Monday, February 29, 2016
Supreme Court To Hear Texas Abortion Case
Updated Monday, February 29, 2016 @ 8:00 PM
The Supreme Court this week will hear arguments in the Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt case, which challenges the 2013 House Bill 2 Texas law threatening to close 13 of the 20 women's health care clinics that remain open in Texas. In addition to other reproductive health care services, those clinics provide abortions in the state.
This case challenges the constitutionality of two provisions of the HB2 law regulating abortion in Texas. One provision requires doctors who perform abortions to have privileges to admit patients to a local hospital; the other requires abortion clinics to have facilities that are comparable to outpatient surgical centers. Inside the courtroom, lawyers for the state of Texas' tell the judges HB2 provisions are constitutional because they are intended to protect women’s health. Outside the courtroom, state leaders like Texas Governor Greg Abbott have admitted that the law is intended to limit abortion as much as possible.
Last June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned a federal district judge's October 2013 ruling that HB2 violates the constitutional rights of women who seek an abortion as one of their reproductive health care options. The Fifth Circuit's ruling would have allowed the state to immediately enforce all provisions of HB2.
Immediately following that Fifth Circuit ruling, the Supreme Court granted plaintiff's petition asking the high court to temporarily blocked that appellate court's ruling, and Texas' enforcement of the HB2 law, pending appeal. The plaintiffs argue the law offers little to no medical benefits to women and that the real intent of the law is to close clinics and limit women’s access to abortions.
The Fifth Circuit gave a sweeping 56 page endorsement of Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) law legislation anti-abortion lawmakers in Texas and other states have adopted in recent years to make abortion unavailable.
Original Post Date June 29, 2015
In a 5-4 order, the Supreme Court today temporarily blocked a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that was set to close all but nine abortion clinics in Texas by July 1. All 20 abortion clinics open in Texas today will be able to remain open as a result of this temporary order. The Chief Justice, Justice Scalia, Justice Thomas, and Justice Alito opposed the application, according to the Supreme Court's order about the case, Whole Woman's Health, et al. v. Cole, Comm'r, TX DHS, et al.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Collin County 2016 Primary Early Voting Turnout
A total of 74,502 Dem and Rep primary ballots were cast early in Collin Co. through Friday, Feb 26th. Voter traffic on Friday was the heaviest to date with 22,334 ballots cast at early voting centers across the county. The ratio of Early to Election Day turnout will likely be about 50/50, so we will likely see about 75k total votes cast in Collin Co. Texas on Super Tuesday, for a grand total of 150,000 Dem and Rep primary ballots cast. That is well above the official turnout planning estimate of 100,000.
The 2016 cumulative early voting total of 74,502 in-person ballots cast through Friday compares to prior primary year full 11 day early voting totals of:
Out of 500k currently registered voters, 47,907 have voted only in a prior Democratic Party primary, and 79,185 have voted in a prior Republican primary.
This year, 6,859 first time primary voters voted in the Democratic primary and 18,813 first time primary voters voted in the Republican primary.
Of the 47,907 who have voted only in a prior Democratic primary, 7,977 voted early in the 2016 primary. Of the 79,185 who have voted only in a prior Republican primary, 31,795 turned out early in 2016.
Crossover party voting was minimal with 484 prior Republican only voters voting in the Democratic primary, and 2,535 Democrats only voting in the Republican primary.
Of the 11,943 prior swing party primary voters, 4,712 voted Republican and 1,213 voted Democratic Party ballots this year.
Collin County 2016 primary turnout at early voting locations through Friday Feb 26th.
