SAN ANTONIO — Elections officials are reminding everyone to do their homework, be prepared and be patient as they hit the polls on Election Day on Tuesday.
Jacque Callanen, Bexar County's elections administrator, said in a press conference Monday that after a big start the first week of early voting, interest dropped off toward the end.
"We started out like gangbusters, remember how excited we were? We were off the charts. When we finished, we were a little bit down, we were on a downhill slide," Callanen said.
Callanen said early voting resulted in a 46.9 percent turnout out of the Bexar County voters who were registered in this elections. She did say that did not include ballots by mail that had not been processed yet. She said they expect 150,000-160,000 voters on Tuesday.
But, she says Tuesday will be a different story, and voters should expect long wait times and parking issues. Many school districts canceled classes Tuesday to keep students away from the schools that also function as polling locations.
"So many of those school districts have made tomorrow an in-service day. So there is not going to be students there. Which is going to alleviate some of the parking issues, traffic issues," Callanen said.
Since many schools are not in session on Election Day, they expect people will have their kids with them. Texas elections law says any kid under 18 is allowed to accompany their parents into the voting booth. However, because of the rule that cell phones, tablets and laptops are not allowed within 100 feet of polling locations, they will not be able to use phones or tablets for entertainment.
Callanen said there a lot of misunderstanding about the cell phone law during early voting.
"That was an issue in early voting. Since there were no cell phones at the polling site, that also means, when we asked ID, please don't tell the [poll worker], 'I have it on my phone,'" Callanen said. "We have to see the hard copy. So we send them back out to their cars."
Callanen said in Bexar County, there are 2500 voting machines across 302 poll sites. Poll workers received their supplies and marching orders in a day-long event held Saturday by the elections office.
"Sometimes technology has glitches. We know that, we are prepared for that. We have techs out in the field that will be available," Callanen said. "We assign them anywhere from five to seven poll sites and they stay in that area all day."
Bexar County allows anyone to vote at any location, you do not have to stick to a particular precinct.
Callanen said there is a priority list and a posting at every site for people who use a walker, cane, or cannot stand in a line.
"They can go immediately inside to the front of the line," she said.
As a reminder, voters are not allowed to wear badges or attire related to a candidate or measure appearing on the ballot within 100 feet of the polling location. You also must have some form of ID with you. Check out the list below:
- A state driver’s license, issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
- A Texas election identification certificate, issued by DPS.
- A Texas personal identification card issued, by DPS.
- A Texas license to carry a handgun issued, by DPS.
- A U.S. military ID card with a personal photo.
- A U.S. citizenship certificate with a personal photo.
- A U.S. passport.