District 4 election locations, times set

City Council met briefly Tuesday to adopt the schedule for early voting and election day voting in the District 4 race to take over the seat currently held by Council Member Greg Casar. Casar must vacate the Council seat because he is running for Congress. Seven candidates are on the ballot. Early voting will run from Jan. 10-21, and election day is Jan. 25. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir is conducting the election – probably her last one as clerk since she announced her plan to retire at the end of this month.

There are three early voting locations: Chinatown Center at 10901 N. Lamar Blvd.; the city of Austin Permitting and Development office at 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive; and the Gus Garcia Recreation Center, 1201 E. Rundberg Lane. Those sites will also serve as election day polling places. District 4 voters will also be able to cast election day ballots at Sawyer Hall at 1302 E. 51st St., the Virginia Brown Recreation Center at 7500 Blessing Ave., Juan P. Navarro High School at 1201 Payton Gin Road, and YMCA North Austin at 1000 W. Rundberg Lane.

City Clerk Myrna Rios told Council that she and her staff are still counting signatures on a petition that could force the city to hold another election. The petition, from a group seeking to decriminalize possession of marijuana and prevent police from arresting anyone on class A or B possession charges (except under certain circumstances), would also prevent police from executing no-knock search warrants. Currently, officers are instructed not to make an arrest for possession of marijuana unless the investigation involves a “high-priority, felony level narcotics case or the investigation of a violent felony,” according to APD general orders. The general orders prevent officers from executing no-knock warrants except by prior authorization from a judge and a supervisor. If the petition is validated, Council will have the option to adopt the proposed ordinance or call an election.