COUNTY
Harris County may allow voters to vote at any polling location in future elections BY SHAWN ARRAJJ
up to speak on the voting center proposal at the Jan. 8 meeting. Pro- ponents said the centers would likely increase voter turnout while reducing the number of people who cannot vote because they go to the wrong polling location and cannot get to the correct location before polls close. Other speakers cautioned about possible unintended consequences when it comes to consolidating polling places. Commissioners Jack Cagle and Rod- ney Ellis both emphasized the impor- tance of keeping the public engaged and making sure any consolidation of polling places does not catch people off guard or disenfranchise voters. Ellis said he did not want the focus to be on saving money when debating a consolidation. “We need to ... do something differ- ent than what we have been doing to get people out [to vote],” Ellis said. The public hearing was recessed with plans to reopen it at a future Commissioners Court meeting. After the public hearings, Trautman said she will bring the proposal back at
she campaigned on last year. She said the change led to increased voter participation in other places where it has been implemented. Trautman said if the county moves forward with the transition, it would be best to start with a smaller election, citing the upcoming school board elections that will take place within several county districts in May. Trautman proposed leaving all 700 election day polling locations open for at least the first few elections. Over time she said the county can look over voting patterns to determine if polling locations should be consolidated or relocated. “We would check with the commu- nity before consolidating any existing voting locations,” she said. Any change to polling locations would also have to be approved by Harris County Commissioners Court, which reviews a full list of polling locations before each election, Traut- man said. Around 30 residents and represen- tatives from community groups signed
a future meeting, at which point commissioners would vote on whether to apply to the secretary of state’s office for permission to implement the program.
Harris County commissioners took the first step Jan. 8 in a process to evaluate whether the county should use election day voting centers in future elections. If the county does move forward with such a plan, voters on election day will be allowed to cast ballots at any of the 700 polling locations across the county. Harris County voters can currently vote at any polling location during the early voting period but must vote at specific locations on elec- tion day, depending on what precinct they live in. If approved by commissioners, the county would need to get permission from the Texas Secretary of State before switching to voting centers, Harris County Clerk Diane Trautman said. Election day voting centers are used in 52 other Texas counties, she said, including Travis and Collin counties. Trautman, who expressed support for election day voting centers at the meeting, said the issue was something
A change to Harris County’s voting practices could allow residents to vote at any county voting center.
Registered voters could vote at any of the 700 VOTING CENTERS .
The practice is used in 52 TEXAS COUNTIES .
Voting centers could be implemented as soon as MAY 4 for local elections.
SOURCE:HARRISCOUNTYCLERK’SOFFICE/ COMMUNITY IMPACTNEWSPAPER
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