Elections Officials Discuss Vote Centers

TYLER — Elections officials from all over Texas came to Tyler Wednesday to learn about election day vote centers, according to a Smith County news release. Smith County Elections Administrator Karen Nelson said 68 people attended the workshop, including elections administrators, county clerks, county judges, county commissioners, and election judges from at least 15 counties. Smith County Commissioners JoAnn Hampton, Jeff Warr and Terry Phillips attended.

Creating a vote center allows residents to vote at any polling location on election day instead of being restricted to their precinct locations. Nelson said a lot of counties are interested in starting vote centers, so organizers had election administrators from Lubbock, Rusk, Navarro, and Grayson counties talk about their experiences. “We learned the strategy of getting this process started,” she said. “It’s been overwhelmingly accepted by voters and election judges” in the above counties.

Lubbock County was the first to create a vote center, which has been a great success, Nelson said. Other counties have since followed in the last couple of years. Nelson said there are 30 counties using election day vote centers. “It solves a lot of problems on election day,” she said. “It makes sense.”

Commissioner Hampton said the county will hold exploratory committee meetings to see how citizens will respond to the idea of creating a vote center. She said it is important to have community input on the issue. There are certain steps to follow in order to create a vote center, including getting approval from the Texas secretary of state. Hampton said she learned a great deal at the workshop. “It would be more convenient for voters on election day and not complicated to find a polling location,” she said.