SAN ANTONIO — With just three weeks to go until an Election Day with much at stake for local and state government, the Bexar County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved 302 polling sites to be operated for voters this year.
Tuesday’s action comes after a judge ordered the county to increase the number of voting centers from 259, following a lawsuit filed the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) on behalf of the Texas Organizing Project (TOP).
Bexar County officials cited staffing challenges when proposing to cut about a third of the least-popular voting sites used in 2020 for the upcoming election, a suggestion which prompted the lawsuit.
TOP argued the county would need 388 voting sites to comply with Texas election code. The plaintiffs and Bexar County's legal teams ultimately agreed that 302 polling sites would operate, a compromise settled upon due in part to time constraints and potential staffing issues.
“We felt that, given where we’re at with this election with early voting starting next week on the 24th, that this was best for voters to just have that certainty of the locations,” said Joaquin Gonzalez, senior supervising attorney for the voting rights program at TCRP.
Gonzalez remains confident in Bexar County’s ability to have enough election workers for the early voting period and Nov. 8.
“The commissioners have said that they’ll put forward the money to hire temporary workers if there is a shortage and Bexar County has operated over 300 locations in the past when there were fewer residents, fewer registered voters (and) the county’s budget was smaller,” Gonzalez said.
Commissioner Tommy Calvert expressed his support for the additional voting sites, which includes a long list of colleges. At the same time, he criticized the county for not doing enough to establish a polling site at the jail, pointing out that Harris County uses its own adult detention center as a polling site.
According to TOP, three-fourths of the 4,000 people incarcerated at the Bexar County jail are eligible voters and rely on mail in voting to cast their ballots. TOP says voting in person would prove more reliable and convenient for the inmates.
Larry Roberson, an attorney with the Bexar County District Attorney's Office, noted there are additional federal and state requirements that must be met.
“It’s also the security issue. It has to be open and accessible to the public. You also have to allow electioneering at least 100 feet outside the location,” Roberson said.
As for future elections, TOP plans on working with Bexar County to come up with a permanent settlement to ensure there’s enough polling sites and no more lawsuits.