” por la policía de Austin?
Early voting on Austin's item ends May 3. The last day to request a ballot by mail – received, not postmarked – is April 26.
Texas voters are eligible to vote by mail if:
- They cannot make it to the polls on Election Day because they will be away from the county on Election Day and during early voting;
- They are sick or disabled;
- They are 65 years of age or older; or
- They are confined in jail.
"To vote by mail, a request must be received by your County election official no later than close of regular business on the eleventh day before the election (April 26, 2022)," city officials said. "With some exceptions, the completed ballot must then be returned by the close of polls on Election Day."
The Austin Police Department officially ended most arrests and ticketing for personal marijuana possession in July 2020.
At the time, a memo from then-chief Brian Manley stated that the APD would no longer cite or arrest individuals with sufficient identification for Class A or Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana offenses, "unless there is an immediate threat to a person’s safety or doing so is part of the investigation of a high priority, felony-level narcotics case or the investigation of a violent felony."
A similar initiative is also underway in the city of San Marcos. The organization Mano Amiga is currently gathering signatures in a petition of its own in support of decriminalizing marijuana.
For more information on voter ID laws in Texas, click here.
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