What's New at the Elections Division?

The Primary Election date is in "limbo"

The primary election date is a "moving target" given all the litigation related to redistricting. There are no less than three Federal Courts involved! Rest assured, when the final decisions have been made, there will be a primary election and we will be prepared to conduct it. Our office has been ordered by the Federal Court in Galveston to take no action in preparation for the primary election for Galveston County positions. Until that prohibition is lifted, we are unable to move forward.

As of February 7th, there is no date certain as to when the Primary election will be held. We do know that the various local elections are scheduled for May 12, with early voting scheduled between April 30th and May 8th. Our hope is that the courts will not schedule the primary in such a way as to conflict with the local election schedule.

In the meantime, the chairs of the Republican and Democrat parties are making what preparations they can, given the state of flux we find ourselves in. We will be working closely with the county chairs of both the Parties to make sure this election goes smoothly. Take a look at the revised election calendar to get an idea of what is involved!

Here is a good source for information on redistricting.

Candidates: You may be interested in reading the information on the Secretary of State's Website.

Election Training Takes Flight

see the report
For the first time ever, for the November 2011 election over 95% of the election workers attended training!

We used Vote Centers in the November 2011 election.

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! Give us feedback. How did it work for you?

Vote Centers will not be used in the primary election, but our plan is to use them in the November 2012 election while expanding the number of voting sites from 34 up to as many as 52.

For the first time ever, we used electronic poll books.

This was designed to speed up the sign in process and allow us to ensure that you received the correct ballot. Voters and election workers alike liked the introduction of this equipment. Both the Republican and Democrat parties have decided to use them in their primary elections. In addition several of the local entities will be using them in the May 2012 elections.

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