Llano County makes moves toward countywide voting
If a current initiative is successful, Llano County voters may soon be able to cast their ballots at any polling location in the county. As of now, county residents must vote at designated precincts based on their addresses on Election Day.
The Llano County Commissioners Court approved on Monday, Feb. 23, the first tentative step towards joining the Countywide Polling Place Program. The program, which allows voters to cast their ballots at any polling location in the county, is currently used by 96 Texas counties, including Burnet County, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office.
The court just approved Llano County Elections Administrator Andrea Wilson to begin work on an application to the state to make the change.
“I do think it would be a benefit for our county to utilize the countywide polling place program,” Wilson told the court. “It would allow voters to go to any polling location that is set to be a countywide polling location on election day, the same way we do it during early voting.”
The potential switch would not affect the current elections, like the March 3 primary, May 2 local election, and May 26 primary runoff election. The first to be impacted would be the Nov. 3 general election.
With the court’s approval, Wilson will assemble a 14-member Vote Center Advisory Committee made up of representatives from the various political entities within the county. That committee will conduct research and survey the county’s polling sites and ultimately make recommendations to the county on which ones should become the new, permanent locations to be accessible to all residents.
The committee’s recommendations will be made to the court at a public meeting and the court will decide on suitable locations. This information must be submitted to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office by July 27 to make the county eligible for countywide voting by the Nov. 3 general election.
Under current conditions, Llano County voters may cast their ballot at a handful of polling locations throughout the early voting period, but must visit their specific voting precinct’s polling location on Election Day to cast their votes. If the county were to make the switch, voters could cast their ballots at any location throughout voting periods, including on Election Day.
According to Wilson, this would eliminate unnecessary driving and manning of polling locations that receive little to no engagement on election day.
The current application is specifically for the Nov. 3 general election. After that election is completed, the county will then assess voter experiences and determine whether or not to make the permanent move toward countywide voting.