Daily Briefing: Monday, November 2, 2026

Polls open statewide from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3, the Secretary of State’s office says. Texans cast 7,716,772 ballots in person and by mail during early voting, or 40.53 percent of the state’s 19,041,684 registered voters, according to the state’s early voting records through October 30.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told its contractor on September 24 to demobilize from the “Big Bend 3” border wall project, which spans 56 miles of the Rio Grande from Hudspeth to Presidio counties, a week before a federal judge halted construction across the region, Houston Public Media reported from emails a Presidio County official shared with Marfa Public Radio. A CBP official wrote that the pause came from trouble getting access to private land and the contractor’s demand for more money. The administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to let construction resume.

Demolition of the Kirby Mansion at 2000 Smith Street began Friday, less than a month after the property changed hands, Houston Public Media reported. The house had stood for more than 100 years and was one of the city’s last Tudor Revival homes. Preservation Houston said the new owners did not have a demolition permit.

Justice Minister Mickey Amery on Sunday turned down Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure’s request to either keep the current electoral boundaries or delay the provincial election set for October 18, 2027, CBC News reported. McClure had told legislators that Elections Alberta is stretched thin, in part by the October 19 referendum on separation. Amery wrote that “Alberta law does not guarantee Elections Alberta lengthy advance notice of a general election.” A boundaries advisory panel report is due to be tabled in the legislature Monday.

The Scottish National Party’s Westminster leader, Dave Doogan, told the BBC that if Britain can revisit the 2016 vote to leave the European Union, it should also revisit the 2014 independence referendum, and he said it would be “hypocrisy” not to, BBC News reported Sunday. Downing Street said Friday that a second independence referendum is “off the table.”

Lockhart City Hall hosts a Caldwell County clipboarding event by the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) on Friday, November 6, according to the TNM calendar. On Saturday, November 7, a Llano County team holds an information table on the courthouse square in Llano.