Early primary turnout on Friday 2/26 for the top few EV voting centers:
The 2016 cumulative early voting total of 74,502 in-person ballots cast through Friday compares to prior primary year full 11 day early voting totals of:
- 2014 R+D = 30,263
- 2012 R+D = 28,288
- 2008 R+D = 59,033 (Rep: 23,368 - Dem: 35,665)
Age Group |
VAP | Reg Voters |
% VAP Reg |
Total Voted |
Voted Dem |
% Dem | Voted Rep |
% Rep |
18-19 | 25,548 | 15,453 | 60% | 1,133 | 464 | 0.62% | 669 | 0.90% |
20-24 | 50,490 | 37,243 | 74% | 1,831 | 860 | 1.16% | 971 | 1.31% |
25-29 | 48,949 | 33,748 | 69% | 1,646 | 698 | 0.94% | 948 | 1.27% |
30-34 | 65,262 | 37,971 | 58% | 2,592 | 912 | 1.23% | 1,680 | 2.26% |
35-39 | 74,045 | 45,119 | 61% | 3,468 | 1,073 | 1.44% | 2,395 | 3.22% |
40-44 | 80,977 | 54,029 | 67% | 5,202 | 1,362 | 1.83% | 3,840 | 5.16% |
45-49 | 72,580 | 57,287 | 79% | 6,897 | 1,554 | 2.09% | 5,343 | 7.18% |
50-54 | 67,865 | 54,993 | 81% | 8,615 | 1,733 | 2.33% | 6,882 | 9.25% |
55-59 | 53,330 | 47,295 | 89% | 9,050 | 1,853 | 2.49% | 7,197 | 9.67% |
60-64 | 40,856 | 36,857 | 90% | 9,331 | 1,966 | 2.64% | 7,365 | 9.90% |
65-69 | 33,312 | 31,193 | 94% | 9,602 | 1,844 | 2.48% | 7,758 | 10.43% |
70-74 | 21,918 | 21,392 | 98% | 7,454 | 1,190 | 1.60% | 6,264 | 8.42% |
75-79 | 13,834 | 12,976 | 94% | 4,344 | 602 | 0.81% | 3,742 | 5.03% |
80-84 | 8,743 | 7,694 | 88% | 2,089 | 265 | 0.36% | 1,824 | 2.45% |
85+ | 8,341 | 6,981 | 84% | 1,137 | 157 | 0.21% | 980 | 1.32% |
All | 666,050 | 500,231 | 75% | 74,391 | 16,533 | 22.22% | 57,858 | 77.78% |
Out of 500k currently registered voters, 47,907 have voted only in a prior Democratic Party primary, and 79,185 have voted in a prior Republican primary.
This year, 6,859 first time primary voters voted in the Democratic primary and 18,813 first time primary voters voted in the Republican primary.
Of the 47,907 who have voted only in a prior Democratic primary, 7,977 voted early in the 2016 primary. Of the 79,185 who have voted only in a prior Republican primary, 31,795 turned out early in 2016.
Crossover party voting was minimal with 484 prior Republican only voters voting in the Democratic primary, and 2,535 Democrats only voting in the Republican primary.
Of the 11,943 prior swing party primary voters, 4,712 voted Republican and 1,213 voted Democratic Party ballots this year.
Collin County 2016 primary turnout at early voting locations through Friday Feb 26th.
