VoTexas is an election-guide website Clint created to bring Susan Shelton's voting recommendations to a wider audience. Its name compresses “Vote Texas” into VoTexas. The guide focuses largely on Travis County, alongside statewide candidates and issues, with particular attention to the down-ballot races that can disappear beneath the largest campaigns.
Susan, a former executive director of the League of Women Voters of Texas, has shared Democratic and progressive recommendations through a casual mailing list for years. The website gives that work an organized home, preserving its combination of clear answers, personal knowledge, research, and reasoning.
An answer, and why
Susan's recommendations combine research with in-person knowledge of candidates. Her short form makes the reasoning visible: Yes, No, or Toss Up, followed by a direct explanation of why.
The last option is especially useful. A procedural change might reduce bureaucracy while removing an opportunity for a public vote. Susan can explain that tradeoff, say how she intends to vote, and give someone with different priorities enough information to disagree. A toss-up is still an informative answer.
The explanations can be practical, pointed, and personal. In the examples Clint supplied, meeting schedules and a finance-report deadline receive the same plain-language attention as more contentious proposals. They sound like someone explaining a judgment, including the assumptions behind it.
Every race matters
Susan emphasizes the importance of down-ballot choices. Local officials and ballot measures make decisions that affect daily life, even when they receive little of the attention devoted to the top of the ticket.
VoTexas gives those decisions room. Its quick list supports a short review, fuller explanations let readers examine the reasoning, and the print view carries the guide beyond the screen. Clint built it to extend the reach of work Susan was already doing.
Building the guide
The PHP and MySQL application organizes elections, nested sections, and recommendations. Publication state separates preparation from public presentation; an archive distinguishes earlier elections from the current edition. The printable guide follows the same content structure.
AI assisted both design and development. Clint's sunrise photograph supplies the hero image. These choices serve the reading task: find the race, see the recommendation, understand why.