FROM THE EDITOR
[email protected] GETTING BACK TO COUNTYWIDE VOTING
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. That’s clearly the case in Williamson County with the controversy over balloting sites.
Separating GOP and Democratic voters during the March 3 primary to protect integrity at the ballot box may have started out as a good idea, but the gambit ended in disaster.
A decision to return to countywide polling sites for the May 26 runoff and future elections is a wise choice made by the Williamson County Republican and Democratic parties. Specifically, it means voters go back to the system of voting at any polling place they want.
The Republican Party both here and in Dallas County pushed for the segregated sites on March 3, citing a need to ensure voter fraud wasn’t taking place.
The Democrats had to agree, and they did.
Unfortunately, what evolved was chaos, not security.
In Taylor, for instance, GOP voters showed up at City Hall to cast ballots, just as they had done for a decade, only to be told they had to drive to other locations. Understandably disgruntled, several voters claimed they were being denied the chance to vote. Not true. They were only being told they had to go vote elsewhere. Inconvenient, yes, but not a denial.
Still, that didn’t keep the phones from ringing at media outlets as voters called to complain, with some saying they never received any notification of the change in polling sites.
For the primaries, Taylor City Hall was a Democratic Party voting site for five precincts made up of parts of Hutto, Coupland, Elgin, Pflugerville and south Taylor.
In many locations, the same scenario played out, causing confusion and anger.
In a nutshell, the controversy stems from not only changing assigned precincts on Election Day over countywide voting but also making polling locations party-specific instead of open to all voters.
The decision even set the stage for Texas Supreme Court action after a state district judge ordered polling places in Georgetown to remain open after the 7 p.m. cutoff March 3.
Jose Orta, a poll worker in Taylor since 1996, told commissioners at a recent meeting, “We had a share of irate voters, both Republican and Democrat, who were turned away (from City Hall).”
Claims also flew back and forth about shenanigans at the polls, none of them substantiated. Most were prompted by simple frustration, not facts.
Still, it is clear the electorate is not pleased by this turn of events.
Commissioners have investigated the how, where and why of what happened. Debate will continue for some time, even with a return to countywide balloting.
Meanwhile, things should be a little less hectic during the May 2 contests for school boards and city councils.
Let’s hope so.
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