[00:00:04]
ALL RIGHT.[I. Call to Order]
WELCOME TO THE JUNE 30TH, 2026 MEETING OF THE BEXAR COUNTY ELECTIONS COMMISSION HERE IN THE DOUBLE HEIGHTS COURTROOM.I'M CALLING THE MEETING TO ORDER.
PLEASE SAY PRESENT WHEN I CALL YOUR NAME, DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR MICHELLE LO SOLI.
PRESENT REPUBLICAN CHAIR CHRIS KONZ, PRESENT TAX ASSESSOR COLLECTOR ALBERT ESTE, YOUR COUNTY CLERK LAR, PRESENT.
BEFORE I SERVED AS YOUR COUNTY JUDGE, THE ELECTIONS COMMISSION HAD NOT MET IN ABOUT TWO DECADES.
WHEN WE CONVENED LAST CONVENED IN THE FIRST MEETING IN DECADES, THIS BODY COMMITTED TO A MORE ROUTINE MEETING TO PROVIDE UPDATES TO THE COMMUNITY, GATHER INPUT, AND GIVE DIRECTION TO OUR ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR.
WE MADE THAT COMMITMENT TO IMPROVE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
WHILE THIS BOARD IS LIMITED TO STATUTORY HIRE AND FIRE FUNCTIONS, THAT IS NOT WHY WE'RE HERE TONIGHT.
WE'RE HERE THIS EVENING IN LINE WITH THE COMMITMENT TO HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC, AND WE HAVE CITIZENS TO BE HEARD TONIGHT, PROVIDE UPDATES THAT OUR ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR MICHELLE CARU WILL DO IN SHORTLY.
TONIGHT'S MEETING IS NOT TO IZE.
IT'S NOT AGENDIZED FOR ACTION, BUT WE WILL GIVE DIRECT FEEDBACK TO OUR ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR, AT LEAST FROM THE COMMISSION AND FOR THE CITIZENS TO BE HEARD.
MY EXPECTATION AND THE EXPECTATIONS OF THIS BODY IS THAT OUR ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR WILL INCORPORATE THIS FEEDBACK MOVING FORWARD, PARTICULARLY WHERE THERE IS MAJORITY CONSENSUS.
THE AGENDA THIS EVENING WILL COVER ONE, APPROVING THE MINUTES FROM OUR LAST MEETING, TWO, GATHERING PUBLIC INPUT, THREE DELIVERY OF ACTION REPORTS ON THE RECENT ELECTIONS ADMINISTERED BY THE BEXAR COUNTY ELECTIONS OFFICE.
UPDATES FROM OUR ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR ON NEXT STEPS IN COORDINATING THE NOVEMBER GENERAL ELECTION, AND CONCLUDING WITH AN UPDATE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE VR SYSTEMS, VOTER REGISTRATION, ELECTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, AND EFFORTS TO COORDINATE WITH THE SECRETARY STATE'S OFFICE ON THIS PARTICULAR SYSTEM.
WITH THAT BEING SAID, I WILL NOW OPEN THE FLOOR TO MY FELLOW COMMISSION MEMBERS IF THEY WOULD LIKE TO MAKE ANY OPENING REMARKS.
AND I'LL START TO MY FAR RIGHT, COMMISSIONER, CHRIS KUNZ, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.
WELL, THANK YOU, UH, JUDGE, I APPRECIATE THAT AND JUST GOOD EVENING EVERYONE, AND SO GREAT TO SEE EVERYBODY AGAIN.
I'M SO HAPPY TO BE HERE AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD, UH, TO TALKING TO OUR ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR THIS EVENING TO, UH, PREPARE FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS COMMISSIONER ES COMMISSIONER ESTI.
I'M GLAD WE HAVE PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE.
UM, I THINK THE GOAL, WELL, NOT, I THINK THE GOAL TODAY IS TO TRY TO GET AS MUCH FEEDBACK AS WE CAN, AND OF COURSE, TO LISTEN TO THE ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR AS WELL.
BY THE WAY, JUDGE, TODAY IS THE SECOND BUSIEST DAY OF THE YEAR FOR US, AND SO WE'RE OPEN TILL SIX 30.
SO IF ANYBODY IN THE AUDIENCE IS NOT PAID, THEIR SECOND HALF PAYMENT, BY ALL MEANS, YOU GOT TILL SIX 30.
IT'S AN HONOR TO BE HERE BACK IN COMMISSIONER'S COURT.
WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING A DISCUSSION WITH OUR PUBLIC, AND OF COURSE, OUR ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR, UH, INDIVIDUAL.
AND THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING THIS AFTERNOON TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THE COMMISSION.
IT'S REALLY GOOD TO BE HERE, AND THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR COMING.
LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING YOUR PUBLIC INPUT.
GO AHEAD, MS. CAROU, YOUR A LITTLE OVER A YEAR TENURE, UH, IN THIS POSITION HAS BEEN CHALLENGING.
UH, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE HAD THE VO-TECH BANKRUPTCY, WE HAD THE MIGRATION TO TEAMS, WHICH AS YOU KNOW, AND ALL OF US KNOW, WAS NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME.
WE HAD THE MID DIS, UH, MID DECADE REDISTRICTING.
WE'VE HAD, UM, THE MAIL BALLOT ISSUES, UH, AND NOW WE'VE GOT THE DEPARTURE OF SENIOR PERSONNEL AT THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
UH, SOME ALREADY EFFECTIVE AND SOME PENDING.
UH, MOST, IF NOT ALL OF THESE ITEMS ARE OUT OF YOUR CONTROL.
UM, BUT THERE ARE SOME ITEMS IN YOUR CONTROL THAT ALSO NEED TO BE HIGHLIGHTED.
UM, STAFF AND ELECTION JUDGE TRAINING, PROVISIONAL BALLOT PROCESSES, UH, ENSURING THERE'S ENOUGH TIME FOR BALLOT BOARD AND CENTRAL COUNT, UM, PROCESSES, UH, AND THEN GETTING FEEDBACK FROM YOUR ELECTION JUDGES SO THAT WE CAN DO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT.
UM, I HAVE BEEN A DEFENDER OF YOU BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND THE HAND THAT YOU'VE BEEN DEALT.
IT HAS BEEN A VERY CHALLENGING YEAR FOR YOU AND FOR ALL OF US.
[00:05:01]
LIKE TO SEE A LOT MORE FOCUS ON THOSE THINGS THAT YOU CAN, IN FACT CONTROL.UM, I DO WANNA HIGHLIGHT THAT THIS PRIMARY SEASON THAT WE JUST HAD WAS 156% INCREASE IN TURNOUT OVER 2022.
IT WAS A HUGE PRIMARY, NOT JUST FOR THE DEMOCRATS, BUT ALSO FOR THE REPUBLICANS.
UM, AND WE'RE ONLY SIX MONTHS INTO THIS YEAR, AND YOU'VE ALREADY DONE FOR ELECTIONS, SO I KNOW IT'S BEEN A VERY, VERY BUSY TIME.
I REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR UPDATE TONIGHT.
[III. Public comment ]
GO DOWN THE AGENDA.AGENDA ITEM NUMBER THREE, PUBLIC COMMENT.
YOU WILL BE LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES.
I WILL CALL YOUR NAMES AS YOU HAVE SIGNED UP.
PLEASE SIGN UP AT THIS TIME AND GIVE IT TO OUR CLERK, MS. RESPONDENT THERE AT OUR FAR RIGHT.
MR. NO BAR SHOP, MY TIMEKEEPER, LINDA MALDONADO.
HI, MY NAME IS LINDA MALDONADO.
I AM A PRECINCT CHAIR WITH THE BEAR COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
UM, PART OF OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS TO TALK TO VOTERS.
PRIOR TO THE ELECTION AND PRIOR TO THE ELECTION, I NOTICED THAT, UM, THE MAIL BALLOT BALLOT, PEOPLE WERE NOT SHOWING UP.
AND THEN WHEN I TALKED TO THE VOTERS, THEY WERE SAYING THEY WERE NOT GETTING THEIR MAIL BALLOTS.
UM, THEN EVENTUALLY I FOUND OUT MANY WERE NOT.
UM, SO ON FEBRUARY 17TH, SEVEN,
IN APRIL, WHEN I REQUESTED A LIST OF MAIL VOTERS FROM BEAR ELECTIONS, I RECEIVED A LIST OF VOTERS WHO HAD BEEN SENT BALLOTS.
IRONICALLY, THEY WERE VOTERS WHO HAD RECEIVED BALLOTS, BUT WERE NOT ON THIS LIST.
HOW, HOW COULD THEY HAVE RECEIVED A BALLOT FROM BEAR ELECTIONS AND NOT APPEAR ON THE ROSTER? SO I FOUND THAT VERY STRANGE.
UM, FAST FORWARD TO THE PRIMARY RUNOFF, BALLOTS BEGAN ARRIVING IN VOTERS' MAILBOXES AROUND APRIL 20TH, AS OPPOSED TO, WHICH WAS VERY DIFFERENT IN, UM, THE PRIMARY.
I WENT TO NUMEROUS HOMES ON APRIL 22ND.
MOST OF THE HOMES THAT I CANVASED HAD RECEIVED THEIR MAIL BALLOTS, AND MOST HAD ALREADY RETURNED THEM TO BEAR ELECTIONS.
HOWEVER, WHEN I CHECKED THE ROSTERS, I NEVER FOUND SOME OF THEIR NAMES.
I FOLLOWED UP WITH A FEW OF THE HOMES, AND THEY REPEATED THAT THEY HAD SUBMITTED THESE BALLOTS WHEN, AS SOON AS THEY ARRIVED IN APRIL ON MAY 24TH, FINALLY, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S GONNA BE MAY 26TH.
I WENT TO THEIR DOORS, AND IF THEY WEREN'T HOME, I LEFT THEM A NOTE SAYING, YOUR NAME IS NOT SHOWING UP ON THE ROSTER.
WE CHECKED THE ROSTER ON BEAR ELECTIONS.
I'M A VOLUNTEER AND I DO CAMPAIGN WORK.
I DON'T WORK BEHIND THE SCENES.
I DON'T, I'M NOT A CROOK OR JUDGE.
SO THEN I HAD TO LET THEM KNOW, YOU'RE NOT SHOWING UP ON THIS ROSTER, AND IT'S REALLY ACCURATE.
IT'S REALLY AWKWARD TO TELL THEM THAT.
SOME OF THEM ENDED UP VOTING IN PERSON, A NEIGHBOR OF MINE.
SHE SAID, OH, I VOTED IN PERSON.
UM, BECAUSE I NEVER GOT, I CALLED THEM AND THEY SAID THEY NEVER RECEIVED MY BALLOT, WHICH WAS REALLY STRANGE.
SHE HAD RETURNED HER BALLOT IN APRIL, EARLY APRIL, AS SOON AS SHE RECEIVED IT, AND IT WAS EMBARRASSING.
ADDITIONALLY, THE MARCH PRIMARY MAIL VOTERS WERE NOT SEPARATED BY PARTY, AND THIS WAS JUST FOR MAIL, NO PROBLEM WITH THE IN-PERSON.
UM, AND WHEN WE HAD OUR DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION, WE DIDN'T KNOW WHICH PRIMARY THE MAIL VOTERS HAD VOTED IN.
ALSO, UM, IT USED TO BE THAT IF A MALE VOTER SHOWED UP AT THE POLLS AND DID NOT HAVE THEIR BALLOT WITH THEM, THE ELECTION JUDGE WOULD CALL BEAR ELECTIONS, AND BEAR ELECTION WOULD CANCEL THE PENDING MAIL BALLOT IF IT HAD NOT ARRIVED.
AND THEN THEY WOULDN'T HAVE, THEY COULD JUST VOTE REGULARLY.
NOW THEY'RE HAVING TO VOTE PROVISIONALLY, AND I FEEL LIKE THAT IS A, A BIG HINDRANCE.
UM, ALSO DURING THE MAY ELECTIONS, BOTH RUNOFF AND THE, UM, THE, UH, SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS, UM, THE ROSTERS WERE SWITCHED FROM A CSV XL FORMAT TO A PDF FORMAT.
AND THIS IS REALLY HARD FOR US TO WORK WITH.
AND I WOULD RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT, UH, THOSE ROSTERS THAT ARE PUT ON THE BEAR COUNTY ELECTION SITE BE SWITCHED BACK TO THE CCSV EXCEL FORMAT.
SO THERE'S TWO REQUESTS ALSO WITH THE, HAVING THAT ABILITY FOR JUDGES TO CALL DOWN TO BEAR ELECTIONS, AND IF THEY'LL HAVE, IF SOMEBODY'S TRYING TO SURRENDER A MAIL BALLOT AND THEY DO NOT HAVE THEIR BALLOT WITH THEM BEING ABLE TO WORK WITH THE JUDGE, AND SO THEY DO NOT HAVE TO VOTE.
ORIGINALLY I DID MS. MS. MALDONADO, UM, THAT WAS THREE MINUTES.
COULD YOU PRE PLEASE, UH, STEER YOUR REMARKS TO CONCLUSION? PARDON? UH, THAT WAS THREE MINUTES.
COULD YOU PLEASE, UM, COME TO A CONCLUSION? YES, THAT'S IT.
CAN I, CAN I DROP? I HAVE THESE, CAN YOU HAND THESE OUT TO THE, I WROTE, I WROTE MY COMMENTS.
[00:10:13]
GO AHEAD.THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO, TO THE COMMISSION'S COURT.
JUDGE, I'M SPEAKING TO YOU TODAY AS A FORMER CANDIDATE OF PROCESS IMPROVEMENT EXPERT AND A RECENT EARLY VOTING BALLOT BOARD MEMBER DURING THE PRIMARY RUNOFF.
I'M DEEPLY TROUBLED BY THE GROWING PUBLIC MISTRUST SURROUNDING THE VOTE BY MAIL PROCESS.
THIS ANXIETY IS LARGELY FUELED BY AN ONGOING NARRATIVE BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE, OF THE UNITED STATES, WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS OCCURRING.
UH, JUST THIS WEEK, A CNN POLL REVEALED THAT 63% OF REPUBLICANS STILL BELIEVE THE 2020 ELECTION WAS STOLEN.
AND WHILE THE RE SUPREME COURT RECENTLY UPHELD MISSISSIPPI'S LAW, ALLOWING MAIL-IN BALLOTS TO BE COUNTED AFTER ELECTION DAY, UH, IT'S UP TO FIVE DAYS, THE NATIONAL CLIMATE REMAINS INCREDIBLY TENSE.
MY CONCERN IS ONLY HEIGHTENED BY THE RESIGNATION OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE WITHOUT A CONFIRMED REPLACEMENT SENATE CONFIRMED REPLACEMENT.
SO CLOSE TO THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS.
BUT LET ME BE CRYSTAL CLEAR ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE ON THE GROUND IN BEXAR COUNTY.
DURING MY SERVICE ON THE BALLOT BOARD, I OBSERVED ABSOLUTELY NO IRREGULARITIES IN THE PROCESSING OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS.
BALLOTS WERE PROCESSED BY BIPARTISAN TEAMS, AND THE BALLOT NUMBERS CONCURRED AND MATCHED PERFECTLY IN ALL VOTING AUDITS.
THE INTEGRITY OF THE WORK WAS SOUND.
HOWEVER, DURING THE PROCESSING, WE BARELY MET OUR DEADLINE ON ELECTION DAY.
AND ANYTIME WE GET TO THE DEADLINE, THERE'S REPERCUSSIONS.
