Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ Commission on Voting Issued a Road Map to Boost Turnout, Improve Election Access and Strengthen Civic Participation
As we move closer to the November midterm elections, all systems appear to be gearing up for a historic outcome. San Antonio, Bexar County, and Texas all appear to have the ability to make a significant impact on the outcomes, whether they are local, statewide, or on a national level.
In San Antonio, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has now formed the Mayor’s Commission on Voting to boost voter turnout in the Alamo City. The Commission has spent seven weeks studying “why turnout in municipal elections remains low and developing strategies to make voting more accessible, while encouraging year-round civic participation.”
“It yields the highest voter participation in the long run if people feel like their vote matters and they feel like they’re being heard, but that’s a year-long process,” Ortiz Jones said at a press conference.
The Commission is comprised of three appointees chosen by the mayor and an appointee from each City Council district. Reportedly, the report will serve “as a road map for city leaders, as they consider changes intended to increase voter registration, improve access to elections, and encourage more residents to participate in local government.”
Ortiz Jones said she “wanted the recommendations completed by July 4 to give the city enough time to review the proposals, gather public input, and potentially implement some of them by the November elections.”
Commission Identifies Gaps in Civic Participation
In its letter to the mayor, the Commission pointed out that “while San Antonio is rich in civic assets and community leadership, our current civic participation infrastructure remains fragmented, under-resourced, and insufficient to meet the needs of the nation’s seventh-largest city.”
Additional comments state that the recommendations contained in the report are designed to address these challenges through a comprehensive long-term strategy that treats civic participation not as an occasional activity tied to elections, but as a year-round civic priority.
Commission’s Recommendations
These are the Commission’s nine recommendations:
- Create an Office of Civic Participation with expanded authority, a clearly defined mission and community accountability,
- Expand civic engagement efforts at city-funded venues and locations,
- Establish a Civic Engagement Nonprofit Coordination Roundtable,
- Launch a “Culture of Voting” initiative,
- Expand polling location availability,
- Set annual civic participation goals,
- Establish a Civic Engagement Fund,
- Standardize college dormitory addresses for voter registration; and
- Create a centralized voter information hub.
The Commission’s work comes as Bexar County has approximately 1.3 million registered voters, including nearly 850,000 registered voters within the City of San Antonio, according to Texas Public Radio.
Turnout has remained especially low in local elections. Fewer than 10% of registered voters participated in San Antonio’s May 2025 municipal election, while the June mayoral runoff that elected Ortiz Jones drew 17%. By comparison, nearly 60% of registered voters participated in the November 2024 general election.
Barriers Weaken Community Voice and Trust
Per the Commission’s statement, members stressed that low voter turnout, barriers to accessing reliable voter information, uneven outreach to historically under-represented communities, and limited coordination among public, non-profit, and private sector partners all contribute to a civic participation gap that weakens community voice and public trust.
In retrospect, we have a duty, as voters, to become increasingly aware of the power of our voices and to become more active within the structured spaces being created to increase the impact in those elections that affect many facets of our daily lives.
Elections have benefits and consequences and we can only hope more voters will choose the former as opposed to the latter.
