There is a constant tug of war between convenience and security in elections. Our fast-paced instant gratification society is eroding the sanctity of our election process. Our nation was founded on the ability to choose who represents you in government and it is essential that your choice, your vote is protected.
Texas has 254 very different counties and many of them have not yet adopted countywide polling, and a few have managed to conduct countywide polling in a positive way. Overall, however, countywide polling has produced unintended consequences. Texas should move away from countywide polling and toward precinct-based polling for Election Day and ultimately for Early Voting as well.
Precinct-based polling improves accuracy, enhances community engagement, helps local candidates reach their voters, makes auditing more efficient and precise, and protects the secrecy of the ballot.
*Disclaimer*
This document is just a guide. Advancing Integrity is not a legal firm and cannot give legal advice. Always refer to the Texas Election Code, Texas Secretary of State, and your County Elections Office.
Convenience
Countywide polling does have the upper hand in convenience. There are typically, but not necessarily, fewer polling locations but voters may utilize any polling location within the county, based on their travel patterns and what works best for them. If they see a “Vote Here” sign they can do just that, as long as it is within their county. Otherwise, the voter must locate the proper polling location for their precinct.
The countywide system accommodates the voter who arrives at the incorrect precinct at 6:30pm on Election Day and doesn’t have time to get to their own precinct before the polls close. In a precinct-based system that voter would have the option to cast a provisional ballot, but it would only be accepted by the Early Voting Ballot Board if they determined the voter was, in fact, eligible to vote in that precinct. Every eligible voter should be able to vote, but there must be limits. Elections have guidelines and deadlines for a reason and voters do need to take some personal responsibility for arriving in time and in the correct place.
All voters would benefit from taking the time to visit the website of their county’s Elections Office or give them a call prior to the election. They can confirm their registration is accurate and find their polling location. From the website they can print their sample ballot, study their choices, and make an informed decision. They can even bring their sample ballot to remind them of those choices and ensure they received the proper ballot style. Voter engagement in the down ballot races would certainly increase if voters followed these steps. This would also make the lines at polling locations move much more quickly. Voters would not be wading through long, complex ballot language for the first time while voting. They could simply obtain their ballot, mark their choices, cast their vote and go on about their day.
Voting should be a planned and serious act, not treated like a fast food run or popping into the convenience store to grab a snack and choosing the one that sounds good at the time. People fought and many died for our ability to vote. People around the world are still fighting and dying for that right. Should we cheapen their sacrifice to save a few moments of our time?
Accuracy
Precinct-based polling means, in its purest form, that voters can cast their ballot at only one location inside their voting precinct. Each voting precinct can vary in geographical size, but cannot contain more than 5,000 registered voters.
Precincts can be consolidated or combined under certain circumstances, but typically in small numbers. Single precincts or combined neighboring precincts are more likely to have the same races and candidates on their ballots, decreasing the chance of voters receiving the wrong ballot style. This also means that a particular precinct’s ballots are kept together, adding to the security and accuracy of precinct returns, chain of custody, and storage.
Community
The power of communication has never been greater. We can easily speak to people around the world with the internet and our cell phones, yet we don’t know the people next door. We don’t get together, let alone vote together.
Election judges and clerks should be people who live in the district and over the years learn the faces and names of the people coming in to vote. Ideally these election workers are Precinct Chairs or block captains who are the political party representatives closest to their constituents.
Precinct chairs are elected or appointed to get to know the voters in their neighborhoods, make an effort to register voters new to the area and notify the voter registrar of voters who have moved away or passed away. These community volunteers can be a check on the system as well as a way to increase voter turnout.
Candidates
Countywide polling makes it more difficult for voters to connect with their local representatives. Candidates or their representatives meeting and greeting voters outside the polling locations can be a great advantage to voters who may still be on the fence between candidates. Local candidates often don’t have the resources to cover every polling location in the county with signs and volunteers. In precinct-based polling they would only have to cover the polling locations inside their districts.
Also, candidate signs and volunteers for multiple districts at one location can lead to voter confusion. Voters may think they have been given the wrong ballot because the names on the signs outside aren’t the same as the ones on their ballots.
Recounts
In countywide polling, ballots go into boxes or bags with other ballots from their polling location. However, recounts must be conducted by precinct. This means that for a small district covering only a few precincts, all of the ballot boxes or bags for the entire county must be opened and sorted.
In counties like Tarrant and Dallas this is a daunting task, adding hours and expenses to the recount. A recount for a precinct chair that was decided by one vote could mean opening hundreds of boxes or bags instead of just one. That leads to a chain of custody nightmare.
Secrecy
The Texas Secretary of State has issued advisories indicating that the secrecy of some voters’ ballots has been compromised. While there is still debate on how to improve secrecy on the ballots that have been cast in previous elections, there is a clear way to protect your ballot secrecy in this election. Vote at the location closest to your home, where your neighbors are most likely to vote.
Each ballot cast has a particular ballot style, a configuration of candidate choices unique to a particular address in a district. For instance, two people could live in Harris County, but also live in two different Texas House districts, so they would have two different ballot styles. The number of ballot styles increases as the size of the districts decreases down to cities or special purpose districts.
So, if there are 2,000 people in your county with your particular ballot style and they all vote in the same place, it would be very difficult to tell who voted which ballot. However, if you vote in another part of the county and you are the only person to vote at that location with your ballot style, it would be easy to pick your ballot out of the stack and know how you voted. Some improvements have been made by recent legislation, but this potential breach of secrecy still exists.
Overall, the advantages of precinct-based polling outweigh the convenience of countywide polling. A little extra planning ahead of time on the part of the voter is a small price to pay for secure elections.