Although most issues related to elections are tangential to estate planning, it’s worth keeping local elections in mind.

Local politicians are the most relevant to our daily lives, and are both the easiest to contact and most motivated to resolve day-to-day issues. They are also significant when it comes to concerns such as property taxes, education funding, and allocation of funds toward infrastructure projects. Although it can be difficult to keep track of these elections, the League of Women Voters publishes a regular, nonpartisan guide to help people evaluate candidates by their official platforms and policies. A PDF of the 2022 guide is available here.

If you’d like to check your voter registration, this is a link to the Texas Secretary of State’s online portal. If you’d like to examine the official platforms of the major parties, please click one of the following (some of these may open as PDFs):

Republican Party of Texas / Official Platform       Texas Democratic Party / Official Platform

Libertarian Party of Texas / Official Platform      Green Party / Official Platform

Please remember that, although the sheer number of candidates and initiatives on the ballot for local elections can be intimidating, you are explicitly allowed to bring written notes with you. For more information on your rights as a voter, feel free to browse the ACLU’s quick info on voting rights or the general rules available on the Texas Secretary of State’s website.