WHEN PRELIMINARY ELECTION RESULTS ARE DELAYED, IT CREATES A VACUUM OF INFORMATION, A VACUUM THAT LEAVES ROOM FOR SUSPICION, SKEPTICISM, AND MISINFORMATION AMONG, AMONG THOSE UNAWARE OF HOW RIGOROUS THE PROCESS ACTUALLY IS.
AS A PROCESS IMPROVEMENT EXPERT, MY RECOMMENDATION IS VERY PROACTIVE.
WE MUST BEGIN PROCESSING MAIL-IN BALLOTS AS EARLY AS THE SECRETARY OF STATE PERMITS, WHICH I BELIEVE IS 12 DAYS BEFORE ELECTION DAY.
I COULD BE MISTAKEN, BUT, UH, I THINK THERE'S, THERE'S, UH, A GOOD RANGE WE NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR AND EXPECT VOLUME NOT AS A STANDARD MIDTERM, AS WE'VE SEEN WITH, WITH THE PRIMARY, UH, ELECTION, BUT ON THE SCALE, ON A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WHERE PARTICIPATION IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER.
IMPLEMENTING THIS STRAIGHTFORWARD CHANGE WILL ENSURE BALLOTS ARE PROCESSED AND TABULATED IN A TIMELY, TRANSPARENT MANNER, PREVENTING THE DELAY, THE DELAYS THAT UNNECESSARILY FUEL ELECTION OUTCOME MISTRUST.
SO I, I KNOW THIS GENTLEMAN SAID HE WAS IN THE BALLOT BOARD.
I DON'T KNOW THE FIRST LADY, BUT IF, IF THEY HOLD A POSITION LIKE ELECTION JUDGE OR SOMETHING, IF THEY COULD TELL US, YOU KNOW, WHAT, OKAY, WHAT POSITION THEY HOLD IN, IN THE ELECTION PROCESS.
ALRIGHT, I HOPE EVERYBODY UNDER HEARD.
UH, COMMISSIONER ESTE, IF YOU HAVE A POSITION IN THE ELECTION PROCESS, WOULD YOU PLEASE IDENTIFY YOUR POSITION THAT YOU HOLD? OR IF YOU'RE AN ELECTED OR APPOINTED OFFICIAL, PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF.
HELLO, GOOD EVENING, MEMBERS OF THE BARRACK COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION.
I'M A NINTH GENERATION TEXAN, A BEXAR COUNTY VOTER HOMEOWNER, ELECTION WORKER, VDR TRAINED POLL WATCHER.
AND I CURRENTLY SERVE AS VICE CHAIR OF THE BEXAR COUNTY ELECTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND ON THE MAYOR'S COMMISSION FOR VOTING.
TODAY, I SPEAK TO YOU ONLY FOR MYSELF.
THERE IS SOMETHING IMMENSELY POWERFUL TO BE SURROUNDED BY ELECTION WORKERS, COMMUNITY LEADERS, AND RESIDENTS WHO GENUINELY CARE ABOUT STRENGTHENING VOTER PARTICIPATION AND PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN OUR ELECTIONS.
I, MYSELF HAVE PARTICIPATED AND WORKED ELECTIONS MANY TIMES.
I'VE RECENTLY WORKED THE REGULAR EARLY VOTE ALL 10 DAYS AT TOBIN LIBRARY AND ON ELECTION DAY, AND I SERVE, I VOLUNTEERED AS A POLL WATCHER DURING THE MAIL BALLOT AND PROVISIONAL BALLOT BOARD SEVERAL DAYS AFTER THE PRIMARY RUNOFF ELECTION, UH, FOR 10 STRAIGHT HOURS AT BEAR ELECTIONS FROM NINE IN THE MORNING UNTIL 6 45 IN THE EVENING AFTER TABULATION WAS FINISHED.
UM, ALL OF THESE MONTHS THAT I HAVE BEEN MOVING IN THESE DIFFERENT CIRCLES, MY GOAL HAS REMAINED THE SAME TO BETTER UNDERSTAND ELECTION OPERATIONS BEFORE THE MIDTERM ELECTION.
[00:15:01]
EARLY VOTING BEGINS OCTOBER 19TH.BEXAR COUNTY ALREADY TODAY HAS MORE THAN 1.3 MILLION REGISTERED VOTERS, AND THAT NUMBER IS RISING EVERY DAY, UM, AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE OCTOBER 5TH REGISTRATION DEADLINE.
A NUMBER OF THESE VOTERS HAVE STILL NOT RECEIVED THEIR NEW ORANGE 2026 VOTER REGISTRATION CARD, AND APPROXIMATELY 84,000 BEXAR COUNTY VOTERS REMAIN IN SUSPENSE RIGHT NOW.
WE SHOULD EXPECT AND PLAN FOR A SUBSTANTIAL TURNOUT IN THE MIDTERM.
AND, AND DURING EARLY VOTING AND ON ELECTION DAY, INCLUDING HIGHLY INCREASED DEMAND FOR VOTE BY MAIL AND CURBSIDE VOTING, PREPARING NOW IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL.
YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND INVESTMENT ARE CRITICAL TO ENSURING BEXAR COUNTY ELECTION.
JUDGES AND CLERKS ARE FULLY TRAINED, WELL-INFORMED, AND FAIRLY COMPENSATED, INCLUDING YOUR SUPPORT OF A MINIMUM $3 PER HOUR WAGE INCREASE ACROSS THE BOARD FOR ALL ELECTION WORKER POSITIONS.
ELECTION WORKERS ARE THE FOUNDATION OF SUCCESSFUL ELECTIONS.
WITHOUT QUALIFIED, PREPARED PERSONNEL, EVEN THE BEST, MOST EXPENSIVE TECHNOLOGY CANNOT SUCCEED, THIS COMMISSION WILL HEAR CONCERNS REGARDING VOTER REGISTRATION, PROCESSING EVERY STAGE OF VOTE BY MAIL FROM APPLICATIONS, BALLOT DELIVERY, TRACKING RECEIPT TABULATION, AND THE LIMITATIONS OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S TEAM PLATFORM.
IN MEETING THE HIGHLY COMPLEX NEEDS OF BEX COUNTY, THE THIRD LARGEST COUNTY IN THE STATE, I ENCOURAGE THE COMMISSION TO PROVIDE REGULAR PUBLIC REPORTING ON OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE PROCESSING TIMES AND IMPROVEMENTS.
TIMELY COMMUNICATION WHEN PROBLEMS ARISE IS ESSENTIAL TO SUPPORTING VOTER CONFIDENCE.
I OFFER YOU THREE RECOMMENDATIONS THIS EVENING.
FIRST, ESTABLISH CLEAR COMMISSION GOALS ROOTED IN THE FOUNDATION OF DEMOCRACY AND FOCUSED ON ENSURING EVERY ELIGIBLE VOTER HAS THE INFORMATION NEEDED TO VOTE.
EVERY BALLOT IS SECURELY COUNTED.
ELECTIONS ARE PROPERLY CERTIFIED, AND THE WILL OF THE VOTERS IN BEXAR COUNTY IS CENTERED AND RESPECTED.
SECOND, DEVELOPED MEASURABLE PERFORMANCE METRICS TO ANALYZE OUTCOMES FOR VOTER REGISTRATION, MAIL BALLOT PROCESSING, ELECTION WORKER READINESS, VOTER ENGAGEMENT, AND ELECTION RESULTS REPORTING, AND SHARE THOSE METRICS PUBLICLY.
THIRD, CREATE REGULAR OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUBLIC UPDATES AND COMMUNITY INPUT TO NAME AND ADDRESS RECURRING SYSTEMIC OPERATIONAL ISSUES.
MEANINGFUL CIVIC PARTICIPATION DOES NOT END WITH ONE ELECTION OR WITH ONE PUBLIC MEETING.
ACCURATE, TRANSPARENT, RELIABLE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION BENEFITS.
EVERY VOTER, REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL AFFILIATION IN A LITTLE MORE THAN THREE MONTHS, OCTOBER, WILL USHER IN A VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE AND FOLLOWED BY 12 DAYS OF EARLY VOTING.
UM, IF MEANINGFUL IMPROVEMENTS MOVE SLOW VOTERS, ELECTION WORKERS, AND THE COLLECTIVE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE WILL PAY A PRICE.
I APPRECIATE EACH OF YOUR SERVICES TO THIS EFFORT, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUED COMMITMENT TO TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND IN THE JAPANESE KAIZEN ETHOS, CONTINUOUS INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENT DEMOCRACY IN BEXAR COUNTY DEPENDS ON IT.
I AM THE PRESIDENT OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS AND I'M ALSO A VDR.
I AM HERE TO THANK YOU THE COMMISSION AS WELL AS MICHELLE FOR THE WORK THAT THEY ARE DOING, UM, TO GET GOOD RESULTS HERE IN BEXAR COUNTY.
FROM THE PEOPLE WHO VOTE, THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT, BUT AN OBSERVATION THAT WE NEED A LARGER STAFF IN THE ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT AND A BETTER TRAINED STAFF.
THIS HAS BEEN A CHRONIC PROBLEM SINCE I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN REGISTERING VOTERS, AND THAT HAS BEEN FOR SIX YEARS THAT THE STAFF NEEDS TO BE LARGER BECAUSE THERE'S SO MANY TASKS THAT NEED TO BE DONE, AND THEY NEED TO BE BETTER TRAINED.
WE KNOW THAT THE TEAM'S PRO, THE TEAM SYSTEM HAS CREATED A LOT OF PROBLEMS FOR EVERYONE, BUT WITH A LARGER STAFF AND A STAFF THAT IS TRAINED, SOME OF THOSE PROBLEMS COULD BE ALLEVIATED.
[00:20:01]
EDUCATION ABOUT ELECTIONS IS ONE OF THE VITAL NEEDS OF THIS COMMUNITY, AND IT IS REALLY A RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT TO HELP PEOPLE KNOW WHEN THERE IS AN ELECTION, WHERE THE POLLING SITES ARE, WHEN THE POLLING SITES ARE OPENED, AND HOW THEY CAN VOTE EITHER IN PERSON AND IF THEY ARE LIVING WITH A DISABILITY, HOW THEY CAN VOTE BY CURBSIDE OR SOME OTHER WAY, SUCH AS VOTING BY MAIL.PUBLIC EDUCATION IS SORELY LACKING.
UM, THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE LEAGUE IS OUT IN THE COMMUNITY DOING EVERY DAY, BUT WE CANNOT DO IT ALONE.
WE TRULY NEED AN ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT THAT IS ROBUST AND THAT IS FULLY FUNDED SO THAT THIS CAN BE DONE AND THAT WILL SERVE THE WHOLE COMMUNITY.
I UNDERSTAND THAT THAT TAKES MONEY, AND THIS IS NOT THE COMMISSION THAT, UM, CONTROLS THE PURSE STRINGS OF THIS COUNTY, BUT I DO HOPE THAT THIS COMMISSION WILL TAKE THIS BACK TO COMMISSIONER'S COURT AND IT IS BUDGET TIME AND THAT THE COMMISSIONED NURSE COURT WILL CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE BUDGET OF THE ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT AND CONSIDER INCREASING IT SO THAT WE ARE NOT DEPENDENT ON TEMPORARY STAFF, BUT A STAFF THAT IS HERE YEAR IN, DAY IN AND DAY OUT.
AND JILL, I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO AND THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS, THEY ARE A GOOD GROUP.
MY NAME IS KATIE BROWN AND I'M ACTUALLY THE PRESIDENT ELECT OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND WE PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE ASKED FOR OUR TWO SPEECHES TO GO IN A DIFFERENT ORDER BECAUSE I'M HERE TO KIND OF TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE FACT THAT I WAS THE BOARD MEMBER ASSIGNED THE LEAGUE PHONE IN THE LEAD UP TO THE MARCH PRIMARY.
SO I WAS THE ONE TALKING TO PEOPLE CALLING SINCE JANUARY, LEADING UP TO THE, UM, ELECTION.
AND AFTER WANTING TO KNOW HOW TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THE LEAGUE'S VOTER'S GUIDE, THE QUESTION I ANSWERED THE MOST WAS ABOUT THE DELAY IN THE VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS.
THE FIRST CALL ON THAT SUBJECT WAS ON JANUARY 26TH.
THESE CALLS CAME RIGHT UP UNTIL THE ELECTION.
AS THE ELECTION DAY APPROACHED, VOTERS WITHOUT THEIR BALLOTS WERE CALLING TO FIND OUT WHAT OPTIONS THEY HAD FOR VOTING.
OTHERS WHO RECEIVED THEIR BALLOT A FEW DAYS BEFORE ELECTION DAY ALSO WANTED TO KNOW WHAT THEIR OPTIONS WERE SINCE THEY WERE AFRAID THEIR VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT MIGHT NOT ARRIVE IN TIME THROUGH THE MAIL.
AS FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS, CALLERS WANTED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE CURBSIDE VOTING PROCESS.
WE ALSO RECEIVE NUMEROUS CALLS ABOUT HAVING AN EXPIRED VOTER REGISTRATION CARD, WHICH I EXPLAINED IS NOT NECESSARY TO HAVE WITH YOU WHEN YOU VOTE, BUT THE INFORMATION ON THAT CARD, IDENTIFYING WHICH DISTRICTS YOU ARE IN, IS VERY IMPORTANT TO VOTERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE INTERNET ACCESS.
AND I SPOKE TO MANY CALLERS WHO DIDN'T HAVE THE OPTION AT THEIR OWN HOME TO GET THAT INFORMATION ONLINE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TONIGHT.
HELLO, MY NAME IS AUDREY FISHER.
I'M A PRECINCT CHAIR AND AN ELECTION JUDGE.
I RECENTLY RECEIVED A NEWSLETTER FROM JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ, COUNTY COMMISSIONER, MY COUNTY COMMISSIONER TOO.
HE WROTE ABOUT THE SPENDING APPROVED BY THE COMMISSIONER'S COURT TO PURCHASE MORE EQUIPMENT FOR BEAR ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT.
WHILE THE EQUIPMENT MAY ALLEVIATE SOME OF THE DELAYS VOTERS EXPERIENCED IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION, I'M HERE TO VOICE CONCERNS ON WHAT THESE PURCHASES MAY NOT RESOLVE.
MS. CREW EXPLAINED AT THE RECENT BEARER ELECTIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE THAT THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL VOTING SITES IF FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTION, THAT EACH COMMISSION AREA WOULD HAVE EQUAL NUMBERS OF VOTING SITES.
WHILE SHE DID NOT ADJUST WHO WAS GOING TO STAFF THESE ELECTION SITES, I HAVE BEEN A QUALIFIED CERTIFIED ELECTION JUDGE FOR THE PAST DECADE.
UM, MS. CARU WOULD NOT PROVIDE ME THE WRIT OF ELECTION THIS YEAR.
SHE STATED THAT IT WAS AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY, BUT I COULD NOT FIND, NIP, COULD NOT LOCATE IT ON THE INTEGRA WEBSITE AND COULD NO ONE COULD EXPLAIN TO ME WHY, UH, IN TODAY'S POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT, I REFUSE TO SERVE OF A JUDGE BECAUSE IF CHALLENGED THAT I WAS QUAL, IF I WAS QUALIFIED TO ACT AS A PRODDING JUDGE, I HAD NOTHING TO SAY.
I COULD NOT PROVE ANYTHING, AND I DID NOT WANT TO GO THROUGH THAT SYSTEM.
AFTER, SINCE THEN, THE ELECTION,
[00:25:01]
UM, COMMISSIONED, THE INTEGRA SYSTEM HAS ON THEIR WEBSITE THE TRAINING OF THE WRIT, AND IT SAYS, OH, YES, WE WILL SEND THAT TO YOU BY MAIL.UM, BECAUSE OF THAT, I DID NOT VOTE IN ANY OF THE 2026 ELECTIONS AS A JUDGE, AS BEAR COUNTY.
