Natalia Contreras

Natalia Contreras

Reporter, Votebeat Texas

Natalia Contreras has covered a range of topics as a community journalist including local government, public safety, immigration, and social issues. Natalia comes to Votebeat from the Austin American-Statesman, where her reporting focused on impacts of government policies on communities of color. Natalia previously reported for the Indianapolis Star, where she helped launch the first Spanish-language newsletter, and at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Natalia was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The mistakes didn’t affect the outcome, but they highlighted vulnerabilities of a process that proponents are hailing as a model.

Election officials, Republican party workers pull all-nighter to report results in Texas county’s hand-counted primary.

For a long time, I didn’t want to think or talk about elections or politics. That changed four years ago.

Jim Riley says he won’t give in to demands from Gillespie County's voter fraud activists.

My first two registration applications seemingly disappeared. Here’s what I had to do to get on the roll in time for the 2024 primary.

A new law aimed to increase voting access in rural counties. In South Texas it’s having the opposite effect.

The law, passed unanimously by Republicans, requires counties that offer countywide voting to increase the number of locations — a nearly impossible challenge in some areas.

Republicans in counties large and small are considering ditching machines to count their primary ballots by hand. Only one county is moving forward.

The Texas governor certified the November election results amid multiple lawsuits asking a court to prevent the voter-approved constitutional amendments from taking effect.

A harsh court ruling criticizes Harris County for its ballot paper shortages in 2022. The county’s new election chief pledges to get it right.