Hays County Receives Approval For Participation In Countywide Polling Place Program

By, Terra Rivers, Managing Editor

Hays County has been approved to participate in the countywide precinct polling place program for the November 5, 2019, constitutional amendment election.

The Hays County Judge, Ruben Becerra, and Elections Administrator, Jennifer Anderson, received a letter from the Director of Elections Tuesday with official approval Tuesday morning from the Secretary of State’s office on the county’s application for participation in the countywide precinct polling place program.

According to the letter, the county has met the required criteria for participation in the program for this November’s election but will have to apply for “Successful” status with the Secretary of State by December 5, 2019, to continue participation in subsequent elections.

Earlier this year, the county purchased 60 Tenex touchpad e-poll book devices, which were first used in the May 2019 election, and uses a computerized voter registration list that allows instantaneous verification that a voter has not already voted at another polling place.

Section 43.007 of the Election Code requires a county participating in the countywide polling place program to have at least one countywide polling place in each commissioners’ court precinct; the number of polling places within a commissioners’ court precinct may not exceed more than twice the number of countywide polling places located in any other commissioners’ court precinct.

Hays County intends to have 12 polling places in Precincts 1 and 2 and 6 in precincts 3 and 4 on Election Day.

The documentation provided by Hays County states the county will use the new Hays Consolidated Independent School District Transportation Building as one of its 12 polling places.

However, the county will use the Goforth Water Supply Building in Precinct 2 until the transportation building is completed, which is not expected until after the 2019 General Election.

In March 2019, the Hays County Commissioners Court approved a resolution in support of participating in the countywide polling place program, which allows residents to vote at any polling place in the county on Election Day. 

The program received overwhelming support from the community at the public hearing held on April 25.

Residents said they believed the program would improve voter participation, lower the number of provisional ballots the county received and remove the confusion for voters regarding their precincts.

“I’ve watched too many times as people who have been waiting hours and hours in line are turned away because they’re not in the right precinct,” Lucy Johnson said during the public hearing. “Thank goodness I have a car and can drive to the Hays County Government Center to vote early. Not everyone has that opportunity.”