AS BEAR ELECTIONS ADD MORE VOTING LOCATIONS, THEY WILL HAVE TO HIRE AND TRAIN MORE VOLUNTEERS TO RUN ELECTION SITES.
SOME OF THAT COULD BE RESOLVED IF THEY HAD REACHED OUT TO CURRENTLY QUALIFIED JUDGES THAT THEY HAD, THAT THEY HAD DISENFRANCHISED SUCH AS MYSELF.
ANOTHER CONCERN IS THAT I DROVE A VOTE BY MAIL VOTER WHO HAD BEEN DISENFRANCHISED IN THE PRIMARY DURING TWO OF THE PRIMARY RUNOFF.
UM, THE PROCESS TO QUALIFY THAT INDIVIDUAL ALLOW THEM TO VOTE, PLACE THEIR BALLOT IN THE DS 200 COUNTY MACHINE, TAKES ABOUT 30 MINUTES EACH.
AND THAT EXCLUDES WAITING FOR THE ELECTION STAFF, THE ELECTION PEOPLE TO COME TO YOUR CAR AND DO ALL THE THINGS THAT THEY HAVE TO DO.
SO THAT NUMBER, WE DO NOT KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE VOTED CURBSIDE, BUT YOU NEED TO CONSIDER THAT EACH ONE OF THEM TAKES 30 MINUTES, AND WE CAN'T DO THEM IN MASS BECAUSE OF THE EQUIPMENT.
AS A REMINDER, THOSE ARE NOT INVOLVED IN THAT, AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT EVERYBODY NEEDS TO BE WELL AWARE RATHER THAN SAYING THAT THAT IS A SOLUTION TO ALL OF THE PROBLEMS OF VOTE BY MAIL.
MY NAME IS LINDA ALANISE AND I AM THE BEXAR COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY MANAGER.
UH, REALLY, I'VE ONLY HAVING BEEN IN CENTRAL COUNTY FOR THIS LAST PRIMARY SEASON.
UH, I JUST WANTED TO REITERATE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT MR. VIAL MENTIONED.
UH, HAVING, UM, UNDERSTANDING THE CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP, OR NOT LEADERSHIP AT THE STATE LEVEL, I JUST WONDERED, WANTED TO KNOW WHAT PLAN WE HAD IN PLACE, OR WHAT PLAN WE CAN PUT IN PLACE FOR NOVEMBER, SINCE, AS IT LOOKS RIGHT NOW, NOTHING'S REALLY GONNA IMPROVE AS FAR AS THE TEAM'S DATA, UH, THE SYSTEM.
SO WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN DO LOCALLY TO HELP, UH, MANAGE OUR VOTERS AND OUR VOTERS' EXPECTATIONS? I PERSONALLY AM A MAIL BALLOT VOTER, AND I HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED MY VOTER REGISTRATION CARD.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS ALL OF US IN BEXAR COUNTY THAT ARE MAIL BALLOT VOTERS, 130,000 OF THEM, UH, WE DID NOT RECEIVE OUR MAIL BALLOT AND ARE NOT GOING TO GET ONE.
NOW, I KNOW THAT I CAN VOTE WITHOUT IT BECAUSE I'M FAMILIAR, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT DEPEND ON THEIR VOTER CARD TO GIVE THEM ACCESS TO VOTING.
SO I AM CONCERNED ABOUT TEAMS NOT BEING ABLE SEC THE STATE LEVEL, NOT BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT.
SO WHAT IS OUR PLAN? WHAT IS OUR LOCAL, UH, COUNTY AND OUR LOCAL ELECTION'S GOING TO DO? SO THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH.
UM, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
I'LL BE GIVING MY COMMENTS WITH THE FELLOW BOARD MEMBER, JULIA GRARD.
SO YOU'RE YIELDING TO JULIA GRARD.
SO JULIE, YOU HAVE SIX MINUTES.
UH, GOOD EVENING ELECTION COMMISSIONERS.
MY NAME IS JULIA GRARD AND I'M HERE REPRESENTING YOUTH DO VOTE.
I HAVE SERVED ON THE ADVISORY BOARD FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS, AND I'M HERE WITH AUDREY ZAMORA, A HIGH SCHOOL ELECTION CLERK, A 2026 GRADUATE OF YOUNG WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP ACADEMY, AND A SOON TO BE UT LONGHORN.
YOUTH DO VOTE IS A LOCAL NON-PARTISAN ORGANIZATION WHOSE PRIMARY AUDIENCES ARE HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS.
AND OUR MISSION IS TO EMPOWER YOUNG PEOPLE TO ENGAGE IN THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS THROUGH EDUCATION, ADVOCACY, AND ACTION, FOSTERING A GENERATION OF INFORMED, INSPIRED, AND ACTIVE VOTERS.
WE PURSUE THIS THROUGH THREE PROGRAMS. HIGH SCHOOL VOTER REGISTRATION FOR ALL, WHICH HELPS PRINCIPALS AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS COMPLY WITH THE TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL VOTER REGISTRATION LAW, OUR YOUTH VOTER AND POLL WORKER FEST, WHICH WE HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US IN SEPTEMBER, AND OUR FLAGSHIP STUDENT ELECTION CLERK RECRUITMENT PROGRAM.
THESE PROGRAMS ARE IN DIRECT ALIGNMENT WITH TWO OF THE INITIATIVES LISTED ON THE DEMOCRACY FROM THE GROUND UP PLATFORM THAT HAS BEEN PRIORITIZED BY THE BEXAR COUNTY ELECTION AND VOTER ENGAGEMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL INITIATIVE TWO, UH, ENCOURAGE AND SUPPORT SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS IN REGISTERING ELIGIBLE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO VOTE INITIATIVE SIX AB ESTABLISHED POLL WORKER TRAINING AND AGREE TO PAY FOR TRAINING AND CREATE A PROGRAM FOR STUDENT POLL WORKERS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS CAN SERVE AS A STUDENT ELECTION CLERK BEGINNING AT THE AGE OF 16.
[00:30:01]
PAID AT THE SAME RATE AS A REGULAR ELECTION CLERK, AND STUDENTS ARE ABLE TO TAKE ON THE SAME RESPONSIBILITIES SINCE 2022.YOUTH DO VOTE HAS ACTIVELY RECRUITED HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM ALL FOUR COUNTY PRECINCTS AND HELP PLACE THEM WITH ELECTION JUDGES TO SERVE ON TEAMS THROUGHOUT THE FOUR PRECINCTS.
SINCE THE NEW ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR CAME ON BOARD.
UH, AND THANKS TO THE SUPPORT FROM, UH, COUNTY JUDGE HAI AND THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS YOUTH DO VOTE, HAS BEEN ABLE TO PARTNER WITH MICHELLE AND HER STAFF TO EXPAND OUR PROGRAM BY IDENTIFYING EVEN MORE ELECTION JUDGES WHO ARE WILLING TO HIRE STUDENTS FOR THEIR ELECTION TEAMS. AND AS I SHARED EARLIER, I'M HERE WITH OUR ELECTION CLERK WHO IS GONNA SHARE HER THOUGHTS ON WHY SUPPORTING AND SCALING THIS PROGRAM IS SO VITAL BY RECRUITING STUDENTS TO WORK ELECTIONS.
YOUTH DO VOTE IS NOT ONLY HELPING ADDRESS THE CONSISTENT NEED FOR POLL WORKERS IN ORDER TO PROPERLY STAFF VOTE CENTERS, WE ARE RECRUITING THE NEXT GENERATION TO SUSTAIN ELECTION ADMINISTRATION IN BEXAR COUNTY.
IN ADDITION, ONE OF THE BENEFITS TO HIRING A STUDENT IS THEIR COMFORT WITH TECHNOLOGY, PARTICULARLY WHEN IT COMES TO TROUBLESHOOTING MINOR ISSUES.
THIS CAN BE A QUICKER SOLUTION THAN WAITING FOR TECHNICIANS TORI ARRIVE, WHICH MAY CAUSE LONGER LINES OR DISRUPT THE FLOW OF THE VOTE.
STUDENT CLERKS CAN ALSO BE A GREAT HELP WHEN IT COMES TO LIFTING AND SETTING UP EQUIPMENT, ASSISTING WITH CURBSIDE VOTING AND PACKING IT ALL UP AT THE END.
I SPENT SOME LONG NIGHTS PACKING UP SOME EQUIPMENT.
STUDENTS BRING A YOUTHFUL POSITIVE ENERGY TO THE VOTE CENTER.
MANY TIMES WHEN VOTERS SEE A YOUNG PERSON MANAGING THE POLL PAD AT THE CHECK-IN TABLE, THEY RESPOND POSITIVELY SAYING HOW NICE IT'S TO SEE A YOUNG PERSON INVOLVED.
OUR FOUNDER, HEATHER EING, HAS BEEN AN ELECTION JUDGE SINCE 2016, AND SHE HAS ACTIVELY RECRUITED A ROSTER OF JUDGES WHO ARE HAPPILY AND REGULARLY HIRE STUDENTS FOR THEIR ELECTED TEAM ELECTION TEAMS. SOME OF THESE JUDGES HAVE EVEN CHOSEN TO MENTOR SEVERAL OF THEIR STUDENT CLERKS AND HELP PREPARE THEM TO BECOME ELECTION JUDGES THEMSELVES.
TO DATE THREE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT ELECTION CLERKS HAVE NOW BECOME ELECTION JUDGES, AND THERE ARE AT LEAST THREE MORE STUDENTS READY TO BECOME JUDGES.
SO THIS IS THE PIPELINE, RIGHT? A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE FROM AUDREY THAT YOUTH DO VOTE IS BUILDING FOR THE 20 25 20 26 SCHOOL YEAR YOUTH DO VOTE RECRUITED AND PLACED 68 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND 14 COLLEGE STUDENTS TO WORK THE ELECTIONS THAT TOOK PLACE IN NOVEMBER 68 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND 14 COLLEGE STUDENTS.
UM, THESE STUDENTS REPRESENTED 31 DIFFERENT HIGH SCHOOLS AND EIGHT COLLEGES, BUT THOSE NUMBERS ALONE DO NOT TELL THE FULL STORY.
HALF OF THOSE STUDENTS CAME BACK TO WORK A SECOND ELECTION OR MORE.
MANY OF OUR STUDENTS HAVE ALREADY WORKED MORE THAN FOUR ELECTIONS, AND SOME OF THEM HAVE SERVED AS ELECTION JUDGES AND TECHNICIANS TO CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN OUR STUDENT ELECTION CLERK PROGRAM.
YOUTH DO VOTE IS WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE BEXAR COUNTY ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT TO BUILD IN AND SCALE SUPPORT FOR THIS PROGRAM IN ORDER TO GROW RECRUITMENT EFFORTS AND STRENGTHEN A POOL OF QUALIFIED POLL WORKERS IN BEXAR COUNTY.
WE HOPE YOU WILL SUPPORT THE INCLUSION OF THIS PROGRAM AND THE ASSOCIATED PROPOSAL, AND ALSO ENCOURAGE YOU TO REACH OUT TO YOUTH TO VOTE IF YOU KNOW ANY ELECTION JUDGES WHO WOULD BE INTERESTED IN HIRING A STUDENT.
AND WE'LL WRAP UP WITH A QUOTE FROM ONE OF OUR FORMER HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT ELECTION CLERKS WHO HAS NOW SERVED AS AN ELECTION JUDGE SINCE LAST YEAR.
UM, AND SHE SAYS, BEGINNING, UH, BEING AN ELECTION JUDGE CARRIES A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITY, BUT I LOVE IT BECAUSE I GET TO SET THE TONE FOR VOTERS AS THEY ARRIVE.
I REMEMBER HOW INTIMIDATING IT FELT THE FIRST TIME I WENT TO VOTE.
EVEN AS SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTOOD THE PROCESS, THE ENVIRONMENT FELT STALE AND UNINVITING.
I BELIEVE POLLING PLACES SHOULD FEEL MORE THAN JUST A TRANSACTIONAL STOP FOR CIVIC DUTY.
THEY SHOULD FEEL LIKE A CELEBRATION OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT.
FIRST OF ALL, AUDREY, I WANNA SAY THANK YOU.
THANK YOU FOR COMING FORWARD AND SPEAKING HERE AT COMMISSIONER'S COURT, A VERY HISTORICAL COURTHOUSE.
AND JULIA, THANK YOU FOR BRINGING HER AND ALLOWING HER TO HAVE A VOICE AT THE TABLE.
I WAS BORN 1972, SO I WAS ALSO A PRODUCT OF A PARENT WHO TOOK ME TO THE POLLS AND PUT ON A T-SHIRT ON ME AT FIVE YEARS OLD
WE'RE WE'RE GETTING OLDER AND WE NEED TO BRING OUR YOUNGER GENERATION FORWARD BECAUSE IT SHOULD BE A WELCOMING PLACE.
I WAS ALSO A PRECINCT CHAIR AND I WAS A VDR.
SO I CHALLENGED YOU TO GO OUT THERE AND COME BACK WITH OVER 300 STUDENTS AND SO MANY OTHERS BECAUSE WE DO WANNA MENTOR YOU.
WE DO WANNA BE A PERSON OF A VOICE, BECAUSE I LIKE THE NON-PARTISAN.
YOU'RE BEING RAISED TO BE NON-PARTISAN, TO BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE FRONT
[00:35:01]
BECAUSE IT'S FREEING.THANK YOU FOR PARTYING UP WITH THE JUDGE SAKA.
I'VE GROWN TO KNOWN HIM FOR SO MANY YEARS, AND WITH OUR NEW ADMINISTRATOR WHO RUNS ELECTIONS, BECAUSE IF WE DON'T GIVE THEM US OR HER AN OPPORTUNITY, MANY ARE NOT GONNA COME FORWARD BECAUSE IT'S NOT A SAFE SPACE.
SO AUDREY FROM THE COUNTY CLERK, LUC ANDA CLARK HEL GARCIA.
THANK YOU FOR TAKING INITIATIVE TO COME AND LEAD OTHERS TO DO THINGS FOR MANY OTHERS THAT THEY DON'T WANNA DO.
I DON'T HAVE A LOT PREPARED, BUT I WANTED TO BRING MY EXPERIENCE AS A PRECINCT CHAIR, UM, IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF TOWN.
I AM IN AN OLDER NEIGHBORHOOD, SO I HAVE A LOT OF ELDERLY NEIGHBORS WHO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE MAIL-IN VOTING.
UM, AND ON MY MOST RECENT PASS THIS YEAR, UM, AND THIS YEAR, MY MOST RECENT PASS IS GOING TO VISIT MY NEIGHBORS.
UM, I HEARD MULTIPLE TIMES, UM, THAT THEY DID NOT RECEIVE THEIR BALLOTS.
I HAD ONE, UM, HOUSE ACTUALLY WHO I JUST SO HAPPENED TO CATCH THEM OUTSIDE.
UM, THEIR YOUNGER OR THEIR CHILDREN WERE THERE TAKING CARE OF THEM.
BOTH OWNERS OF THE HOUSE WERE DISABLED AND, UM, WERE NOT ABLE TO TRANSPORT THEMSELVES AND RELIED UPON THEIR CHILDREN'S HELP, UM, JUST TO GET STUFF DOWN AROUND THE HOUSE.
SO OBVIOUSLY THEY WEREN'T GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET THEMSELVES TO GO VOTE.
UM, AND THEY TOLD ME THAT NEITHER OF THEM IN THEIR HOUSEHOLD RECEIVED THEIR PRIMARY BALLOT.
