Lake Travis Dems to polling place voters: Pay no attention to our candidates on the loudspeaker!

Visit any polling place during voting hours in Texas and you'll pass distance markers, legal postings, and the watchful gaze of poll watchers and election staff. If you happen to step on the wrong eggshell then get ready to hear all about it.

That is, if you're not a member of a local Democrat club in a town just west of Austin. Then, according to various complaints, you can get away with not only violating the distance limit but outright mocking the regulations from a loudspeaker in an open-door rally for candidates. You can even illegally campaign for candidates on ballots just feet away, or be one of the candidates yourself. Neither the election judge, or the county sheriff, or even the media will apparently step in to warn you.

“We’re obviously, like, 40 feet away from a polling place? And there's an investigative reporter from the Texas Tribune here. [laughter] ... So that's all I'm gonna to say about that," said Jonathan Bove, a Democrat-endorsed candidate for Lake Travis Independent School District Board of Trustees, Place 4, according to a recording of the meeting (see below). Bove is opposing John Severance, a Republican-backed candidate for Place 4 on the local school board.

Bove also mentioned the candidacy of Kris Woodcock, Democrat-supported candidate opposing GOP-endorsed Craig Cancienne for Place 5.

Click above for recording.

The Tracker has yet to verify the exact distances involved at the Lakeway Activity Center, about a 22-mile drive from downtown Austin. But the alleged violation of election law was so flagrant on Monday evening before polls closed it led to an apology on social media by Lakeway Mayor Tom Kilgore:

Lakeway Voters. On behalf of the city I accept responsibility and offer my personal apology for the Election Law Violations that occurred this evening at the Lakeway Activity Center. The City Staff reviewed the [Lake Travis] Dems meeting agenda, as it included just a talk b[y] the [Travis County] Sheriff and an author the usual start time of 6 pm was approved. Staff couldn’t anticipate that the group would display a sign, or permit other speakers. The unanticipated result was a meeting that would violate our Election Laws with an open door and amplified sound. We have been committed to improving our Election Integrity, by adding parking and providing law enforcement. We will not make this mistake again. [source: Facebook]

But according to a post by the Travis County Democratic Party on behalf of the Lake Travis Democrats (see screenshot below), a reporter from the Texas Tribune was announced as the main guest who would be addressing the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, school shooting tragedy -- campus safety being a hot issue for school district voters. A time for socializing was also on the agenda. Before an election it is common for candidates to attend and make a plea for last-minute voters and supporters. 

Amplified sound is prohibited within 1,000 feet of a polling place, and campaigning is prohibited within 100 feet.

                              

Lakeway resident and newly elected Travis County Republican Chair Jennifer Fleck wrote to the county Sheriff's office the following on Tuesday:

Last night at the Lakeway Activity Center, a polling location, there was a meeting hosted by the Lake Travis Democrats inside the polling location.  Sheriff Sally Hernandez was present.  

One of the Democrat school board candidates was allowed to electioneer during voting hours over a loud speaker throughout the polling location and the candidate mocked violation of the law.  I have the recording if you are interested.  

It is concerning that the polling place judge, the Sheriff, the Lake Travis Democrat Party leaders, and the President of the Voices for Progress were all OK with violating the Texas Election Code.

I would like to know why the Sheriff allowed this illegal meeting to continue within the 100 foot marker and the sound amplification of the same?  See Texas Election Code 61.003 & 61.004. ...

While the May 2025 Local Election in the Austin area is suffering from low voter turnout, it is nonetheless governed by federal, state, and county election regulations -- the same as the presidential election in November. Enforcement, however, is a different matter, which often relies on the eagle-eye of an election judge and staff, who are recruited by local parties and formally appointed and trained by county election authorities. In addition, volunteer poll watchers are allowed in but must abide by election regs.

Fleck, in a separate letter to Travis County Elections Administrator Dyana Limon-Mercado, noted that while the Lakeway Activity Center has been a very busy polling location in Travis County for many years, the staffing has been predominately Democrats in terms of election judges, alternate judges, and clerks. 

"Not just voting Democrats, but Democrat leaders," Fleck added. "Unfortunately these people have taken advantage of their positions and acted as tyrants who are not held accountable to the law.  They exercise their control as 'Rules for Thee but Not for Me.'"

In her letter to Limon-Mercado, Fleck pointed to a 2023 complaint against an election judge who is now currently vice president of the Lake Travis Democrats.

Fleck requested that in 2026 elections both Republicans and Democrats be appointed to the Lakeway Activity Center polling location. "This has to stop to build trust in the County," she added, also questioning whether polling staff were properly trained in what to do in the event of election law violations.

View of meeting from near the polling place (Source: Facebook and here)

UPDATE (1:07 p.m. 4/30/25): Response from the Travis County Sheriff's Senior Public Information Officer Kristen Dark to Fleck: "Sheriff Hernandez was not in a position to allow or disallow the meeting held by the Lake Travis Democrats. The Election Code is not part of the Texas Penal Code, and therefore is not in her purview, but rather the Election Judge. She attended the meeting by invitation and provided a quick Travis County Sheriff’s Office update. As she left, she had concerns about the proximity of the meeting to the polling location and called a Lakeway City Council member to enquire about it."