UPDATED: Dallas County election results

Michael Davis, says:

Live blog available over at Dallas Progress of the Dallas Prop 1 (Tollway).

Catherine Cuellar, says:

http://dallasprogress.blogspot.com/ Thanks Michael!

Rob Shearer, says:

Does anyone know if there is any Dallas county historical data on early voting numbers versus election day numbers? Do the early voting numbers usually provide a good indication of how the election will end up?

Michael Davis, says:

Rob,

I know this is late (since it's over), but on the Dalcoelections.com website there are archive stats. You can also purchase CD-ROM at the County office.

Usually, early voting is a predictor if the numbers are large. Tonight, most all the precincts stayed the same (early vs. final tallies).

Rob Shearer, says:

Thanks Michael. I'll check it out.

Rob Shearer, says:

I do think it's somewhat encouraging that in addition to the Trinity park project, construction starts on the Woodall Rogers park in Q1 of 2008. There's no question that Dallas is a center for commerce, but adding a little green space around that commerce will be nice.

Scott Doyle, says:

I'd much sooner see the Trinity monies beef up our public transit system. The Dart "expansion" is far overdue and isn't going to help much without major infrastructure changes.

Michael Davis, says:

With the talk on here about DART, check out today's DMN. Lynn Flint Shaw, the new DART Chair, has an op-ed on the need for transit-oriented development as a way to get cars off of the road.

Rawlins Gilliland, says:

Writerinthesky: "Nobody walks"? Sorry Dude, but I live two blocks from a 17 mile inner city forest (the one closer to DT than Inwood that you may or may not know about or where it is) and I 'walk' in it with my dog for hours daily.

Meanwhile, Dallas is a city that essentially was built AFTER the car was king.... unlike, say, Chicago, etc. So it's an apples/oranges world of comparison.

That said: DART has had huge success despite (in the 70s when we voted yes/no for mass transit which Houston has yet to do) NObody except me believed Dallasites would buy into it. Soon I will, less than a mile from me, be able to take DART to Love Field, Deep Ellum, DT, Irving, Carrollton..........

Wake up and smell a young city (already #6 in size) that has an incredible future. Trust me. I know. I grew up here and used to believe it was a lost cause. Today? Dallas IS the future. (And Pegasus News is another prime exhibit for that jury) If you are missing that, then let me take you a few places and tell you more because I have never been so encouraged in my wildest dreams as I am for this city's future. It's not wishful thinking. I've been right for 40 years in my predictions about this city. Truly. And it was always against the grain of conventional thinking by those who insisted Dallas would "always be" this or that, etc.

Scott Doyle, says:

Rawlins, simply having the ability to take the DART somewhere doesn't mean it'll magically alleviate problems. When it takes a fraction as long to drive somewhere versus using DART, nobody's going to bite unless they can't drive. I don't have an hour and a half one-way to travel 6 miles to work. 3 hours a day total travel time versus half an hour? I'm fine paying for gas and maintenance on a vehicle if it saves 2.5 of my 17 waking hours each day.

So screw it, let's just build more roads!

Chad Jones, says:

<a href="http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/48113.html">Population</a> of Dallas County old enough to vote: <b>1,677,258</b> (<em>out of 2,345,815</em>)

<a href="http://dallasprogress.blogspot.com/2007/11/final-blows.html ">Total number</a> of toll road proposition voters: <b>77,296</b> (<em>For: 36,313 - 46.98% Against: 40,983 - 53.02%</em>)

<a href="http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2007/07/in_the_hunt_trinityvote_has_it.php">Number</a> of signatures Hunt gathered three months ago, placing referendum on toll road: <b>80,000+</b>

Divide 77,296 by 2,345,815 and you'll find that only <b>4.6%</b> of Dallas County cared to vote on this issue. And more than half of those who signed Hunt's petition didn't either.

...Democracy?

Rawlins Gilliland, says:

Scott, I was talking on a broad broad range of thought ideas. All I can tell you is that yes you are correct but yes, you are the master of where you live and how it works for you. It is relatively ez to get anywhere for me sorta quickly because I know this city backwards and forward and can cut and slice across. But make no mistake; you're right. But so am I.

My feeling is in a nutshell: We need more mass transit convenience and less dependence on cars. But we also need to stop paying a ton to live in 'hot' areas of town that are cramped and absurdly congested. I made no mistake along those lines.

And yes, Nathan, I have lived in SOUTHEAST DALLAS in the Piedmont neighborhood--- (2 miles south of I-30/ north of the neighborhood of Pleasant Grove, south of Urbandale/Parkdale, west of Pleasant Mound for those still clearly dazed and confused) less than two blocks from the northeastern corner of the Trinity Forest (as it became known in '99) for almost 1/4 century...24 years this month. In a 'lesser' diverse racially and economically and any other way... neighborhood where I have seen and felt great harmony and sense of comfort community.

Scott Doyle, says:

Didn't mean to be crude towards you, Rawlins - I'm off my soapbox. Simply frustrated as I feel our priorities in the metroplex are quite jumbled and need some rearrangin'.

I'd happily sacrifice a reasonable amount of time to use public transit rather than my car...both for work and night life. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll have that option within the next 5 years.

Scott Doyle, says:

Actually Chad, democracy is exactly what we've got hiyah.

Honestly I thought it was a shoe-in to pass given the amount of signatures gathered, but there I go presuming people who petitioned for the proposition would actually vote for it themselves. Nobody's fault but their own that not even the majority made it to the polls.

Chad Jones, says:

Yeah, yeah, I know. In other news, this close vote was apparently a "<a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/jragland/stories/110707dnmetragland.34412d1.html">smackdown</a>."

Crispin Reedy, says:

The future is NOT based around the gasoline powered internal combustion engine. Global warming, dirty air, and expensive gas make that a certainty. Too bad Dallas doesn't seem to have the foresight to plan for that.

Chad Jones, says:

The News has a neat breakdown map of which precincts voted which way: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedconte...

Crispin Reedy, says:

I salute you, fellow comrades of the People's Republic of East Dallas! (tm FB) Hee.

Scott Doyle, says:

Awwwwwwwww why'd you do it, Chad?

I was one of only 131 people in my precinct who voted. =( Pretty sure we have that much just in my apartment building. Granted, it was a 9% turnout, still makes me sad.

Michael Davis, says:

Sorry, folks...

The Dallas Elections site is

http://dalcoelections.org/

Howard Wen, says:

Am I the only one who questions the way the election ballot was worded? If you voted "for", then you were actually voting AGAINST the toll. But if you voted "against," you were voting FOR the toll. Doesn't anybody wonder if those voting "against" knew what they were actually voting for (or "against")?

Frankly, the election results did not surprise me. The whole affair reeks of manipulation of the wording by the for-toll road side with the intent to purposely confuse voters.

Scott Doyle, says:

While Lynn Flint's article (linked above by Mike O) well described the need for mass transit, I'm failing to see how anything said there will spark change in the immediate future. Yes, lots of cars = poor air quality. Now that we've recognized a need, what's the solution? Obviously DART is under-utilized and (in my opinion) is quite an inefficient means of transit from an opportunity-cost standpoint. Not enough people use it, and if more start...it's certainly not going to speed up routes.

howardhwen, in the event you see this, the ballot issue has been discussed <a href="http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/nov/08/final-analysis-dallas-elections/">hiyah</a>.