I AM A DEMOCRATIC PRECINCT CHAIR.
I BELIEVE EVERYONE DESERVES THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
UM, AND SO I TOLD THEM I WAS VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS, UM, BECAUSE I WAS ACTUALLY SPEAKING TO THEM, UM, FOR THE SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION, AND THEY TOLD ME ONLY THE WIFE HAD RECEIVED HER BALLOT FOR THE SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION AND THE HUSBAND HASN'T.
UM, SO JUST THAT AMOUNT OF CONFUSION THAT HAPPENS THAT EVERYONE'S BEEN TALKING ABOUT.
UM, I THINK THAT THERE'S ALSO A REALLY DEEPLY EMOTIONAL PART OF IT TOO, UM, WHERE THESE PEOPLE, I WAS ONLY JUST CIRCUMSTANCE, CIRCUMSTANCE, BROUGHT ME TO THEM TO BE ABLE TO TELL YOU NOW THEIR STORY THAT, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE PEOPLE THAT CAN'T GET OUTTA THEIR HOUSE.
UM, I HAVE ANOTHER PERSON WHO'S DISABLED, UM, AND WHO STRUGGLES TO GET TO VOTE.
UM, HE TELLS ME THAT HE REFUSES TO DO MAIL-IN VOTING BECAUSE HE DOESN'T BELIEVE THAT, UH, IN THE PROCESS.
HE DOESN'T BELIEVE IT'S A SECURE WAY FOR HIM TO VOTE AND HAVE HIS VOTE COUNTED.
UM, AND HE'S TOLD ME THAT IN PAST ELECTIONS, THAT HE'S TAKEN HIS WHEELCHAIR DOWN THE STREET, GONE AS FAR TO THE POLLING SIDE AS HE CAN UNTIL SOMEONE STOPS IN THEIR TRUCK AND SAYS, HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? CAN I GET YOU THERE? UM, AND SO I JUST WANNA SAY, OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A HUGE TASK THAT WE'RE ALL LOOKING TO, UM, HELP ALLEVIATE THE PROBLEMS THAT ARE CREATED FROM ON HIGH THAT I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS COMMISSION COMING TOGETHER TO TRY AND SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS. UM, BUT I JUST WANTED TO BRING TO YOU JUST, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SO MANY OF US HERE WHO ARE HERE ON A VOLUNTEER BASIS AND ARE TRYING TO GET OUR NEIGHBORS AND, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR LOVED ONES THROUGH THIS, THESE ELECTIONS.
UM, AND I WOULD SAY THAT AS WE EXPERIENCE, YOU KNOW, THIS AGING POPULATION AND A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE STRANDED WITHOUT A SENSE OF COMMUNITY, UM, THAT IF WE CAN PROVIDE THEM WITH SOME WAY FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE, THAT, UM, I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR, YOUR WORK AND YOUR DILIGENCE AND IMPROVING OUR MAIL-IN VOTING PROCESS.
UH, COMMISSIONER ELIZABETH, THANK YOU FOR BEING A PRECINCT CHAIR.
AND ANOTHER THING, THANK YOU FOR BEING RESPONSIBLE AND RESPECTFUL BECAUSE YOU'RE A DEMOCRATIC PRECINCT CHAIR AND YOU DIDN'T TURN AN EYE TO A REPUBLICAN, UH, COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
AND WHAT WE'RE HEARING HERE IS A LOT ABOUT THE MAIL-IN VOTING PROCESS ON EVERY SINGLE SPEAKER.
SO WE'RE TAKING THIS VERY SERIOUSLY, BUT I JUST WANNA GIVE YOU, UH, KUDOS FOR NOT WALKING AWAY FROM THE REPUBLICAN ELDER.
[II. Approval of meeting minutes from the November 20, 2025 meeting ]
UH, WE'LL TAKE UP APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.WE'LL NOW, UH, FROM OUR MEETING IN NOVEMBER, 2025, I BELIEVE EACH COMMISSIONER HAS BEEN TENDERED A COPY OF THOSE MINUTES.
WOULD Y'ALL PLEASE REVIEW THE SAME POINT OUT ANY CORRECTIONS OR DELETIONS? AND AFTER THAT REVIEW, CAN I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE? MOTION TO APPROVE SECOND MOTION BY COMMISSIONER LOS SOLI, SECOND BY COMMISSIONER MADDON CLARK.
ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? HEARING NONE.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SECOND BY SAYING AYE.
ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTION? MOTION CARRIES.
[IV. Discussion and presentation related to an after-action report on the: a. March 3, 2026, Joint Primary Election b. c. d. May 2, 2026, General Election May 26, 2026, Joint Primary Runoff Election June 13, 2026, General Runoff Election ]
WILL NOW TAKE UP SOME OF THE, UH, AGENDA ITEMS FOR PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION, AND PRESENTATION RELATED TO AN AFTER ACTION REPORT ON THE A MARCH 3RD, 2026, JOINT PRIMARY ELECTION B, MAY 2ND, 2026, GENERAL ELECTION C MAY 26TH, 2026, JOINT PRIMARY RUNOFF, ELECTION D JUNE 13TH, 2026,[00:40:02]
GENERAL RUNOFF ELECTION.MS. CARU, I BELIEVE YOU HAVE A PRESENTATION TO MAKE.
GOOD EVENING JUDGE AND ELECTION COMMISSION.
THANK YOU FOR ALL BEING HERE THIS EVENING.
SO I AM JUST GOING TO JUMP RIGHT INTO PRESENTATION.
AS YOU ALL NOTICE ON THIS FIRST SCREEN, WE, WE THOUGHT REALLY HARD ABOUT HOW, AND WE HEAR MESSAGES THAT ARE COMING FROM THE PUBLIC, LIKE, WHAT CAN WE DO TO REINSURE THE VOTERS THAT THE ELECTIONS ARE SAFE, ACCURATE, AND FAIR? SO WE ARE INSTILLING THAT WITHIN OUR OFFICE AND I WANTED TO MAKE SURE TO POINT THAT OUT HERE ON THE FIRST SLIDE.
JUST SOME KEY DATA POINTS ABOUT THE PRIMARY ELECTION.
AS YOU CAN SEE, WE DID HAVE 83 FEDERAL AND STATE RACES ALONG WITH 52 COUNTY RACES.
UM, AS MENTIONED EARLIER TODAY, THE TURNOUT WAS, IT WAS AMAZING FOR THIS PRIMARY, WE HAD ALMOST 300,000 OF OUR REGISTERED VOTERS COME OUT AND VOTE.
I DID WANNA PROVIDE SOME INFORMATION.
OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, WE WERE ABLE TO VOTE MORE THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND EXTRA VOTERS COMPARED TO 2022.
SOME OF THE, UM, FACTORS THAT I DID WANNA POINT OUT, THERE'S SOMETHING THAT WE NOTICE IN THIS PARTICULAR ELECTION WHERE THERE WERE A LOT OF VOTERS IN LINE ON THE LAST DAY TO VOTE, WHETHER IT BE EARLY OR ON ELECTION DAY.
AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HAD SEVERAL THOUSAND VOTE AFTER EARLY VOTING AND MORE THAN 4,000 ON ELECTION DAY, WHICH DELAYED A LOT OF THINGS FROM HAPPENING THERE AT HEADQUARTERS.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT, BECAUSE THIS HAS BEEN UM, MENTIONED FROM MANY PEOPLE, IS THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES TO GET RESULTS ON ELECTION DAY.
SO I WANNA POINT OUT THAT BEXAR COUNTY WAS THE TOP, WAS THE FIRST ONE IN THE TOP FOUR COUNTIES TO GET THE NUMBERS OUT.
AS YOU CAN SEE, WE DID GET OUR LAST NUMBERS OUT AT ONE 30 IN THE MORNING.
SOME OTHERS WERE NOT EVEN ABLE TO GET 'EM OUT UNTIL ALMOST NOON THE FOLLOWING DAY.
AND FOR THAT, I GIVE A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF KUDOS TO MY TEAM.
WE MADE SURE THAT EVERY LAST VOTE THAT WAS TURNED IN ON ELECTION DAY WAS COUNTED AND REPORTED FOR THE MAY 2ND GENERAL ELECTION.
UM, UNFORTUNATELY THE VOTER TURNOUT WAS NOT AS HIGH, BUT WE STILL, WE STILL SAW A LOT OF VOTERS COME OUT TO VOTE IN PERSON FOR THE CITY'S SCHOOLS AND THE SPECIAL DISTRICT RACES THAT WERE OUT THERE.
ELECTION NIGHT TABULATION, WE WERE ABLE TO BE COM COMPLETELY FINISHED COUNTING AT 9 35 THAT EVENING, BEATING OUT OTHER LARGE COUNTIES FOR THE RUNOFF ELECTION.
WE DID NOT HAVE AS MANY RACES ON OUR BALLOT, BUT WE STILL HAD JUST AS MUCH PARTICIPATION.
WE SAW TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF VOTERS COMING OUT.
THE ONE THING WE DIDN'T SEE AT THIS ELECTION WERE PEOPLE WAITING IN LINE AT SEVEN O'CLOCK TO VOTE.
LUCKILY THEY WERE ABLE TO GET IN AND OUT AND GET THEIR VOTES CAST IN A TIMELY MANNER FOR THAT ELECTION.
WE WERE COMPLETELY DONE BEFORE, WELL BEFORE MIDNIGHT.
AND AS YOU COULD SEE, WHAT I LIKE TO POINT OUT, DALLAS COUNTY HAD JUST A FEW MORE SITES THAN US AND THEY WERE AN HOUR BEHIND US.
BUT IT'S A LITTLE, UH, COMPETITIVE NATURE AMONG LARGE COUNTIES.
SOME HISTORICAL INFORMATION ON THAT PARTICULAR NIGHT, THERE WERE SEVERAL PHONE CALLS ABOUT, UM, GETTING THE RESULTS OUT, BUT I DID WANNA POINT OUT THAT IN THE PREVIOUS YEARS WE WERE IN ALIGNMENT AND ACTUALLY A LITTLE BIT EARLIER THAN 2022.
AS YOU ALL KNOW, WE HAD A RUNOFF ELECTION ON JUNE THE 13TH FOR A CCD DISTRICT NINE RUNOFF.
THAT PARTICULAR ELECTION, WE WERE DONE COUNTING BY SEVEN 30 IN THE EVENING.
I DIDN'T KNOW IF IT WAS BECAUSE THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF THE ITEMS TALKING ABOUT NEXT STEPS FOR NOVEMBER IF WE WANTED TO HAVE ANY CONVERSATION ABOUT THOSE ELECTIONS.
IS THERE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BY THE COMMISSION? COMMISSIONER LOS SOLIS? UM, SO WE'VE HEARD, WE'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT THE, UM, MAIL BALLOT ISSUES.
CAN YOU GIVE US, UH, SOME DETAILS ON WHAT CAUSED IT, WHY WE COULDN'T TRACK? WHAT, WHAT WERE, WHAT'S YOUR POST-MORTEM ON THAT? SURE.
THE BIGGEST DELAY THAT WE SAW IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION IN REGARDS TO BALLOT BY MAIL WAS THE STATE CERTIFYING THE BALLOT.
THE BALLOT CERTIFICATION TYPICALLY HAPPENS EARLIER ON IN THE PROCESS, AND IT WAS DELAYED DUE TO A LOT OF THINGS.
UM, ANOTHER GREAT, UM, ITEM THAT WE SAW WAS THE REDISTRICTING.
AND WITH THE REDISTRICTING WE HAD TO WAIT TO GET DATA FROM THE STATE.
WE WERE USING THE TEAM SYSTEM, WHICH WE STILL ARE, AND THE DATA THAT WE WERE RECEIVING FROM THE TEAM SYSTEM DIDN'T MATCH THE DATA THAT WE WERE INPUTTING INTO IT.
SO WE WERE DOING A LOT OF, FOR LACK OF BETTER TERMS, WE WERE CHASING OUR TAIL TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING THAT WE RECEIVED WAS ALSO REPORTED BACK TO THE
[00:45:01]
PUBLIC.BUT THE BIGGEST ISSUE WITH THE MAIL BALLOT WAS THE CERTIFICATION OF THE BALLOT BY THE STATE.
THAT WAS THE BIGGEST, GREATEST ISSUE THAT WE HAD WITH THE MAIL BALLOTS.
UM, WE ALSO USED A DIFFERENT SYSTEM FOR THAT.
WE USED A VENDOR TO MAIL OUT OUR BALLOTS.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE FOUND IS WHEN WE USED THE VENDOR, WHEN THEY MAIL IT OUT, THE VOTERS WERE GETTING THEIR BALLOTS IN THREE DAYS.
ONCE THAT DEADLINE WAS PASSED AND WE WERE MAILING IT FROM OUR OFFICE, IT WAS TAKEN UPWARDS OF 10 DAYS FOR VOTERS TO GET IT MAILED LOCALLY.
UH, MY TEAM WORKED AROUND THE CLOCK TO ENSURE THAT EVERY BALLOT MADE IT TO THE POST OFFICE BEFORE MIDNIGHT, MYSELF INCLUDED.
WE WOULD HAND DELIVER CRATES AND CRATES FULL OF BALLOTS TO THE MAIN POST OFFICE AT THE AIRPORT BECAUSE THEY WERE OPEN THE LATEST.
WE ENSURED THAT EVERYTHING THAT WE RECEIVED WAS MAILED OUT IN A TIMELY MANNER, BUT WE DID SEE THAT THE BIGGEST ISSUE BY MAILING IT LOCALLY WAS A DELAY THROUGH THE POSTAL SERVICE.
DO YOU HAVE ANY STEPS IN PLACE TO, UH, OR CAN YOU OUTLINE YOUR STEPS THAT YOU'VE GOT IN PLACE FOR FOR NOVEMBER FOR MAIL BALLOTS? WE'RE IN A BETTER PLACE NOW THAN WE WERE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR WHEN WE FIRST INITIATED THE TEAM SYSTEM.
LUCKILY, WE HAVE SEVERAL PEOPLE ON OUR TEAM WHO REVIEW THE REPORTS THAT WE, THAT WE RUN FROM THE TEAM SYSTEM TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE ACCURATE.
WE ALSO HAVE, WITH THAT CAPABILITY, THE ABILITY TO MAIL OUT THE BALLOTS AS EARLY AS 45 DAYS IN ADVANCE RATHER THAN 10, OR I'M SORRY, 30 OR 25 DAYS.
SO WE HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE TO INTERNALLY HAVE OUR BALLOTS OUT AS SOON AS WE ARE FINISHED AND MEETING THE MOVE ACT DATE, WHICH IS 45 DAYS AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY.
AND THAT HAS SHOWN A TREMENDOUS TURNAROUND IN THE, IN THE ELECTIONS PRECEDING THE PRIMARY.
UM, CAN YOU, UH, I KNOW WHEN WE MET LAST, UM, YOU HAD TALKED ABOUT DOING A SURVEY TO ELECTION JUDGES FOR THEIR FEEDBACK.
UM, CAN YOU SHARE THE RESULTS OF THAT SURVEY? UM, AND, UM, WITH THE ELECTION COMMISSION SO THAT WE CAN GET THAT FEEDBACK? WE'RE ACTUALLY IN THE FINAL STAGES OF FINALIZING THAT SURVEY WITH OUR ELECTION TEAM AND OUR ELECTION TEAM INCLUDES THE TRAINERS AND THE LIAISONS.
THE DELAY IN GETTING THAT PARTICULAR, UM, SURVEY OUT HAS TO DO A LOT WITH THE FACT THAT MY WORKERS WERE NOT ABLE TO TAKE TIME OFF AND NOW THEY'RE NOT IN THE OFFICE.
