May 1 Special Election Early Voting Results Are In

Early vote totals are in for the May 1 city of Austin special election, with eight propositions on the ballot, and Proposition B, the "camping ban" backed by Save Austin Now to partially reverse the city's policies on homelessness is leading by a 2-1 margin.

That's probably enough for Prop B to get over the finish line; as of 5 pm, 56,000 people had voted countywide, so those against the measure would need to have done quite well today at mobilizing their voters. (The total early vote for Prop B, which was the highest among the items on the ballot, was 87% of the countywide early vote.)

There's no hope, though, for Proposition F; the "strong mayor" campaign has delivered one of the weakest showings in recent memory, with 86.8% of early voters giving it a thumbs-down. Two of the other charter amendments brought forth by Austinites for Progressive Reform are leading (Propositions D and E), but the final two (Props G and H) are lagging.

That leaves two: Proposition A, backed by Austin's firefighters, is winning handily, and Proposition C, to give City Council authority over the Office of Police Oversight, is also ahead.

PROPOSITION A: Firefighters' contract arbitration

FOR: 71,401 (79.8%) * AGAINST: 18,051 (20.2%)

PROPOSITION B: Restoring partial ban on public camping, etc.

FOR: 57,412 (63.1%) * AGAINST: 33,651 (36.9%)

PROPOSITION C: Office of Police Oversight

FOR: 51,638 (57.6%) * AGAINST: 38,055 (42.4%)

PROPOSITION D: Moving mayoral election date

FOR: 56,676 (63.4%) * AGAINST: 32,790 (36.6%)

PROPOSITION E: Ranked choice voting

FOR: 47,111 (53.5%) * AGAINST: 40,910 (46.5%)

PROPOSITION F: Mayor-council system ("strong mayor")

FOR: 11,847 (13.2%) * AGAINST: 77,897 (86.8%)

PROPOSITION G: 11th Council district

FOR: 34,959 (39.8%) * AGAINST: 52,958 (60.2%)

PROPOSITION H: Public campaign financing ("Democracy Dollars")

FOR: 34,289 (38.4%) * AGAINST: 54,979 (61.6%)