During the May 4 local 选举, voters in Ellis and Montague counties in North Texas overwhelmingly approved REALTOR®-supported propositions to end forced municipal annexation in those counties.

  • Ellis County Prop A passed with 86.89%的批准.
  • Montague County Prop A voters passed with 91% approval.

By voting for these propositions, voters changed their counties from Tier 1 to Tier 2 counties. 在二线县, municipalities wishing to annex property must seek voter approval in the area to be annexed. Municipalities in Tier 1 counties are not required to seek such voter approval before annexing property; however, residents of Tier 1 counties may petition to vote to become Tier 2.

REALTOR® and Montague County property owner Melody Gillespie helped lead her county’s successful campaign.

“Protecting private property rights and our right to vote goes straight to our hearts as REALTORS® to advocate for property owners. We were on the right side of the issue encouraging people not to give up their vote—it’s simply un-Texan,”她说。.

在埃利斯县, property owner Louis Ponder also coordinated campaign efforts in partnership with local REALTORS® to end forced annexation in their county.

“Voters agree that we deserve a say in whether our property is annexed,” Ponder said. “No one should lose the opportunity to have their voice heard through their vote.”

去年, 德州2021十大正规彩票app经纪人® successfully engaged in “Vote For Tier 2” campaigns on the ballot in six Tier 1 counties (Atascosa, 毛石, 约翰逊, 帕克, Palo平托, 和明智的), ending the ability for municipalities in these counties to annex property without voter approval.

The landslide results of these 选举 to stop forced annexation should send a strong message to legislators in Austin, where a proposal is under consideration that would eliminate the process of forced annexation statewide.