Two election days in May: Your guide to Dallas County voting
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“So, what are we voting on again?”
This might be the question you’re asking yourself as you drive by vote centers in Dallas County and see yard signs promoting everything from Dallas ISD Bond propositions to state attorney general and county judge candidates.
As always, you can refer to Dallas Free Press’ voter guide to verify your voter registration, view your sample ballot, find early voting locations and more. Here are five other things you need to know about the two election cycles this May:
1. Yes, there are two separate election days, and no, you can’t vote for everything all at once.
The upcoming Saturday, May 2 election is a joint and special election for Dallas County municipalities. If you live in within Dallas ISD, you’ll be voting on the $6.2 billion Dallas ISD school bond propositions and potentially choosing a board member, if you live in either district 2 or district 6 . If you live outside of Dallas in the Park Cities or Addison, you’ll be voting on whether to exit the DART agency and forgo its transit services.
Then Tuesday, May 26 is the primary runoff election for the Dallas County Republican and Democratic parties to finalize their county, state and federal candidates for the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election ballot.
2. You can vote anywhere in the county during each May election. Really. Unless …
You may remember the chaos of the March 3 primary election, when more than 12,000 of us showed up to vote centers and found out we were in the wrong place. Dallas County Republican Chairman Allen West, who championed precinct-based voting for the county’s primary election day, agreed to return to countywide vote centers for the May 26 runoff , expressing concerns about exposing his party to “increased risk and voter confusion.”
West resigned soon afterward, and the Dallas County Republican Party has now sued the Dallas County elections department in an attempt to reverse their former chair’s agreement and again force precinct-based voting. That decision, reports Votebeat, is now in the hands of the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals.
3. It’s easy to find out how Dallas ISD’s proposed 2026 bond will impact your neighborhood schools, and how much money you’ll contribute.
The district created a handy dandy calculator where residents can slide to their assessed property value, on a scale between $250,000 and $950,000, to find out how much more they will pay per month and year.
DISD also created a Google folder, organized by trustee district, that profiles each campus’ need and how much bond money will be allocated. Sixty-nine vote centers across Dallas county are open now through April 28 for early voting.
4. Even if you didn’t vote in the March 3 primary elections, you can still vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary runoff if you are registered to vote.
If you voted in the Republican primary on March 3, you can vote only in the Republican party runoff on May 26. The same goes for Democratic primary voters.
But if you didn’t vote in the March 3 primary and you want to vote in the runoff, you can, and because Texas doesn’t require you to register or vote with a particular party, you can choose to cast either a Republican or Democratic ballot.
Next Monday, April 27 is your last chance to register, and early voting lasts from May 18-22.
5. This may be the last time Dallas ISD (or City of Dallas or Dallas College) voters have to remember to vote multiple times in May.
That’s because local advocates and state legislators pushed for a move toward November elections in odd-numbered years (staggered between county, state and national partisan elections, such as this coming November’s) based on evidence that voter turnout would increase.
As a result, the Dallas City Council, and the Dallas ISD and Dallas College boards of trustees, all decided to move their elections to November. After May 2, the next major election for all three entities will be in November 2027.
Did we miss anything you need? Let us know how we can give you more information that will help you and your neighbors cast a ballot.
Otherwise, get out there and vote! We’ll see you at the polls.
Keri Mitchell
Founder + executive director
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Keri Mitchell has spent 20+ years as a community journalist, including 15 years dedicated to community and civic journalism at Dallas’ Advocate magazines. She launched Dallas Free Press in early 2020 with the belief that all neighborhoods deserve reporting and storytelling that values their community and holds leaders accountable.
Mitchell says she is energized by “knowing our work is making an impact — listening to people, telling their stories with strong narratives paired with compelling data that leads to change. I also love spending time in our neighborhoods and with our neighbors, learning from them and working to determine how journalism can be part of the solution to their challenges.”
Mitchell is proud to be the winner of multiple awards during her journalism career including: Finalist in Magazine Feature Reporting (2018) and Finalist in Magazine Investigative Reporting (2017) from Hugh Aynesworth Excellence in Journalism, Best Feature Story (2011) from Texas Community Newspaper Association and Best Magazine Feature (2011) from Dallas Bar Association Philbin Awards.
Areas of Expertise:
local government, education, civic issues, investigative and enterprise reporting
Location Expertise:
Dallas, Texas
Official Title:
Founder + executive director
Email Address:
keri@dallasfreepress.com
