The transition to Voting Centers in Hays County has been long anticipated. Voting Centers will allow residents to vote at any polling location in Hays County, including on Election Day. At an League of Women Voters presentation on transitioning to Voting Centers, the surrounding county election administrators on the panel advised that no historic polling locations be closed in the transition.
I was very disturbed when I learned that the voting center locations were scheduled to be voted on at the next Commissioners Court meeting on 8/13/19, yet we still had no list of what locations were being proposed. A list was finally submitted around close of business on the Friday before the meeting, after there was a post on social media from the County Judge calling the issue out. This is not enough time for interested community groups, such as the League of Women Voters, to study each location and its impact on voter access. For example, Strahan Coliseum was listed for Texas State campus voting instead of the centrally located LBJ Student Center, and Embassy Suites was listed on the east side of I-35 instead of the Health Center on Broadway, which has historically been a polling location in a much more populated area. I appreciate the attempt at sunshine from County Judge Becerra who brought this to the public’s attention. The ability to exercise one’s fundamental right to vote should not be impeded, though it frequently is. If anyone is interested in giving input before the deadline, Commissioners Court is holding a workshop on Voting Centers Monday, August 19, 5 p.m. in Commissioners Courtroom
In October 2018 I helped with on-campus voting at the LBJ Student Center during two early voting days and again on Voting Day, Nov. 6. Students waited for one to three hours, depending on the time of day, to exercise their constitutional right to choose their representation. It was clear that this location was desperately needed for people who live around it, and walk virtually everywhere, because many of them have no car. Those students who do have cars largely park in remote lots due to the expense of the parking permits. To place a polling location anywhere else on campus: at Strahan Coliseum, a mile out, or Campus Ministry, a half mile from the student center and on a street shut down due to construction, are not viable options. During my time assisting at the LBJ Student Center, students were patient but many told me they were late for classes due to the wait and some were even missing tests. Many had to leave. Not having a Voting Center at the Student Center both for early voting and on Election Day would disenfranchise a generation of new voters in Hays County and would, in my opinion, reflect badly on this Court and our County, as the disenfranchisement would look intentional.
Gabrielle Moore
San Marcos