SO WE ARE DOWN TO A SKELETON CREW, BUT WE ARE FINALIZING THE SURVEY AND WE SHOULD HAVE IT OUT BY MID-JULY.
ARE THERE ANY, LIKE, MAJOR THINGS THAT CAME OUT OF IT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE THAT YOU COULD SHARE WITH US NOW? WE HAVEN'T SUBMITTED THE SURVEY TO OUR WORKERS JUST YET, BUT WE HAVE LISTENED TO SEVERAL GROUPS THAT HAVE COME TO OUR OFFICE TO TALK ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS THAT THEY SAW OR THAT THEY HEARD FROM OTHER WORKERS.
SO THE SURVEY HAS NOT BEEN SENT OUT.
I SHOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE A REPORT TO YOU BEFORE THE END OF SUMMER.
UM, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT HAPPENED THAT OUR POLLING LOCATIONS THAT WERE SOMEWHAT DISCONCERTING.
UM, I THINK IT WAS DURING THE PRIMARY AT A ONE OF OUR NORTHWEST, UH, LIBRARY LOCATIONS.
WE HAD INDIVIDUALS THAT WERE VIDEOTAPING VOTERS AS THEY WERE COMING TO THE POLLS.
UM, OUR ELECTION JUDGES DID NOT BELIEVE THAT THEY COULD, UM, STOP THOSE INDIVIDUALS FROM, UH, VIDEOTAPING THOSE, THOSE VOTERS AND THE VOTERS WERE COMPLAINING TO THE ELECTION JUDGES ABOUT IT.
IS IT A VIOLATION, UH, FOR ANYBODY OR YEAH.
IS IT A VIOLATION FOR, UH, ANYBODY TO, UH, VIDEOTAPE VOTERS AS THEY'RE COMING TO A POLL AGAINST THEIR WILL? THERE'S NOT ANYTHING IN THE TEXAS ELECTION CODE THAT PREVENTS SOMEBODY FROM RECORDING A VOTER FROM WALKING INTO A POLLING LOCATION.
AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE USAGE OF RECORDABLE DEVICES IS ALLOWED TO BE USED UP UNTIL THEY ENTER INTO THE POLLING LOCATION, WHICH MEANS IN THE PAST IF SOMEBODY WAS USING A PHONE WITHIN A HUNDRED FEET, YOU COULD ASK THEM TO PUT IT AWAY.
NOW THEY CAN USE IT UP UNTIL THEY BRIDGE THE DOOR INTO THE ROOM.
SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, NO, THERE'S NOTHING IN THE TEXAS ELECTION CODE THAT SAYS THAT THEY CAN'T BE VIDEO RECORDED.
SO, SO IT IS NOT VOTER INTIMIDATION.
I DON'T BELIEVE THAT THAT'S MY, MY DECISION TO MAKE ON THAT OR MY OPINION.
UH, DURING THE PRIMARY RUNOFF ELECTION, WE HAD AN INDIVIDUAL FOR THREE DAYS WHO WAS AT, UH, A NORTHEAST LIBRARY LOCATION, UH, WHO HAD SHOULDER HOLSTERS, UH, WITH TWO, UH, GUNS.
UH, THEY WERE THERE FOR THREE DAYS.
UM, AND THEY WERE, UM, VERBALLY, UH, ABUSIVE TO OTHER PEOPLE THAT WERE AT THAT LOCATION.
THE ELECTION JUDGE DID NOT BELIEVE THAT THEY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY OR THE ABILITY TO
[00:50:01]
DO ANYTHING ABOUT THAT SITUATION.IS THAT VOTER INTIMIDATION? AND SHOULD THE ELECTION JUDGE HAVE DONE SOMETHING, ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF THE A HUNDRED FOOT MARKER IS OUTSIDE OF THE JUDGE'S PURVIEW ON BEING ABLE TO ESTABLISH WHAT'S HAPPENING INSIDE THE POLLING INSIDE THE A HUNDRED FOOT MARKER AND INSIDE THE POLLING LOCATION? IF YOU'RE ASKING ME IF I BELIEVE THAT THAT'S VOTER INTIMIDATION, YES, I DO.
BUT I'LL ALSO LET YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE HEARD OF THAT.
IF, IF YOU WERE TO, UM, WHAT WOULD YOUR RECOMMENDATION BE TO AN ELECTION JUDGE IF THAT WERE TO OCCUR? AGAIN, I WOULD ENCOURAGE THE JUDGE TO CONTACT OUR OFFICE DIRECTLY, WHETHER IT BE THROUGH THE LIAISON OR THE ELECTION DIVISION, WHICH INCLUDES OUR ELECTION MANAGER AND REPORT IT DIRECTLY SO THAT WE CAN THEN ADDRESS IT.
I THINK YOU WERE AWARE THAT WE HAD AN, A SITUATION, UH, AT ONE OF OUR SOUTH, UH, UM, LIBRARY LOCATIONS WHERE, UM, DPS PULLED OVER AN INDIVIDUAL, UM, AND THEN, UM, UH, BACKUP WAS, WAS CALLED AND ICE CAME TO THE, TO THE POLLING LOCATION.
UM, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS, UM, TO UM, ALLEVIATE ANY KINDS OF MISUNDERSTANDINGS LIKE THAT BETWEEN DPS, THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE ICE IN THE NOVEMBER ELECTION? SURE.
SO WE WORKED VERY CLOSELY WITH THE SHERIFF DURING THAT PARTICULAR INCIDENT.
IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH WHAT WAS GOING ON, WE WERE RECEIVING CONFLICTING STORIES, WHETHER IT BE FROM SOMEBODY THAT WAS WORKING THERE OR MAYBE EVEN SOMEONE OUTSIDE OF THE POLLING LOCATION.
BUT LUCKILY WE DO HAVE A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT.
WE KEEP DEPUTIES IN THE OFFICE FOR ANY TYPE OF INSTANT.
IF SO, IF SOMEBODY NEEDS ASSISTANCE FROM THE SHERIFF'S, WE WALK INTO THE ROOM, WE NOTIFY THEM AND THEY GO INTO ACTION WITH THE PLAN THAT HAS BEEN SET BY THE SHERIFF.
DO YOU ANTICIPATE GOING OUT WITH A LETTER TO ELECTION JUDGES WITH, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SHERIFF THAT ALL LAYS OUT WHAT IS IN VOTER INTIMIDATION, YOU KNOW, ISSUES WITH ICE, WHAT SHOULD THEY DO, UH, IN ADVANCE OF THE NOVEMBER ELECTION? THIS IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DISCUSS AND TALK ABOUT DURING OUR TRAINING PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY, OUR TRAINERS ARE PUTTING ON THE CALENDAR DATES IN THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY TO BE ABLE TO MEET WITH THE JUDGES, CERTIFY THEM, AND DO THE REGULAR TRAINING.
SO THIS IS DEFINITELY A TALKING POINT THAT I CAN COLLABORATE WITH THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT AND BE ABLE TO PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL, ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT THE JUDGES AND CLERKS MAY NEED.
I REALLY THINK THAT'S A, AN IMPORTANT THING TO DO AS, AS WE HEAD TO NOVEMBER.
UM, I RECALL AT OUR LAST, UM, I BELIEVE IT WAS OUR LAST, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN OUR FIRST, UM, COMMISSION, ELECTIONS COMMISSION.
UH, YOU HAD DONE SOME BENCHMARKING WITH OTHER ELECTION SITES.
I BELIEVE YOU'VE BENCHMARKED AGAINST FORT WORTH, UH, AND LOOKED AT THE SIZE OF THEIR ELECTIONS OFFICE.
UM, HOW ARE YOU NOW COMPARED TO THAT COMPARABLE, UH, ELECTIONS OFFICE FORT WORTH IN REGARDS TO STAFFING? YES MA'AM.
UM, WE DON'T COME ANYWHERE CLOSE TO THE AMOUNT OF STAFF THAT TARRANT COUNTY HAS CURRENTLY IN OUR VOTER REGISTRATION PROCESSING.
WE HAVE FOUR FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE.
ACTUALLY THERE'S A TOTAL OF SIX IF YOU INCLUDE THE, THE DIRECTOR THAT'S THERE A FULL-TIME.
AND WE ALSO HAVE FOUR PART-TIMERS WHO WORK 29 HOURS A WEEK TO ASSIST US.
SO IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, TARRANT COUNTY HAS PROBABLY QUADRUPLE OF THAT WHEN IT GOES TO VOTER REGISTRATION.
UM, THAT OF COURSE IT'S MY OPINION THAT VOTER REGISTRATION IS THE HEARTBEAT OF THE OFFICE BECAUSE IF THEY'RE NOT ABLE TO PROCESS THESE APPLICATIONS AS THEY COME IN, THEN WE'RE NOT ABLE TO HAVE ACCURATE ROLES OR EVEN ACCURATE, UM, OFFICIAL LIST OF REGISTERED VOTERS WHEN IT COMES TO ELECTION TIME.
SO I HAVE SUBMITTED A REQUEST THROUGH BUDGETING TO REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES.
SO WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING FORWARD AND HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH THE COMMISSION AND WITH THE PUBLIC.
I DID TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION EVERYONE WHO SPOKE TODAY, ALL THE NINE INDIVIDUALS HAVE BROUGHT A LOT OF ISSUES TO US.
ONE THING I CAN SAY, I WAS WATCHING THIS, WATCHING THIS ELECTION VERY, VERY CLOSE BECAUSE I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE NUMBERS WERE DOUBLE THAN OUR PAST PRIMARY ELECTION.
AND THEY WERE, THEY WERE MORE THAN DOUBLE.
AS I LOOK AT THE NUMBERS FOR THE POPULATION FOR HARRIS COUNTY, WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THEY'RE CLOSER TO 6 MILLION POPULATION.
WE LOOK AT DALLAS COUNTY, THERE ARE A LITTLE OVER 4 MILLION POPULATION.
[00:55:01]
LOOK AT TARRANT COUNTY, THERE ARE ABOUT 150,000 RESIDENTS MORE THAN BE COUNTY.WE'RE FOURTH LARGEST COUNTY, JUST A LITTLE UNDER TARN COUNTY.
MY CONCERNS WHEN WE CHOSE OUR PERSON TO TAKE OVER THE ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATION OFFICE, I WANTED TO SEE, AND I'M NOT THE COMMISSIONER, I'M NOT THE CO, THE COMMISSIONER COURT, BUT I REQUESTED HOPEFULLY THAT THEY WOULD GIVE YOU MORE STAFF BECAUSE I KNOW HOW THE ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATION IS BEING RAN IN TARRANT COUNTY.
'CAUSE I'M REALLY CLOSE TO THE COUNTY CLERK IN TARRANT COUNTY WHO'S ALSO NOT OVER ELECTIONS.
TO RUN A COUNTY OF OUR SIZE WITH A TWO POINT PLUS POPULATION, 26 CITIES, AN UNINCORPORATED COUNTY AND STILL CONTINUING TO GROW IS NOT FEASIBLE WITH THE 24 STAFF MEMBERS THAT WE HAVE.
AND I AM VERY PROUD TO SAY I HAVE SEEN A LOT OF IMPROVEMENT IN COMMUNITY OUTREACH, TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENT.
I HAVE SEEN THAT EVEN THOUGH WE'RE HAVING ISSUES WITH TEAMS, YOU GOTTA UNDERSTAND I OVERSEE THE CRIMINAL COURTS AND WE HAVE A NEW SYSTEM THAT TOOK OVER A 40-YEAR-OLD SYSTEM THAT I AM WORKING WITH IT.
EVEN THOUGH IT HAS ISSUES, I HAVE NOT COMPLAINED.
I'M ACTUALLY ADVOCATING FOR IMPROVEMENT TO MIMIC OTHER COUNTIES THAT ARE WORKING WITH THE TIGHTER SYSTEM.
ANYTIME YOU DO ANY TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE ISSUES.
I SAW THAT AT THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WHEN THEY PUT NEC IN PLACE FOR BIOMETRICS.
WE CONVERTED OLD BIOMETRICS EVIDENCE INTO A AUTOMATION AND IT WAS A WORKING IN PROGRESS.
SO TECHNOLOGY IS THERE AND WE'RE WORKING WITH THE STATE AND THE STATE'S GONNA WORK WITH US AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.
MODERNIZATION IS TAKING PLACE.
YOU INSTEAD OF SITTING IN THE ELECTIONS OFFICE, I HAVE SEEN YOUR TEAM DO A LOT OF OUTREACH.
'CAUSE I'VE BEEN BESIDE YOU ALL IN THE COMMUNITY IN THIS HOT WEATHER TRYING TO EDUCATE OUR COMMUNITY ABOUT OUTREACH.
AND THE REASON I CREDIT YOU FOR THAT, BECAUSE THE COUNTY CLERK IS KNOWN TO SIT BEHIND A DESK AND I DON'T WORK LIKE THAT.
SO LOOKING AT YOUR TEAM OUT THERE DOING OUTREACH IS A VERY IMPORTANT IMPERATIVE THING TO DO.
AS AN ELECTION ADMINISTRATOR, ALL I ASK FOR IS VO ELIZABETH, UH, JULIA, LINDA, KAY, KATIE, JILL, WE ARE HEARING YOU.
AUDREY, WE ARE HEARING YOU VOTE BY MAIL.
I, MY PARENTS GET THEIR VOTE BY MAIL AND THAT'S GONNA BE 89.
THEY'VE BEEN MARRIED 60 YEARS.
THEY, THEY'RE VERY ADAMANT OF GOING TO THE POLLS TO VOTE IN PERSON.
SO WE DO HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR AND WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH THE ELECTION ADMINISTRATOR, MS. MICHELLE CARU, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE TAKE CARE OF THE ISSUE THROUGH THE STATE AND LOCALLY AND TO MAKE SURE THAT WE SUPPORT HER AND HER TEAM WITH THE 24 STAFF MEMBER TEAM AND A TWO POINT PLUS MILLION POPULATION TO UTILIZE OUR STAFF OR OUR COMMUNITY TO CONTINUE SERVING ON HOWEVER WE CAN.
I DID LOOK AT THE TEXAS ASSOCIA ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES AND I READ ITEM NUMBER NINE AND ITEM NUMBER 10.
IS A COUNTY RESPONSIBLE FOR TRAINING ELECTION WORKERS FOR THE PRIMARY ELECTION? NO.
THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF POLITICAL PARTY IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE TRAINING FOR ITS ELECTION OFFICIALS USING THE STATE'S STANDARDIZED TRAINING.
IS THE COUNTY RESPONSIBLE FOR TRAINING ELECTION WORKERS FOR LOCAL POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS? NO.
UNLESS THE COUNTY CONTRACTED WITH THE POLITICAL SUBDIVISION TO PROVIDE TRAINING IN A JOINT ELECTION.
COUNTIES ARE REQUIRED TO HOLD PUBLIC TRAINING SESSIONS FROM THE ELECTIONS ORDER BY THE GOVERNOR OR COUNTY AUTHORITY.
I HAVE LOOKED AT ELECTION CODES.
I'M LOOKING AT STATUTES EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT THE ELECTIONS CHIEF BECAUSE I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE BLAME OR THE RESPONSIBILITY IS DONE ON ALL ACROSS EITHER PARTIES OR ELECTION ADMINISTRATOR OR US ELECTION ELECTED OFFICIALS.
IT'S GONNA TAKE ALL OF US COMING TOGETHER TO RUN A VERY SUCCESSFUL ELECTION IN NOVEMBER, WHETHER WE'RE REPUBLICANS OR DEMOCRATS.
WE'RE ALL FACING DIFFERENT CHALLENGES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE GETTING OLDER AND DISCONNECTED.
