Comal County is joining the growing number of Texas counties pairing electronic ballots with paper — and elections officials are making sure the 120,000-plus registered voters begin to embrace the
Comal Countyâs four justices of the peace and constables made their cases for additional manpower and bigger operating budgets before county commissioners, whose budget workshop entertained more than $116.9 million in 2022 budget requests on Thursday.
The eight offices, two serving each of the countyâs four precincts, said county growth now demands more and more processing of civil and criminal matters and an almost overwhelming glut of paperwork.
The countyâs four justices of the peace, each earning $63,152 annually, try to rotate weekends on legal pronouncements of deaths â from scenes of car accidents, drownings on lakes and rivers, to non-natural deaths in hospitals. Precinct 3 JP Mike Rust said caseloads and death inquests have gone up by â94% or 95%â since 2015.
Tim Hennessee
âWhen people asked if I needed an umbrella I just told them that it didnât bother me â Iâm an old retired Army guy,â said Spradley, who defeated Joy Harvey by 47 votes to win in his first try at elective office.
Others scoring big wins Saturday included District 3 Council Member Harry Bowers, who coasted to an easy reelection victory, Steve Minus, who will succeed four-term retiring incumbent Sherry Harrison as New Braunfels ISDâs District 5 trustee, and Courtney Biasatti, who defeated District 2 Trustee and Comal ISD board President David Drastata, who was seeking a fifth term.
All 18 city charter propositions also passed in unofficial election totals, which indicated 3,269 voters, or 3.89% of 84,034 eligible, participated in at least one of Comal Countyâs five elections, which also included city council races in Garden Ridge and Bulverde.
The largest field of candidates and issues since 2003 await New Braunfels voters, who on Saturday will select city council and charter amendments and New Braunfels and Comal independent school district trustees.
Comal County elections include mayoral and city council races in Garden Ridge and Bulverde, with Guadalupe County voters selecting city council members in Marion and school district trustees in LaVernia, San Marcos and Prairie Lea, which also features a bond measure.
Despite 14 candidates on local ballots, early voting was slow between April 19 and Tuesday. Elections Administrator Cynthia Jaqua said just 3,295 votes were cast at six county polling sites and 343 received through the mail as of Thursday.
Between April 19-27, the city of New Braunfels reported 1,038 in-person early ballots and 231 mail-in ballots were received for the May 1 election. More than 58,700 residents are registered to vote in New Braunfels.
The ballot includes candidates for two City Council positions, 18 city charter amendments, two members of the New Braunfels ISD board of trustees and three members of the Comal ISD board of trustees.
There were a total of 698 in-person votes and 50 mail-in ballots cast during the eight days of early voting for the NBISD election while the CISD election had 545 in-person votes and 68 mail-in ballots.
Candidate Q&A s and information for NBISD, CISD and City Council races can be viewed on the