SITE | Total | Dem | % Dem | Rep | % Rep |
Allen Municipal Complex EV501 | 7,571 | 1,587 | 21% | 5,984 | 79% |
Carpenter Park Recreation Ctr EV601 | 4,789 | 1,330 | 28% | 3,459 | 72% |
Maribelle M. Davis Library EV200 | 3,931 | 1,157 | 29% | 2,774 | 71% |
John & Judy Gay Library EV212 | 6,081 | 1,141 | 19% | 4,940 | 81% |
Renner-Frankford Library EV074 | 4,136 | 1,118 | 27% | 3,018 | 73% |
Haggard Library EV164 | 3,367 | 946 | 28% | 2,421 | 72% |
CC Preston Ridge Campus EV117 | 4,129 | 942 | 23% | 3,187 | 77% |
CC Spring Creek Campus EV050 | 2,282 | 931 | 41% | 1,351 | 59% |
Harrington Library EV602 | 3,145 | 903 | 29% | 2,242 | 71% |
PISD Admin Blvd. EV603 | 3,599 | 758 | 21% | 2,841 | 79% |
Rita & Truett Smith Library EV222 | 3,637 | 705 | 19% | 2,932 | 81% |
Collin County Elections EV504 | 3,771 | 670 | 18% | 3,101 | 82% |
Christ UMC EV211 | 3,143 | 655 | 21% | 2,488 | 79% |
Murphy Community Ctr. EV252 | 2,595 | 634 | 24% | 1,961 | 76% |
Parr Library EV109 | 3,221 | 615 | 19% | 2,606 | 81% |
CC McKinney Campus EV043 | 1,647 | 381 | 23% | 1,266 | 77% |
Fire Station #7 EV172 | 1,920 | 351 | 18% | 1,569 | 82% |
Methodist Richardson Med. EV251 | 1,212 | 335 | 28% | 877 | 72% |
Frisco Senior Center EV194 | 1,424 | 306 | 21% | 1,118 | 79% |
Collin Center Higher Edu. EV202 | 1,142 | 219 | 19% | 923 | 81% |
Lovejoy ISD-Spurgin Admin EV174 | 1,483 | 167 | 11% | 1,316 | 89% |
Texas Star Bank EV165 | 1,076 | 161 | 15% | 915 | 85% |
Prosper Municipal Chambers EV215 | 1,289 | 119 | 9% | 1,170 | 91% |
Princeton City Hall EV214 | 831 | 98 | 12% | 733 | 88% |
Parker City Hall EV176 | 670 | 92 | 14% | 578 | 86% |
Lavon City Hall EV213 | 621 | 83 | 13% | 538 | 87% |
Old Settlers Rec. Center EV516 | 341 | 81 | 24% | 260 | 76% |
Celina ISD Admin Building EV721 | 772 | 67 | 9% | 705 | 91% |
Lucas Community Ctr. EV041 | 656 | 56 | 9% | 600 | 91% |
Farmersville City Hall EV011 | 224 | 26 | 12% | 198 | 88% |
Total | 74,049 | 16,578 | 22% | 57,471 | 78% |
Early primary turnout on Friday 2/26 for the top few EV voting centers:
SITE | Total | Dem | Dem % | Rep | Rep % |
Allen Municipal Complex EV501 | 2,037 | 413 | 20% | 1,624 | 80% |
Carpenter Park Recreation Ctr EV601 | 1,413 | 363 | 26% | 1,050 | 74% |
Renner-Frankford Library EV074 | 1,089 | 299 | 27% | 790 | 73% |
John & Judy Gay Library EV212 | 1,697 | 276 | 16% | 1,421 | 84% |
Maribelle M. Davis Library EV200 | 1,132 | 272 | 24% | 860 | 76% |
CC Spring Creek Campus EV050 | 691 | 266 | 38% | 425 | 62% |
Murphy Community Ctr. EV252 | 922 | 259 | 28% | 663 | 72% |
PISD Admin Blvd. EV603 | 1,152 | 251 | 22% | 901 | 78% |
Harrington Library EV602 | 837 | 251 | 30% | 586 | 70% |
Haggard Library EV164 | 835 | 227 | 27% | 608 | 73% |
CC Preston Ridge Campus EV117 | 1,117 | 221 | 20% | 896 | 80% |
Rita & Truett Smith Library EV222 | 1,093 | 202 | 18% | 891 | 82% |
Parr Library EV109 | 1,069 | 187 | 17% | 882 | 83% |
Christ UMC EV211 | 1,091 | 172 | 16% | 919 | 84% |
Collin County Elections EV504 | 889 | 151 | 17% | 738 | 83% |
Fire Station #7 EV172 | 661 | 135 | 20% | 526 | 80% |
Frisco Senior Center EV194 | 559 | 121 | 22% | 438 | 78% |
Methodist Richardson Med. EV251 | 397 | 113 | 28% | 284 | 72% |
CC McKinney Campus EV043 | 522 | 96 | 18% | 426 | 82% |
Collin Center Higher Edu. EV202 | 378 | 65 | 17% | 313 | 83% |
Texas Star Bank EV165 | 366 | 60 | 16% | 306 | 84% |
Lovejoy ISD-Spurgin Admin EV174 | 499 | 56 | 11% | 443 | 89% |
Prosper Municipal Chambers EV215 | 472 | 38 | 8% | 434 | 92% |
Princeton City Hall EV214 | 286 | 31 | 11% | 255 | 89% |
Parker City Hall EV176 | 235 | 31 | 13% | 204 | 87% |
Old Settlers Rec. Center EV516 | 121 | 28 | 23% | 93 | 77% |