I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE DO OUR DUE DILIGENCE TO NOT ONLY SUPPORT YOU, BUT ALSO SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND KNOW THAT WE ARE THEIR VOICE AND WE WILL, WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE.
I, IN MY OPINION, THEY'RE STILL PAYING A POSTEX.
THEY'RE PAYING FOR POSTAGE AND THEY'RE IN A, IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT, THEY'RE AT A REHAB CENTER, THEY'RE IN A NURSING HOME AND THEY CANNOT GET TO A MAIL POST OFFICE TO BUY THEIR POSTAGE IF THEY'RE SENDING IN A MAIL-IN BALLOT.
THAT IS US TO ADVOCATE AT THE STATE.
I STILL, TO THIS DAY, FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS, I'VE ALWAYS SAID THEY'RE STILL PAYING A POLL TAX.
'CAUSE THEY HAVE TO GET A POSTAGE FOR
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THEIR MAIL-IN BALLOT.SO IF YOU ALL WANNA ADVOCATE FOR THEM, GO TO THE STATE SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO BUY A POSTAGE.
I SUPPORT MY US POSTAGE SERVICES, BUT LET'S GET AWAY FROM THIS POLL TAX.
MICHELLE, I WANNA SAY THANK YOU.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR DEDICATION.
THANK YOU FOR TRYING TO SERVE THIS LARGE FOURTH LARGEST COUNTY IN THE STATE OF TEXAS AND THANK YOU TO YOUR TEAM.
IT TAKES AN ARMY TO DO WHAT THEY DO BECAUSE Y'ALL GOT SHOT AT AT THAT OFFICE.
IT IS UP TO OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT.
I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
I HAD JUST LEFT TOBIN WHEN THAT GENTLEMAN SHOWED UP AND MY FIRST THING I WOULD DO WOULD CALL LAW ENFORCEMENT.
I WOULDN'T EVEN CALL YOU, I WOULDN'T EVEN CALL THE JUDGE.
I WOULD CALL 9 1 1 BECAUSE I'M NOT GONNA ENDANGER YOU.
I'M NOT GONNA ENDANGER THE JUDGES OR THE CLERKS.
I LITERALLY HAD JUST LEFT WHEN CHOPPA TOLD ME THAT HER DAUGHTER HAD BEEN APPROACHED BY THAT INDIVIDUAL.
I WAS THERE AT LAMA 'CAUSE I WAS WORKING IN LAMA.
THAT IS MY VOTING AREA AT LAMA.
THAT IS A LAW ENFORCEMENT ISSUE.
SO I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU CONTINUE COMMUNICATING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT.
'CAUSE I WOULD NEVER CALL YOU AND I WOULD NEVER CALL THE JUDGE.
PAULA USED TO WORK AT THE LAMAS AS A JUDGE FOR MANY MANY DECADES.
SHE JUST RETIRED AT 90 SOMETHING YEARS OLD.
I'VE BEEN VOTING THERE FOREVER.
SO I APPRECIATE HER SERVICE THERE.
MS. PAULA JUST FINALLY RETIRED.
SO AGAIN, I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE TODAY FOR SPEAKING YOUR VOICE OF REASON AND ESPECIALLY WOMEN LEAD.
YOU ALL HAVE DONE AN OUTSTANDING JOB AND I ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO THE MAGAZINE 'CAUSE IT HAS ALL THE INFORMATION WE NEED.
AND THANK YOU SO MUCH TOO MUCH TO YOUR, SO FIRST OF ALL, MICHELLE, THE FEW TIMES THAT I'VE CALLED YOU, YOU'VE BEEN RESPO VERY RESPONSIVE.
SO I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THAT.
AND I ALSO WANT TO STATE, JUST FOR THE RECORD, THAT I AM VERY MUCH IN FAVOR OF PAYING OUR ELECTION WORKERS MORE THAN THEY'RE GETTING.
'CAUSE MY UNDERSTANDING IS SOME OF THEM ARE MAKING LIKE 15 OR $16 AN HOUR.
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.
THE UM, ALTERNATE JUDGE MAKES $17 AN HOUR AND THE PRESIDING JUDGE MAKES $18 AN HOUR.
AND THIS COUNTY MADE A COMMITMENT THAT EVERYBODY, THE MINIMUM WAGE FOR EVERYBODY WOULD BE THE SAME.
SO I WOULD HOPE THAT WE WOULD LOOK, LOOK AT THAT BECAUSE I THINK WE NEED TO BRING THEM UP TO SPEED WITH THE REST OF THE, UH, WITH THE, UH, REST OF THE EMPLOYEES IN BEXAR COUNTY.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WANT TO ASK MICHELLE, IS THE COMPLAINT THAT I GOT A LOT AND I KNOW JUDGE KAI GOT IT AND SEVERAL PEOPLE UP HERE GOT IT WAS ABOUT THE MAIL BALLOTS.
HOW MANY PEOPLE DID NOT GET THE MAIL BALLOTS THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO.
I DON'T HAVE THAT TYPE OF INFORMATION TO PROVIDE.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT WE DID MAIL OUT ALMOST 19,000 BALLOTS DURING THE PRIMARY, AND IT'S MY, IT'S NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE THAT WE RECEIVED A LOT OF THEM BACK, BUT WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS STARTING TO HAPPEN NOW FROM NOVEMBER IS BALLOTS THAT WERE NOT DELIVERABLE ARE JUST NOW BEING DELIVERED TO OUR OFFICE.
SO I DON'T HAVE ANY TYPE OF DATA TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE YOU SAYING THIS IS HOW MANY, BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT BASED UPON THE NUMBERS THAT I LOOKED AT.
AND THIS IS ALSO GOING OFF OF, UM, EMAILS AND PHONE CALLS THAT WE'VE RECEIVED FROM OUR VOTERS, OUR DELIVERY RATE.
AND I WISH I HAD IT HERE IN FRONT OF ME.
I WANNA SAY IT WAS LIKE 98.75%.
BUT I, I'M SPEAKING OFF THE CUFF ON THIS BECAUSE I PRESENTED IT TO THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF EMAILS THAT WE RECEIVED ABOUT PEOPLE CLAIMING THAT THEY DIDN'T RECEIVE THEIR BALLOT, WE HAD SEVERAL THAT WE WERE ABLE TO TRACK.
SO BY USING THE NEW VENDOR, THEY, THEY, THEY CALLED ME AND SAID, MICHELLE, I DIDN'T RECEIVE MY BALLOT.
I COULD TRACK THEIR BALLOT AND LET THEM KNOW EXACTLY WHEN IT LANDED IN THEIR MAILBOX, BUT WE DIDN'T HAVE A WAY TO TRACK THE BALLOT COMING BACK TO OUR OFFICE.
WE ONLY HAD A TRACKING MECHANISM TO MAIL IT OUT.
SO OUR DELIVERY RATE, ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE MAIL-IN PROCESS THAT WE DID IN THE PRIMARY, THE RATE WAS VERY HIGH IN REGARDS TO THE SUCCESS OF DELIVERY.
SO IF I'M UNDERSTANDING YOU CORRECTLY, YOU ARE SAYING THAT OF THE MAIL BALLOTS THAT WERE MAILED OUT, 98.7 OF THE PEOPLE GOT THEIR BALLOTS.
I'M SAYING THAT ACCORDING TO THE REPORTS FROM, FROM OUR VENDOR, 98.75 OF THEM WERE SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERED TO MAILBOXES.
I GUESS THE OTHER 1.3% HAD MY PHONE NUMBER 'CAUSE I WAS GETTING PROBABLY YEAH,
[01:05:01]
SO MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THERE WAS A MEETING OF 40 OR SO ELECTION JUDGES, UM, BACK A FEW WEEKS AGO.CAN YOU TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT THAT? IT WASN'T A MEETING THAT WE HELD IN OUR OFFICE.
SO IF THERE WAS A MEETING, IT MAY HAVE BEEN ON THE PARTY LEVEL AND WE WERE ABLE TO MEET WITH BOTH PARTY CHAIRS AFTER THE PRIMARY ELECTION TO TALK ABOUT DIFFERENT ITEMS THAT CAME UP FROM THEIR VOTERS AND CONCERNS THAT THEY HAD.
WE HAVE SINCE BEEN ABLE TO ADDRESS SOME, BUT NOT ALL OF THEM.
BUT WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING THROUGH EVERY COMPLAINT THAT'S BEEN FILED.
MICHELLE, YOU WANT TO COMMENT ON THAT? BECAUSE I THINK YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH THAT MEETING.
IT IS, AND WE DID MEET WITH, UH, MICHELLE CARU, MANY OF THE ISSUES THAT, UM, WE WERE RAISED BY OUR ELECTION JUDGES OTHER THAN MAIL.
'CAUSE MAIL WAS DEFINITELY AN ISSUE.
WERE WERE ESSENTIALLY TEAMS RELATED.
UM, THERE WERE SOME TRAINING ISSUES, SOME PROCESS ISSUES.
THE BUT THE, BY FAR THE BIGGEST ISSUES WERE TEAMS AND MAIL BALLOT.
AND WE DID SPEAK WITH, UH, MICHELLE CARU AND HER ENTIRE MANAGEMENT STAFF.
SO OBVIOUSLY I THINK ONE OF THE WEAKNESSES, NOT ONLY IN THE ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT AND EVERY OFFICE AND DEPARTMENT AND GOVERNMENT NEEDS MORE TRAINING AND WHAT I'M HEARING IS THAT YOU'RE GOING TO CONCENTRATE MORE ON TRAINING FOR, TO ADDRESS CERTAIN ISSUES THAT MAY HAVE ARISEN DURING THESE PAST ELECTIONS.
NOW EXPLAIN TO ME, 'CAUSE I HEAR A LOT ABOUT THIS AND I DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND IT.
WHAT IS THE SITUATION BETWEEN THE STATE SYSTEM, YOUR SYSTEM WITH MILLIONS OF DOLLARS HAVE BEEN SPENT, BUT OBVIOUSLY THEY'RE, OR AT LEAST WHAT I'M UNDERSTANDING, THEY'RE NOT WORKING WELL TOGETHER AND THE STATE IS MAKING, YOU KNOW, UH, THREATS OR MANDATES OR WHAT HAVE YOU.
WHAT, WHAT'S THAT ALL ABOUT? WHERE THE SYSTEMS ARE NOT WORKING TOGETHER AND, AND WE'RE HAVING PROBLEMS, WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO TOUCH ON THAT LATER ON THIS EVENING.
BUT I DO WANNA LET ONE THING BE KNOWN.
WE HAVE NOT SPENT $1 YET WITH VR SYSTEMS. SO IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT IN THE CONTRACT THAT MONEY WILL NOT BE PAID TO THEM UNTIL THE SYSTEM GOES.
THERE'S A, THERE'S TWO PAYMENT PROCESSES, ONE, WHEN THEY REACH A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE, AND THEN THE SECOND ONE IS WHEN WE GO LIVE.
AND WE'RE UM, AS OF RIGHT NOW, NOT SPENT $1 WITH VR SYSTEMS. BUT IN REGARDS TO THE TEAM SYSTEM, AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE WANNA JUMP AHEAD ON THIS JUST YET, JUDGE, BUT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE TOUCHING ON LATER IN MY PRESENTATION.
WOULD THAT BE OKAY FOR US TO WAIT TILL THEN OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH IT NOW? IT'S YOUR CALL.
IF YOU, IF, IF IT WOULD HELP US UNDERSTAND.
LET ME, LET ME FRAME IT AND SUBJECT TO OBJECT ANY OBJECTION OR FEEDBACK.
IF IT HELPS US UNDERSTAND THE FEEDBACK THAT YOU'VE GOTTEN THIS FAR, EITHER FROM THE COMMISSION OR FROM THE PUBLIC, I BELIEVE IT IS APPROPRIATE FOR YOU TO ADDRESS THOSE ISSUES.
AT THIS TIME, EVEN THOUGH PERHAPS YOU WERE PREPARED TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS AT ANOTHER JUNCTURE ON THE AGENDA, I THINK GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE CALL DUE PROCESS.
SO, ALRIGHT, IF YOU WISH TO RESPOND, YOU MAY DO SO AT THIS TIME.
AND SO COMMISSIONER US STATE, I BELIEVE YOU'VE ASKED A QUESTION SO THAT I CAN FRAME IT FOR PURPOSES OF, UH, DISCUSSION, IS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE DATA SYSTEMS THAT ARE EMPLOYED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS THAT ARE STATUTORILY REQUIRED, WHAT PROBLEMS OR ISSUES WE'VE HAD, AND THEN THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE VR SYSTEM BECAUSE THE PRIOR VOTER SYSTEM, VORTEC WENT BANKRUPT, OR I PRESUME THAT'S THE APPROPRIATE WORD, BUT THEY WERE NO LONGER DOING BUSINESS WITH BEAR.
AND THEN WE HAD ISSUES OF VOTER REGISTRATION AND INTERNET DATABASE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL BECAUSE WE DID NOT HAVE THE ASSISTANCE PERHAPS, OF THE VR SYSTEM.
AND THAT IS STILL PROBLEMATIC AT THIS TIME BECAUSE THE DATA SYSTEMS THAT IS SANCTIONED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS IS THROUGH THE
[01:10:01]
SECRETARY OF STATE.I HAVE SENT A LETTER TO THE SECRETARY STATE AND THERE'S BEEN EVENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED, INCLUDING THE RESIGNATION OF THE CURRENT SECRETARY STATE AND MANY MEMBERS OF THE ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT AT THE STATE OF TEXAS.
SO IT CAN GET VERY TECHNICAL AND COMPLICATED, BUT I WANT TO GIVE MICHELLE THE OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE MICHELLE, OBVIOUSLY THERE MAY BE A MISUNDERSTANDING OR PE THERE'S A LACK OF, THERE'S PROBABLY A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE TECHNICALITY OF THE SYSTEMS AND HOW THEY INTEGRATE AND WHAT WE HAVE TO DO TO MAKE SURE.
AND THEN I BELIEVE MICHELLE, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, YOU HAVE MADE A STATEMENT ON YOUR POWERPOINT THAT YOU HAVE DELIVERED A SAFE, ACCURATE, AND FAIR ELECTIONS FOR FOUR ELECTIONS WHILE YOU ARE THE ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR.
AND SO FOR ME, I'LL JUST PREP YOU FOR THIS.
YOU JUST GOTTA SHOW ME THAT YOU FULFILLED THAT REPRESENTATION TONIGHT.
SO WITH THAT, I'VE BEEN A LITTLE BIT LONG-WINDED, BUT I WANTED TO HELP THE COMMISSION AND THE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND, 'CAUSE WE ARE IN A PUBLIC HEARING AND I BELIEVE WE WILL, WE HAVE MEDIA PRESENCE, SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE THE RECORD IS ACCURATE.
SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA SHUT UP.
SO WHEN WE, WHEN VO-TECH WENT OUT OF BUSINESS LAST SUMMER, WE WERE IN A POSITION TO WHERE WE DID NOT HAVE A VOTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM FOR MANY MONTHS.
THE LAST DAY WE WERE ABLE TO PUT ANY DATA INTO THEIR SYSTEM WAS JULY THE SECOND, AND THEN THE NEXT PERIOD WE WERE ABLE TO START PROCESSING THE VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS WAS OCTOBER THE FIRST.
SO THERE WAS SEVERAL MONTHS IN THERE WHERE THE, THAT'S WHEN THE BACKLOG PRESENTED ITSELF TO US.
ALMOST EVERY DAY IN OUR OFFICE, WE RECEIVE ABOUT A THOUSAND APPLICATIONS FROM DPS.
