What's New at the Elections Division?

Where Do I Vote in the Local Elections?

There are ten separate and distinct local elections being held in Galveston County this spring. Not everybody lives within a jurisdiction that is holding an election -- the City of Galveston is just one example where an election is not being held. In some parts of the county voters will have the opportunity to vote in as many as three different elections -- the people living within the City of Bayou Vista would be just one example.

In an effort to assist voters in finding their appropriate polling place(s) we have posted a list of the various elections, the locations where these elections will be held and the days and hours the polls will be open. If we can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to give us a call (409) 770-5108.

New Outreach Publication:

This week the County Clerk's Office published its first newsletter called "For The Record." A copy is available on-line for your reading enjoyment and to let you catch you up with some of the things happening in the office.

New Procedures Being Tested

In the February 21st Mock Election we will be testing new procedures. For example, we are running the "Zero Tape" ahead of time, in house. We will then leave the last precinct of the tape on the Judge's Booth Controller. When the election workers arrive at their polling place they will check the tape against the public count on the JBC to verify that nobody has voted on the machine before it is used on Election Day. [Too much "Election Jargon?" Here is an explaination!]

What is the purpose of the "Zero Tape" and why does it take so long to run?

Running the "Zero Tape" verifies that no votes have been cast on the election equipment prior to the Judge's Booth Controller (JBC) being used on Election Day. In a normal "precinct-specific" election this takes only a few minutes because only one or two precincts are being run. However, in a countywide vote center election every race for every precinct/ballot style throughout the county must be run at each polling location.

In the November 2012 election that meant that every race needed to be run for 153 precincts/ballot styles. That equaled about 12,000 zeros being run at each polling location. With this many contests and precincts/ballot styles, each "Zero Tape" took between 1-2 hours to run. Because it took so long to complete this process many of our polling locations opened late in the November 2012 election.

If we had seen this coming, we would have taken steps to avoid this problem. Now that we are aware of the issue, we have instituted new procedures to make sure there is not a reoccurance. Our Mock Election is an opportunity to test these new procedures.

Shon Fragoso conducts training for the Galveston County Elections Quick Response Team members as we prepare for the February 21st Mock Election and the May entity election cycle.

Find Your Sample Ballot made easy!
For the November 6, 2012 General Election we added a new feature to our Website which was being "beta tested." It allowed voters to look up their sample ballot. This program was based upon the voter records provided to us by the Registrar's Office. Because the Voter Registrar continued to update her records throughout the Early Voting period, voters were advised that there was the possibility that the sample ballot provided might be incorrect. Comments are still welcome!

UPDATE: Based upon the feedback provided by the Galveston County voters on the "beta test" the Elections Division is asking the County Commissioners to approve the purchase of this software for use in future elections.

Ballots By Mail Update

As of October 18 we have processed over 6,350 requests for a ballot by mail and over 3,450 actual ballots have been received. This means 54.2% of the ballots sent have been received at this point. We expect this percentage to rise as we get closer to election day. October 30th is the last day for us to RECEIVE a ballot by mail application, however, time is of the essence. If you qualify for and want to vote by mail please do not put it off, do it today! You can download an application on this Website. [October 2012]

Galveston Election Results Done in Record Time!

County Clerk Dwight Sullivan noted the efficiency and planning that went into the election night operation. "My staff did an outstanding job from the planning to the support for this election and even the attention to detail that allowed us to complete the reporting of election results by 9:30 p.m." [July 2012]

Elections Division Keeps Busy!

On Election Day the County Clerk's Election Division was fielding between 35-40 calls an hour. The inquiries came from election Judges, workers, and the general public. Many of the calls from voters were individuals wanting to know their precinct number and voting location. The election workers were verifying voter registrations, precinct and state house district information, and seeking guidance on election law issues and procedures. From the feedback we are getting, responses have been prompt and appreciated.

Early Voting Turnout is High in the Primary Runoff Election

Over 12,500 voters cast their ballots during early voting in the Primary Runoff. The table below shows the number of voters who turned out this past week and where they voted.

It's Official!
Galveston Is Now Cleared to Hold Countywide Vote Center Elections

In November 2011 there were thirty four locations where you could vote and each registered voter was able to cast their ballot on Election Day just as if they were in their own precinct! Under recent changes made to the Texas Election Code, if the Secretary of State certifies that a county conducted a successful county-wide vote center election, said county will be allowed to continue to use countywide vote centers on election day during general elections. On June 19th the Secretary of State's Office certified our successful conduct of the November 2011 general election using countywide vote centers.

All that is required at this point is for Commissioners' Court to approve the continued use of these vote centers, something they have indicated they will do.

In November 2011 we had 34 election day voting locations. Our intent is to expand this number for the November 2012 election.

Electronic Poll Books

A couple of updates on our use of the new e-poll books. In November 2011 we used them for the first time and by all accounts they worked well. The e-poll book is designed to speed up the sign in process and allow us to ensure that you receive the correct ballot. Voters and election workers alike, liked the introduction of this equipment.

Both the Republican and Democrat parties used this equipment during the 2012 primary election and did so with great success. They will also be using them in the July 31st runoff election. In addition, with the approval of countywide vote centers the e-poll books will be an essential ingredient.

Should we continue to use e-poll books or go back to using paper poll books?

One local jurisdiction decided to use paper poll books for both Early Voting and on Election day in their runoff election. They based their decision on a belief that the data in the e-poll books was inaccurate. Regardless of whether paper poll books or e-poll books are used both are based upon a database maintained by the Voter Registrar's Office. To the extent that data is accurate, both the paper and e-poll books will be so as well. If inaccuracies are in the database they, also, will be found in the poll books regardless of which version is selected. This local jurisdiction ended up manually transferring early voting information to the election day paper poll books. Using e-poll books would have accomplished this task quickly and efficiently without introducing the possibility of human error.

Voters should know that regardless of what form the poll books take, their use is ONLY to record what people have voted. It has nothing to do with how you cast your ballot.

Because we intend to use countywide vote centers in November 2012 it is the County's plan to continue the use of the e-poll books. As an added benefit, any local jurisdiction that decides to hold a joint election with us will, as a consequence, allow their voters to cast ballots at any voting location in the county on election day and still record their vote in the local election.

Election Training Takes Flight

For the first time ever, for the November 2011 election over 95% of the election workers attended training! This is an increase from about 50-60% in previous election cycles.
see the report

Please stay tuned and visit us often!
If it's new and affects you, you will read it here!