Austin's Canvass Is Set for Nov. 17 at 11 A.M. — Here Is the Runoff Calendar Through the January Swearing-In
The City Council makes the Nov. 3 results official on the last day the law allows, and orders the Dec. 12 runoffs in the same meeting. Early voting for the runoffs runs Nov. 30 to Dec. 8, and the new council is sworn in Jan. 6.
AUSTIN — The Austin City Council plans to make the Nov. 3 election results official at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, in the council chambers at City Hall, according to the City Clerk's runoff election calendar, a one-page document created Nov. 5 and reported by Austin Politics. Nov. 17 is the 14th day after the election — the last day the council can canvass — and the calendar says the council will order the Dec. 12 runoffs the same day.
One caveat rides on the date: the canvass 'could be earlier, pending obtaining the election returns from counties,' because Austin stretches into Travis, Williamson and Hays counties and the city needs final returns from each. As of Tuesday morning, no canvass meeting was posted on the city's Legistar calendar, which listed only committee meetings on Nov. 10 and Nov. 12 and the regular council meeting on Nov. 19; a canvass meeting needs at least three business days' notice, and Wednesday, Nov. 11 — Veterans Day — is a state holiday. The window for late ballots closed Monday, Nov. 9, the deadline for overseas and military ballots and for curing mail-ballot envelope problems, and the early voting ballot board has until Nov. 16 to decide which provisional ballots count.
The unofficial counts the canvass will certify sent Districts 1, 3 and 5 to runoffs and settled two seats outright: Selena Xie won District 8 and will replace Council Member Paige Ellis, and Zohaib 'Zo' Qadri starts a second term in District 9. In District 1, Amber Goodwin and Misael Ramos were 73 votes apart in the last race-by-race figures — both more than 10 points ahead of the third-place finisher, so both advance either way — and the District 1 winner replaces Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison. The District 3 and District 5 runoffs decide whether Council Members José Velásquez and Ryan Alter return.
The calendar from here, per the City Clerk's document: the last day to register to vote in the runoff is Thursday, Nov. 12; recount requests in Districts 1, 3, 5 and 9 are due Thursday, Nov. 19, at 2 p.m.; a runoff candidate may withdraw until Friday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m.; mail-ballot applications must be received by Dec. 1; in-person early voting runs Nov. 30 through Dec. 8; Runoff Election Day is Saturday, Dec. 12; the runoff canvass follows on Wednesday, Dec. 23, at 10 a.m.; and the new council members are sworn in on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2027, at 6 p.m.