AND THOSE ARE VOTERS WHO ARE GOING TO EITHER RENEW THEIR DRIVER'S LICENSE, CHANGE A NAME, YOU KNOW, THEY ARE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO REGISTER TO VOTE.
VO-TECH USED TO PROCESS THOSE AUTOMATICALLY FOR US.
IT DIDN'T REQUIRE HUMAN TOUCH, BUT, BUT IN THE TEAM SYSTEM WE DON'T HAVE THAT.
WE HAVE TO LITERALLY TOUCH EVERY APPLICATION THAT COMES IN ON TOP OF EVERYTHING THAT COMES IN THROUGH THE MAIL.
SO AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, AS WE WORKED THROUGH THAT BACKLOG, SOMETHING I DO WANT TO LET EVERYBODY KNOW IS THERE'S NOT A VOTER REGISTRATION ISSUE WITH THE TEAM SYSTEM.
EACH VOTER IS PUT INTO THEIR RESPECTIVE PRECINCT AND INTO, UH, ANY OTHER DISTRICT THAT THEY MAY BE IN BECAUSE WE'VE ALREADY PLANTED THE SEED FOR THAT PRECINCT, RIGHT? WE KNOW WHICH AREAS AND WHO REPRESENTS THEM.
THE ISSUE THAT WE, WE FACE SINCE MOVING FROM VO-TECH TO TEAM IS THE FACT THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE AUTOMATIONS THAT WERE IN THERE, WHETHER IT BE FOR DPS APPLICATIONS, BALLOT BY MAIL, EVERYTHING THAT WE HAD WAS WIPED OUT.
SO WHEN WE SPOKE TO THE STATE ABOUT JOINING ONTO THE TEAM SYSTEM, THEY HAD JUST RELEASED THEIR TEAM, WHAT I CALL TEAM 2.0.
AND THEY PUT A STOP TO EVERY MOVEMENT TO CREATE THEIR MODULES SORT OF WITHIN IT, WHETHER IT BE BALLOT BY MAIL, UM, DPS APPLICATIONS, WHATEVER THE CASE WAS, IT WAS PUT PLACED ON HOLD TO HELP BEXAR COUNTY BECOME ACTIVE TO WHERE WE COULD GET EVERYONE IN THE SYSTEM AND BE PREPARED FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTION.
SO I DEFINITELY GIVE THEM TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF KUDOS FOR HELPING US GET TO THAT POINT.
HOWEVER, THEIR TEAM SYSTEM IS NOT AS ROBUST AS BEXAR COUNTY NEEDS IN ORDER TO TAKE CARE OF THE VOTER REGISTRATION BALLOT BY MAIL, LOOKING THROUGH PETITIONS, REDISTRICTING, JURY WILL, ALL OF THAT PLAYS A ROLE HERE IN BEXAR COUNTY.
SO SINCE WE'RE NOW WITH TEAM SYSTEM, THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS WE CANNOT DO.
WE CANNOT PRINT NOTICES TO OUR VOTERS.
SO RATHER THAN BEING ABLE TO PRINT OUT EVERY NOTICE, WE HAVE TO HAND FILL EVERY NOTICE THAT GOES TO EVERY VOTER, WHETHER IT BE ABOUT THEIR, UM, APPLICATION TO REGISTER TO VOTE, WHETHER IT BE ABOUT THEIR APPLICATION FOR BALLOT BY MAIL, REJECTION LETTERS.
UM, EVERY COMMUNICATION THAT WE DO IS NOW DONE IN OUR OFFICE BY HAND.
SO AS YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT THE SIZE OF STAFF THAT WE HAVE, IT TAKES TIME TO BE ABLE TO DO WHAT A COMPUTER ONCE DID FOR US.
SO THAT IS ONE OF THE GRANDEST OVERTAKING THAT WE HAD TO DO AND GET USED TO, RIGHT, WAS DOING EVERYTHING MANUALLY SINCE THEN.
WHEN WE WOULD RUN REPORTS, FOR EXAMPLE,
[01:15:01]
MR. RUSTY, IF YOU HAD REQUESTED A BALLOT BY MAIL AT ONE POINT, IT SHOWED THAT WE WERE SENDING YOU 13 DIFFERENT BALLOTS FOR OTHER ENTITIES THAT ARE NOT EVEN IN BEXAR COUNTY.THEY WERE FROM ALL OVER THE STATE.
SO WE HAD TO REPORT THIS BACK TO THE STATE.
THEY WERE ABLE TO CLEAN IT UP AND REMOVE IT FROM YOUR RECORD.
SO IT DIDN'T SHOW WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO MAIL THAT BALLOT ANYWAYS.
WE WERE, WE CAUGHT IT LONG BEFORE, BUT THE DATA IN THE TEAM SYSTEM WAS MURKY.
SO THE VISION FOR US TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT YOUR, UM, PROFILE TO SEE WHAT WAS DUE TO YOU WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE.
SO YOU CAN IMAGINE IF THERE'S 13 ADDITIONAL BALLOTS, WE'RE HAVING TO GO PAGE BY PAGE BY PAGE MANUALLY TO FIND YOUR BALLOT INFORMATION AND TO LET YOU KNOW WHEN WE RECEIVED YOUR APPLICATION, WHAT DAY YOUR BALLOT WAS MAILED, AND WHAT DAY IT WAS RECEIVED.
THAT WAS A FEAT WITHIN ITSELF.
SO IN OUR MAIL ROOM, WE HAVE CURRENTLY ONE FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE IN THE MAIL ROOM WHO OVERSEES A GANG OF TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES.
NOW, EVERY ONE OF THESE TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES, THEY HAVE A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF INTEGRITY.
THEY WANT TO DO WHAT'S BEST FOR THE VOTERS, BUT DUE TO THE FACT THAT THEY'RE NOT FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES, THEY MAY NOT HAVE RECEIVED THE TRAINING THAT WAS DUE TO THEM.
SO WE'VE WORKED WITH INTERNALLY TO ENSURE THAT THOSE ANSWERING THE PHONES CAN ANSWER THEIR ANY QUESTION WITHOUT A DOUBT WITH THE CORRECT ANSWER.
SO WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THE TRAINING PROCESSES, BUT BACK TO TEAM, UM, WE HAVE BEEN IN CONSTANT COMMUNICATION.
ANYTIME SOMETHING COMES UP, WE REPORT IT TO TEAM AND THE STANDARD RESPONSE IS, WE WILL REPORT THIS TO THE VENDOR AND WE'LL LET YOU KNOW AS SOON AS WE HEAR SOMETHING BACK.
OUR VOTERS WHO VOTED BY MAIL, WE DETERMINED THAT THE REASON WHY THEY DID NOT RECEIVE A VOTER REGISTRATION CARD IS BECAUSE WHEN WE PUT THEM IN THE SYSTEM, IT FLAGGED THEM FOR SOME REASON.
SO NOT ALL, BUT PROBABLY 98.5% OF THEM DID NOT GET A VOTER REGISTRATION CARD BECAUSE OF THE FLAW OF THE DATA IN THE TEAM SYSTEM.
I REACHED OUT TO THE TEAM SYSTEM AND SAID, OKAY, WE'VE, WE'VE, WE'VE LOCATED THESE ERRORS WITH THE DATA AND IF IT'S NOT ME, IT'S JOHN.
IT'S OUR VOTER REGISTRATION COORDINATOR.
LATONYA, EVERYBODY IN THE OFFICE IS REPORTING EVERY SINGLE DAY ISSUES OF WHAT WE'RE EXPERIENCING WITH TEAM.
I REQUESTED FROM THEM AN ADDITIONAL RUN BECAUSE WE WERE ABLE TO MAIL OUT THE CARDS IN APRIL.
FINALLY, EVERYBODY WAS GETTING A CARD, BUT LET ME TELL YOU WHAT WE FOUND IN OUR CARDS.
SO I'M MAKING UP A STREET NAME.
I DON'T BELIEVE IT EXISTS HERE, BUT IF YOU LIVED ON MILKY WAY DRIVE, YOUR ADDRESS SHOWED THAT YOU LIVED AT 1 2 3 4 MILKY.
SO THEN THE POST OFFICE RETURNS IT TO US, WHICH, WHICH THEN TRIGGERS SO US TO PUT YOU ON SUSPENSE, WHICH, WHICH WE'RE NOT DOING BECAUSE WE DETERMINED IT WAS A DATA ISSUE AND WE'RE TRYING TO GET A NEW CARD TO THOSE VOTERS.
WE SAW THAT THERE WERE VOTERS THAT HAD TRUNCATED LAST NAMES, WHETHER IT BE MULTIPLE NAMES THAT WERE HYPHENATED OR JUST A REALLY LONG LAST NAME.
IT CUT IT OFF AFTER A CERTAIN NUMBER OF LETTERS.
SO AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, THOSE VOTERS WERE UPSET TOO, BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE OUR IDENTITIES AND OUR IDENTITIES MATTER, AND IT SHOULD MATCH WHAT'S ON YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE WHENEVER YOU RECEIVE YOUR CARD.
SO WE HAD ISSUES WITH THE TRUNCATED NAMES, WE HAD THE ISSUES WITH THE ADDRESSES IN THE SYSTEM, AND UM, THOSE WERE THE BIGGEST RETURNS THAT WE RECEIVED EVER.
I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU ALL TO COME TO OUR OFFICE TO SEE WE HAVE A VAULT DEDICATED TO THE RETURNING OF THE CARDS THAT NOW WE HAVE TO PROCESS.
SO WITH A FULL-TIME, UH, PARTY OF SIX AND VOTER REG, ALONG WITH THEIR TEMPS, THEY'RE HAVING TO HAND LOOK AND INSPECT EVERY CARD THAT CAME BACK TO DETERMINE WHOSE FAULT IT WAS.
AND THEY'VE DONE THAT, THEY'VE DONE THE LEGWORK ON IT.
BUT AS MENTIONED EARLIER, THE CARD ERRORS RESULTED IN MORE THAN 10% OR RIGHT AROUND 10% OF OUR REGISTERED VOTERS NOT RECEIVING A CARD.
SO IF YOU CAN PICTURE IN YOUR HEAD, WE HAVE OVER 130,000 RETURNED CARDS CURRENTLY IN OUR OFFICE WAITING TO BE PROCESSED OR BEING PROCESSED SLOWLY.
JUST DUE TO THE STAFF LIMITS THAT WE HAVE.
UM, LUCKILY I CAN REPORT TO YOU THAT JUST TODAY THE STATE GAVE OUR DATA OVER TO VR SYSTEMS TO START EXAMINING OUR DATA.
SO WE'RE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS TO WHERE THEY'RE LOOKING AT OUR DATA TO MAKE SURE THAT IF YOU LIVE ON MILKY WAY DRIVE, YOUR, YOUR ADDRESS IS POINTED TO MILKY WAY DRIVE, NOT POINTED TO A STREET THAT DOESN'T EXIST, OR A HOUSE NUMBER THAT DOESN'T EXIST.
SO WE MET WITH VR SYSTEMS THIS AFTERNOON AND THEY CONFIRMED THAT THEY'RE CURRENTLY GOING THROUGH OUR DATA.
OUR NEXT DATE TO MEET IS IN AUGUST TO, FOR THEM TO HAVE A DELIVERABLE TO US TO TELL US WHAT THEY FOUND WITH THE DATA THAT THEY RECEIVED FROM THE TEAMS, FROM SOS AND THE TEAM SYSTEM.
THE BAD NEWS IS, IS THAT THIS SYSTEM IS NOT GOING TO BE IN PLACE FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTION.
[01:20:01]
I BELIEVE WE'VE KNOWN THIS FOR A WHILE, AND IT ALL HAD TO DO WITH THE NOT GETTING DATA DIRECTLY FROM THE STATE OR THE STATE'S VENDOR.SO THERE'S A LOT OF FINGER POINTING.
I DON'T WANNA POINT A FINGER AT THE STATE, JUST LIKE I DON'T WANT THE STATE TO POINT A FINGER AT US, BUT THOSE ARE THE FACTS.
THE FACTS ARE, WE REQUESTED DATA, WE DIDN'T RECEIVE IT.
THE JUDGE AND COMMISSIONER CALVERT SENT A LETTER, A DEMAND LETTER SAYING WE NEED THIS INFORMATION TO US BY JUNE 30TH.
AND WE RECEIVED IT TODAY, JUNE 30TH.
SO SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE REALLY IS WORKING TO GET THE INFORMATION TO US, BUT I BELIEVE THAT THEIR ARMS ARE PROBABLY TIED WITH A NEW VENDOR WITH NEW PROCESSES THAT ARE NOT PERFECT AND WITH THEM FINDING ISSUES INTERNALLY WITH THE DATA.
SO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE STATE I, I BUILD, I BELIEVE IS VERY STRONG AND I'D LIKE TO MAINTAIN THAT RELATIONSHIP.
BUT THERE ARE SOME HARDSHIPS AND MAYBE EVEN SOME HARD FEELINGS BETWEEN THE VOTERS IN BEXAR COUNTY NOT GETTING WHAT THEY NEED DIRECTLY FROM THE TEAM SYSTEM.
BUT WE ARE WORKING EVERY DAY TO ENSURE THAT THAT IS RECTIFIED.
OUR CURRENT GOAL TO GO LIVE WITH VR SYSTEMS IS JANUARY OF 2027.
SO JUST A FEW MORE THINGS REAL QUICK, JUDGE.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY THAT CAME OUT.
I KNOW WE STILL HAVE OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE GONNA SPEAK.
AND YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT Y'ALL WORK VERY HARD AT WHAT Y'ALL DO AND YOU TAKE VERY SERIOUSLY THE ELECTION PROCESS.
TWO THINGS MORE, AND I KNOW YOU AND I TALKED ABOUT IT THIS SEVEN O'CLOCK.
I MEAN, WHAT RIGHTLY OR WRONGLY, EVERYBODY WAS USED TO GETTING EARLY VOTING RESULTS AT SEVEN O'CLOCK, WELL MAYBE 7 0 5, 7 15.
TELL ME WHAT'S CHANGED ABOUT THAT, THAT THE EARLY VOTING'S NOT COMING OUT TO WAY LATER DURING THE PRIMARY.
WHAT CHANGED? THE DELAY OF PUTTING THE NUMBERS OUT WERE THE NUMBER OF VOTERS WHO WERE STILL IN LINE TO VOTE ON ELECTION NIGHT IN THE TEXAS ELECTION CODE.
IT STATES THAT I HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT WHEN TO RELEASE THE NUMBER, BUT IT SAYS IN THE CODE THAT YOU'RE NOT TO RELEASE THE NUMBER UNTIL EVERY BALLOT HAS BEEN CAST.
SO THAT IS WHY I CHOSE TO NOT RELEASE THE NUMBERS.
AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HAD ALMOST 5,000 VOTERS IN LINE ON ELECTION NIGHT AFTER SEVEN O'CLOCK.
SO I WAITED FOR A MAJORITY OF THEM TO HAVE ALREADY CAST THEIR BALLOT.
WE STAYED IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE POLL SITES THAT HAD VOTERS IN LINE TO DETERMINE, YOU KNOW, WHEN IS A GOOD TIME TO GET THAT INFORMATION OUT.
AND IF MY MEMORY SERVES ME CORRECTLY, I BELIEVE WE HAD THE NUMBER OUT SHORTLY AFTER EIGHT 30, WHICH IS NOT NORM, IT'S NOT THE NORM HERE IN BEXAR COUNTY.
IT'S NOT THE NORM IN THE COUNTIES IN WHICH I'VE WORKED IN THE PAST.
