Since 2019, Hays County voters have enjoyed the benefit of countywide vote centers, making it possible for them to vote on Election Day at locations convenient for them, the same way they do during early voting periods. This means they can vote closer to where they work or where they drop their kids off for school. This has served Hays County well, as we experience explosive growth in both voter registration and voter turnout in high-profile elections.
Nice, right? Well for most of us, perhaps.
But not for Texas State Senator Bob Hall. You see, Sen. Hall has introduced legislation, Senate Bill 990, to do away with vote centers, and return to the old system that ties voters down to a single precinct voting location. Back in the day, that may have made sense: voting equipment and processes were not capable of handling more than a single precinct.
But that was then, and this is now.
Hall is concerned that, after Texas’s almost 20 years of experience with countywide vote centers and more than 30 years of early voting, somehow the Texas Secretary of State and county election officials haven’t been able to figure out how to differentiate among the votes cast by voters in different precincts, at different voting locations, and in different races.
The fact is, the equipment used in countywide vote centers on election day—just like the equipment used for early voting— captures and reports votes cast by precinct, by date, by voting location, and in each race on the ballot. Actual election results are not tallied until after polls close on Election Day.
And the 90 Texas counties that have implemented the vote center program— representing more than eight out of 10 Texas voters— did not embark, willy- nilly, on this program. They had to satisfy strict requirements established by the Texas legislature and pass muster by the Secretary of State.
Hall’s position that the Secretary of State “likes” his idea seems to be something of a stretch. Questioned by the Austin American- Statesman, that office said it “does not offer positions on pending legislation.”
Let’s look at Hall’s bill through the lens of Hays County. That’s where we get a sense of how this bill really affects a significant group of local voters—students at Texas State University. Students can now vote on campus on Election Day. Senate Bill 990 would shut the door to on-campus Election Day voting for the vast majority of students. There’s a real eye opener! Do we want newer voters to be turned off by a restrictive process or turned on by an inclusive process that welcomes participation?
I’ve heard this bill described as a blatant attempt at voter suppression. It’s also been called autocratic and undemocratic. Either way, this bill makes it harder for people to vote.
Hall’s bill has already passed the Texas Senate and was referred to the House Elections Committee, where hearings will begin soon. We cannot risk a repeat of the Senate’s action. We must be sure that our representatives in the House understand that healthy democracy is contingent on greater—not lesser—participation in the electoral process. There is simply too much to lose if we do not.
Jon Leonard
