There will be fewer polling places than usual Tuesday for Election Day — but more opportunities for you to cast a ballot.
Galveston County is participating in a pilot program where registered voters can vote at any of the county’s 40 polling places. They don’t have to go to a poll in a specific precinct.
Say you live in Galveston, but work in League City and want to vote in the Galveston school board election. You can go to any one of the seven polling places on the island — or instead vote at one of the seven polls in League City. You could even decide to stop at a polling place in Dickinson as you drive to or from work.
The electronic voting system the county adopted several years ago makes it possible. Each ballot machine can access any of the precinct-specific ballots in the county.
When the voter presents his or her voter registration card at the poll, the voter is given a code for the e-Slate ballot machine. When that code is entered in the machine, the ballot that comes up is specific to the voter’s precinct.
It’s the same system the county uses for early voting.
Galveston County Clerk Mary Ann Daigle’s office is responsible for coordinating elections in the county.
She said it allows the county to cut costs by reducing the number of polling places by about half, which means fewer workers are needed. Daigle said that as late as Wednesday, the county was scrambling to find enough election workers. Even with fewer polling places, the county was still short about four Spanish-speaking poll workers, she said.
The system also should cut down on the number of provisional ballots. Provisional ballots are cast when voters show up at the wrong precinct, a common occurrence on Election Day, county elections coordinator Douglas Godinich said.
The system is built to prevent a resident of, say, a La Marque precinct from voting in the Santa Fe bond election.
As always, only voters registered in Galveston County can vote at the polling places.
County commissioners approved the pilot program, given the expected light turnout for this election. But don’t expect its return for the primaries in March or the general election in November 2010.
While the Galveston County Republican Party endorsed the concept with a few caveats, the county’s Democratic Party, as well as the NAACP, oppose the concept because the number of polling places is reduced significantly. The Democrats and the NAACP argue cutting the number of polling places erodes voter turnout.
The majority of the commissioners, who would have to approve using super precinct voting in the future, are Democrats. Daigle, also a Democrat, argued the concept should be a “no-brainer, because it’s common sense.”
As it is, the law allowing for the super precinct voting does not apply to elections beyond Tuesday.
There is one exception to the super precinct model, and that is in Friends-wood, where voters are considering lifting restrictions on alcohol sales. The city conducts its own elections and does not contract with the county elections department.
While there are three county polling places in Friendswood, only the polling place at city hall has ballots on the alcohol propositions. Still, Friends-wood voters who want to cast a ballot on the constitutional amendments as well as the city’s alcohol propositions can make just one trip to city hall, instead of going to two separate polling places.
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How To Vote In Galveston County
Step 1: You must be a registered voter in the county. Call Galveston County voter registrar’s office if you aren’t sure 409-766-2280 or 1-888-967-2280.
Step 2: Go to any one of the county’s 40 polling places between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday*.
Step 3: Vote.
* Only exception is for city of Friendswood voters who must vote at city hall to vote on alcohol sales propositions.