Lucas Community Ctr. EV041 | 323 | 24 | 7% | 299 | 93% |
Lavon City Hall EV213 | 206 | 23 | 11% | 183 | 89% |
Celina ISD Admin Building EV721 | 255 | 13 | 5% | 242 | 95% |
Total | 22,021 | 4,620 | 21% | 17,401 | 79% |
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Texas Early Voting Tuesday 2/16 - Friday 2/26
Registered County voters may vote early at ANY early voting location in Your County. Click here for Collin County early voting information and locations. Early Voting days and hours:
When voters head to the polls, they will need to bring a valid form of ID with them in order to be able to cast their vote. By Texas law, you must present one of the following: (full details)
On our BlogTalkUSA network program "Eyes Wide Open: DemBlogTalk," my cohost Rheana Nevitt Piegols and I celebrated the first day of Texas early voting on Tuesday talking with some of the finest candidates in the state! Our distinguished guests were:
Also on some Collin County ballots are John Bryant for Texas State Representative District 70, and Gnanse Nelson for Texas State Representative District 66.
Not sure if you’re registered to vote in the primary? Find out here.
Voter information:
- Tuesday-Friday, February 16-19: 8am-5pm
- Saturday, February 20: 7am-7pm
- Sunday, February 21: 1-6pm
- Monday-Friday, February 22-26: 7am-7pm
When voters head to the polls, they will need to bring a valid form of ID with them in order to be able to cast their vote. By Texas law, you must present one of the following: (full details)
- Driver’s license
- Texas Election Identification Certificate(free document available through DPS)
- Personal identification card
- License to carry a handgun
- Military ID (must have a photograph)
- United States citizenship certificate (must have a photograph)
- United States passport
Except for the citizenship certificate, all of these forms of ID must be current or have expired in the last 60 days.Early voting lasts from February 16th – 26th. All Texas voters can go to any location in their county during early voting to cast their ballot, not just their neighborhood polling location. You can find more information about early voting in your county, including hours of operation for different polling locations, through the Secretary of State’s website here. On Election Day, March 1st, in most Texas counties you must vote in your precinct -- In Some Counties Including Collin County Registered voters may vote early at ANY voting location in the County on Election day.
On our BlogTalkUSA network program "Eyes Wide Open: DemBlogTalk," my cohost Rheana Nevitt Piegols and I celebrated the first day of Texas early voting on Tuesday talking with some of the finest candidates in the state! Our distinguished guests were:
- Lon Burnam, candidate for Texas Railroad Commission; (About the office)
- Michael Messer, candidate for Collin County Justice of the Peace precinct 3;
- Karen Jacobs, candidate for Texas State Representative House District 33; (Endorsed by Dallas Morning News)
- Denise Hamilton, candidate for Texas State Representative House District 89;
- Scott Coleman, candidate for Texas State Representative House District 67;
- District Judge Dennise Garcia, candidate for Texas Court of Appeals 5th District; and
- Adam Bell, candidate for US House of Representatives from Texas 3rd District! (Endorsed by Dallas Morning News)
Also on some Collin County ballots are John Bryant for Texas State Representative District 70, and Gnanse Nelson for Texas State Representative District 66.
Not sure if you’re registered to vote in the primary? Find out here.
Voter information:
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