Vote Centers approved for Nov. 3

The Liberty County Elections Department is pleased to announce that the Texas Secretary ofState has approved Liberty County’s request to hold the Nov. 3 election in the Texas Vote Center Program. The availability of the Texas Vote Center Program was passed by the TexasLegislature and is administered by the Secretary of State’s office.

Bringing the program to the county means any Liberty County voter can cast their ballot on Election Day at any voting location within the county. This process will simply mirror what already occurs during Early Voting, extending the convenience of voting anywhere in the county to include Election Day voting.

Participation in this program is the result of the hard work of the Elections Department staff. Two public hearings and an extensive application process had to be successfully completed before participation was granted.

Election workers will no longer have to redirect voters to other polling places as they try to cast their vote, ensuring that all votes are counted. We will now have twenty voting locations in the county, as opposed to thirty, resulting in significant cost savings to local taxpayers. Historically, on Election Day, a voter must cast their ballot at their neighborhood polling place.

For example, take a voter who worked in Houston but lived in Hardin. Houston traffic might be especially slow on Election Day. She drives through Dayton at approximately 6:50 p.m. before voting closes at 7 p.m. There is no way she would make it to Hardin City Hall before 7 p.m. to cast her vote. Under the new program, however, she could vote at Dayton Community Center and not have to vote provisionally, ensuring her vote counts for every race. Thus, voting centers will decrease voter disenfranchisement. Our office strives to better all elections in LibertyCounty through increased security, increased voter turnout. and accurate elections.