Elections

Elections for the City of San Marcos are governed by Article V of the City Charter and the Texas Election Code. The members of the city council shall be elected from the city at large, and each council member shall be elected to occupy a place on the council, such places being numbered and designated 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and mayor. Each council member for places 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 shall hold office for a period of three years, staggered so that two members shall be elected to a regular term each year. The council member elected to the place of mayor shall hold office for a period of two years. 

The City Clerk’s office is responsible for managing municipal elections but contracts with the Hays County Elections Administrator for the conduct of the election. Hays County has switched from precinct-based voting to county-wide voting in vote centers. Voting Center locations and times will be finalized in August. There are currently 36 proposed locations throughout Hays County for Election Day and 11 for Early Voting. 2021 Voting Center Locations and times will be published here. Vote Centers free voters from the need to cast their ballots at a specific polling precinct near their homes, allowing them to vote instead at any vote center in their county. Election Code 43.007 provides additional information on this program.

The City of San Marcos contracts with the Hays County Election Administrator to conduct and oversee its elections.

The voting system that is used is the Verity Duo by Hart Intercivic. This voting system is the newest hybrid voting solution that merges the ease of touchscreen voting with the assurance of paper vote records. View the county’s election page for more information.