Constitutional election turnout light, but veterans hospital likely for Valley

Cameron County voter turnout was light in Tuesday's Constitutional Amendment Election, but registered voters who cast ballots appeared to support the idea of bringing a veterans hospital to the Rio Grande Valley.

Of the 6,914 votes cast in the election — which include early voting and election day voting — unofficial results showed 5,452 or 80.28 percent of the votes were cast in favor of Proposition No. 8, while 1,339 or 19.72 percent of the votes were cast against, according to early returns provided by the Cameron County Election and Voter Registration Office.

The unofficial results are based on 52 of 52 precincts reporting.

Proposition No. 8 calls for the state to work with the federal government for the construction of a veterans hospital in the Rio Grande Valley.

Earlier in the day, veteran Homer Gallegos remained optimistic that the amendment would be approved by Texas voters.

Gallegos, 62 of McAllen, along with other Valley veterans, traveled throughout Hidalgo and Cameron counties on election day promoting the proposition.

They carried signs and honked horns of cars trying to bring attention to their cause.

"I’m convinced that it will pass," Gallegos, a U.S. Air Force veteran, said in a telephone interview as he rode with a caravan of veterans through Weslaco Tuesday afternoon.

Currently, Valley veterans have to travel to Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital in San Antonio for major surgery. Proposition No. 8 would help with the construction of a full-fledged medical facility.

Treto Garza, 64, of Harlingen, another Valley veteran, echoed Gallegos sentiments as he too rode in a convoy that went from voting precinct to voting precinct in Cameron County.

"There is no doubt in my mind that it will pass. We have been trying to get as many people as we can to get out to vote. There have been a good number of voters," said Garza, a U.S. Marine veteran, but he added not as many people as they hoped were getting out to vote.

The long lines usually seen when elections include actual candidates were nowhere to be seen — because it was a constitutional election, However, late in the afternoon, some precincts were reporting a steady line of voters, said Cameron County Election and Voter Registration Administrator Roger Ortiz.

Although Ortiz predicted a low voter turnout, he had hoped more registered voters would show up at the county’s 52 polling places.

Of Cameron County’s 168,970 registered voters, only 1,441 took advantage of early and mail-in voting , election officials reported. On Tuesday, 5,473 votes were cast at polling places.

Another amendment that also appeared to gain support of voters in Cameron County was Proposition No. 2, which would require residential homesteads located in business districts to be appraised as a residential property and not commercial property.

Unofficial returns showed 4,622 or 69.92 percent votes were cast in favor of the proposition, while 1,988 or 30.08 votes were cast against.

Currently, homesteads in commercial districts are valued as commercial property.