BUT WE DO HAVE TO ABIDE BY THE LAWS THAT ARE IN PLACE WHEN IT COMES TO REPORTING INFORMATION TO EARLY.
AND I BELIEVE THAT THAT'S IMPORTANT.
BUT SOMETHING I DO WANNA TOUCH ON MR. ESTI, IS THAT THERE IS A NEW LEGISLATION IN PLACE SENATE BILL 27 53 THAT WILL PROHIBIT ME FROM GIVING NUMBERS UNTIL THE LAST VOTER HAS VOTED ON ELECTION NIGHT.
IS THAT A MANDATE BY THE STATE? IT'S A NEW LAW OR IS THAT SOMETHING, SOMETHING THAT YOU INTERPRETED, I GUESS, OR SOMETHING YOU DECIDED TO DO ON YOUR OWN, ON YOU'RE TALKING BACK ON THE PRIMARY? YEAH, AS FAR AS DURING THE PRIMARY, I, I REACHED OUT TO, I REACHED OUT TO SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE TO THEIR LEGAL DIVISION PRIOR, PRIOR TO SEVEN O'CLOCK.
AND WHEN I SPOKE TO THEM AND LET THEM KNOW THAT WE HAD 5,000 VOTERS IN LINE WAITING TO VOTE, I WAS ADVISED TO NOT GIVE OUT THE NUMBERS.
AND THAT'S WHEN THEY PROVIDED THE STATUTES TO ME IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THAT.
AND I COULD SEE ARGUMENTS FOR BOTH SIDES.
BUT WHEN YOU SAY YOU WERE ADVISED IT WASN'T A MANDATE THEN, IS THAT CORRECT? IT'S NOT A MANDATE.
SO WE PROBABLY NEED TO LOOK AT THAT SOME MORE.
AND THEN THE FINAL THING I HAVE, AND I KNOW IT'S BEEN A LEARNING PROCESS FOR YOU, I UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, UH, THIS IS A LOT BIGGER COMMUNITY.
IF THERE WAS ONE THING THAT YOU COULD DO DIFFERENT THAT AFFECTED THE ENTIRE PROCESS, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENT OR WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING ON DOING DIFFERENT THAT'S GOING TO MAKE THE ELECTION PROCESS BETTER? THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION.
SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THAT SINCE THE PRIMARY.
AND I BELIEVE THAT WE'RE SLOWLY GETTING TO THE GOAL OF WHERE WE NEED TO BE.
SO AFTER THE, AFTER THE PRIMARY ELECTION, THE MANAGEMENT TEAM AND I, WE MET TOGETHER, WE HAD A POST-MORTEM MEETING TO TALK ABOUT THINGS THAT WERE NOT SUCCESSFUL AND THINGS THAT WERE SUCCESSFUL.
SO WE'VE ALREADY IMPLEMENTED THE ABILITY TO HAVE OUR BALLOTS OUT 45 DAYS IN ADVANCE.
THE BIGGEST HICCUP IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION WAS THE FACT THAT THE BALLOT WAS NOT CERTIFIED TIMELY BY THE STATE.
AND WE COULD NOT MAIL OUT THE BALLOT UNTIL IT WAS CERTIFIED.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE, WE DID HAVE TO FOLLOW THAT, THAT WAS OUR BIGGEST A SECOND ISSUE WITH MAIL BALLOTS WAS THE USPS.
[01:25:01]
ARE NEW RULES AT THE POSTAL SERVICE WHEN IT COMES TO MAIL IN GENERAL.THAT'S WHEN WE STARTED DIGGING DEEPER, LIKE, WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE GETTING THEIR BALLOTS IN THREE DAYS AND WHY IS IT TAKING LONGER ON A LOCAL MAIL OUT? WE NEVER RECEIVED A TRUE ANSWER FROM THE POSTAL SERVICE ON THAT.
BUT I CAN TELL YOU, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE JUDGE'S OFFICE, WE WERE ABLE TO REACH ONE OF THE HIGHEST PEOPLE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO TO, TO FIND OUT LIKE, WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG? WHY ARE YOU NOT GETTING THE BALLOTS? AND AFTER THAT, THEY STARTED DELIVERING BALLOTS TO OUR OFFICE AT EIGHT O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING WHEN IT USED TO BE 11 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING.
WHAT WE'RE DOING IN OUR OFFICE IS WE ARE REEXAMINING OUR PROCESSES SINCE THE DATA THAT WE RECEIVE FROM TEAM IS NOT ALWAYS ACCURATE.
WE'RE CURRENTLY REVIEWING EVERY APPLICATION THAT WE'VE RECEIVED FROM SINCE JANUARY THROUGH TODAY TO ENSURE THAT IT'S ACCURATELY RECORDED IN THE TEAM SYSTEM RUNNING REPORTS AGAINST THAT INFORMATION TO SEE IF THE DATA THAT'S COMING OUT NOW MATCHES WHAT'S IN THE SYSTEM.
AND AS OF YET, IT'S NOT A HUNDRED PERCENT PERFECT, BUT WE'RE DEFINITELY ON TOP OF THE, THE BALL WHEN IT COMES TO THE DATA INPUT AND THE OUTPUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE REPORTS BALLOT BY MAIL IS HUGE.
I KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT IS NOT JUST TO OUR SENIOR VOTERS, BUT TO OUR VOTERS WITH DI WITH DISABILITIES, OUR OVERSEAS VOTERS, OUR VOTERS IN OTHER STATES, OUR MILITARY.
WE TAKE A LOT OF PRIDE IN WHAT WE DO, BUT WE'RE NOT PERFECT, BUT WE'RE CERTAINLY WORKING TOWARDS BEING 100% ON TARGET.
AND I WOULD JUST ENCOURAGE YOU THAT, AND I'M SURE YOU'RE DOING IT, YOU KNOW, ANY GROUPS THAT, THAT WANT TO MEET WITH YOU THAT YOU WOULD MEET WITH THEM AND CONTINUE TO MEET WITH AND MAKE TIME FOR EVERYBODY.
COMMISSIONER COZ THANK YOU JUDGE.
I MEAN, HONESTLY AND OF COURSE OUR AUDIENCE TONIGHT, WE'RE SO HAPPY THAT YOU'RE ALL HERE.
UM, FIRST AND FOREMOST, UM, YOU HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLY RECEPTIVE AND VERY, UH, YOU'VE MADE YOURSELF VERY AVAILABLE ANYTIME THAT WE'VE CALLED WITH ANY ISSUES OR CONCERNS OR YOU KNOW, THINGS THAT WE GET TO TALK ABOUT.
SO I WANNA THANK YOU AND YOUR TEAM FOR THAT.
UM, I THINK MICHELLE, OUR CHAIR SISE MENTIONED IT AS WELL BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WE'VE MET WITH YOU SEVERAL TIMES OKAY.
AS A TEAM AND, YOU KNOW, HAD THE ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED.
AND I WON'T REITERATE THOSE THIS EVENING OKAY.
WITH YOU BECAUSE, UM, YOU ANSWERED SO MANY OF THOSE THINGS.
I THINK FOR MICHELLE AND I, AND MICHELLE NOT SPEAKING FOR YOU, I JUST, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT YOU AND I BOTH WERE IN AGREEMENT ON QUITE A FEW OF THE ISSUES AND SOME OF THE PROBLEMS. UM, BUT I MEAN, I, I WANNA BACK UP HERE ON A COUPLE OF LITTLE THINGS IF YOU DON'T MIND FIRST.
AND I'M SORRY IF THESE ARE OUT OF ORDER, FORGIVE ME.
BUT LIKE, UH, WHAT IS THIS ABOUT A THREE DAY VERBAL ABUSE OF, UH, SOMETHING HAPPENED IN ONE OF THE, THE SITES AND AND YOU'RE SAYING THAT AS THE ELECTION ADMINISTRATOR YOU HAD NO IDEA ABOUT IT.
SO IT SAYS TO ME A LOT ABOUT TRAINING PROBABLY AT THAT, AT THAT LOCATION.
I DON'T EVEN, I'D NEVER HEARD ABOUT IT EITHER.
UM, AND I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT, GOSH, THE CHAIRS WOULD BE THE FIRST TO KNOW ABOUT IT, SO WE COULD ADVISE YOU.
THAT SHOULDN'T HAPPEN TO ANY OF OUR TEAMS ANYWHERE AT ANY TIME.
SO, UM, I, YOU KNOW, I I, I'D LIKE TO FIND A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT AS WELL SO WE CAN SHARE THAT.
AND THEN THERE WAS ALSO, UH, I'M SORRY, THEY MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT THAT AN ICE OFFICER WAS CALLED.
I WASN'T MADE AWARE OF THAT EITHER.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WAS IN THE LOCAL NEWS OR IF THAT WAS STATED ANYWHERE, BUT I THINK THAT'S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT FOR ALL OF US TO KNOW ABOUT.
UM, I I, I, DO YOU WANNA SHARE SOME OF THAT? WHAT HAPPENED AT THAT LOCATION? I HAVE NO IDEA.
IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING, IT WAS REPORTED BACK TO ME DIRECTLY FROM THE SHERIFF THAT THERE WAS A STOP.
THERE WAS A, A MOTORIST BEING PULLED OVER AND THEY CHOSE TO PULL INTO THE PARKING LOT OF THIS PARTICULAR LOCATION.
AT THAT TIME THEY DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS A WARRANT FOR HIS ARREST AND BACKUP WAS CALLED.
NOW I CAN'T SAY FOR A FACT THAT ICE WAS THERE, BUT IT'S BEING REPORTED THAT THEY WERE.
AND I'D LIKE TO THINK THAT WHOEVER'S REPORTING IT IS TELLING THE TRUTH, BUT I PERSONALLY DID NOT GO OUT THERE AS SOON AS IT WAS REPORTED TO MY OFFICE, WHICH THAT WAS REPORTED TO MY OFFICE, WE ACTED ON THAT.
AND AS I MENTIONED, WE DO MAINTAIN ANYWHERE FROM ONE TO THREE DEPUTIES IN OUR OFFICE, DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE ELECTION TO MAKE THESE RUNS FOR US.
SO AS SOON AS WE WERE MADE AWARE OF THAT, WE NOTIFIED THE SHERIFF DEPUTY.
I ALSO CALLED THE SHERIFF AND LET HIM KNOW WHAT WAS BEING REPORTED TO US, BECAUSE INITIALLY IT WAS REPORTED THAT NOT ONLY WAS ICE THERE, BUT THAT THEY WERE STOPPING VOTERS AND ASKING TO SEE IDS, WHICH TURNED OUT NOT TO BE TRUE.
SO AS FAR AS I, THE, THE INFORMATION I RECEIVED BACK FROM THE SHERIFF WAS THAT IT WAS A TRAFFIC STOP.
THE GENTLEMAN HAD A WARRANT FOR HIS ARREST AND THEY DID CALL FOR BACKUP.
AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE, BUT MAYBE THEY HAVE AN OFFICE NEARBY.
WE'LL, AND WE'LL FOLLOW UP WITH THAT LATER TOO.
AND THEN A COUPLE OF THE, UH, I THINK THAT NEED TO BE ON THE RECORD FOR US.
I MEAN ABOUT, I KNOW WE'VE DISCUSSED SOME OF THIS.
[01:30:01]
OKAY.BUT LIKE FOR INSTANCE, UM, TELL ME ABOUT THE IMPROVEMENTS OF THE CHAIN OF CUSTODY WITH OUR JUDGES THAT COME TO THE ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT AND, AND THE, THE BALLOTS AND OR INFORMATION ARE PASSED OFF FROM THEM TO YOUR DEPARTMENT.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO MEET WITH SOME OF THE, UH, ONE SET OF JUDGES FROM OUR POLLING LOCATION WHO BROUGHT TO OUR ATTENTION THEIR CONCERN ABOUT WHERE THE, WHERE ARE THE BALLOTS GOING WHEN THEY'RE DROPPED OFF, HOW DO WE KNOW WHO'S TAKING THE STUFF FROM OUR CARD THAT THEY WORKED FOR YOU? THERE WAS A LOT OF GREAT FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED FROM THEM.
SO WE IMPLEMENTED A PROCESS TO WHERE THOSE WHO ARE WORKING, UM, OUTSIDE PICKING OUT THE SUPPLIES, ARE WEARING MATCHING REFLECTIVE VESTS AND THAT THEY'RE EASILY IDENTIFIED.
WE THOUGHT ABOUT LIKE T-SHIRTS.
THEY ALREADY HAVE NAME TAGS, BUT NOT EVERYONE CAN SEE A NAME TAG, PARTICULARLY IF IT'S POURING DOWN RAIN AND IT'S, YOU KNOW, NINE O'CLOCK AT NIGHT.
SO WE'VE IMPLEMENTED, UM, EVERYONE WEARING THE SAME CLOTHES SO THAT THEY CAN BE IDENTIFIED.
WE HAVE SINCE MET WITH THE BCIT DEPARTMENT ABOUT INSTALLING ADDITIONAL CAMERAS THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO, ANYONE WHO WAS WATCHING COULD WATCH A JUDGE PULL UP, SEE THE PROCESS TAKE PLACE, WATCH THE ACTUAL VOTED BALLOTS, BE WALKED INTO OUR WAREHOUSE, HAVE ANOTHER CAMERA THERE FOR OUR AUDIT, THE AUDITING TEAM SO THAT THEY COULD SEE WHAT THEY'RE DOING TO SEE EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON.
SO WE'RE PUTTING IN NEW STEPS.
IT HAS NOT QUITE BEEN IMPLEMENTED YET BECAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO DETERMINE THE COST.
BUT WE KNOW THAT IT'S IMPORTANT.
WE HAVE SPOKEN TO THEM ABOUT, UM, UPDATING OUR CURRENT CAMERAS THAT WE HAVE THERE.
'CAUSE A LOT OF THE CAMERAS THAT WE HAVE WERE IMPLEMENTED AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE NOT AS GREAT AS WE'D LIKE THEM TO BE.
BUT TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS, WE'RE LOOKING AT IMPLEMENTING ADDITIONAL CAMERAS THAT SHOWS THE ROUTE FROM THE TIME THAT THE BALLOTS ARE TAKEN FROM THE VEHICLE INTO OUR BUILDING.
THE AUDITORS ARE DOING THEIR JOB, AND THEN WE HAVE A RUNNER WHO DELIVERS THE USBS TO OUR TABULATION ROOM.
AND SO THEY'LL BE ABLE TO WATCH EVERY SINGLE PROCESS FROM THE MOMENT THAT IT'S DROPPED OFF TO THE MOMENT THAT IT'S IN THE TAB ROOM.
ANOTHER THING THAT WE'RE IMPLEMENTING AS WELL ARE BETTER CAMERAS FOR WHERE THE BALLOTS ARE STORED.
SO IN OUR WAREHOUSE, WE HAVE A CAMERA OVER THE BALLOTS SO THAT ANYONE AT ANY TIME CAN LOG ON DURING THE VOTING PERIOD TO SEE AND TO WITNESS IF, IF THERE'S ANY TYPE OF TAMPERING OR ANYONE SNOOPING AROUND THE BALLOTS OR WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE.
WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS WE'RE TRYING TO IMPLEMENT, UH, MORE TRANSPARENCY, BETTER CAMERAS, AND WE'RE ALREADY WORKING ON A NEW PROCESS.
SO WE MEET EVERY WEEK WITH THIS TEAM THAT DOES THE WORK, AND WE GET THEIR FEEDBACK, LOOK, WHAT DO YOU DO? HOW DO YOU THINK WE CAN DO THIS BETTER? AND THEN WE LET THEM KNOW WHAT CHANGES THAT WE'RE GOING TO TAKE INTO PLACE.
WE'RE ALSO IMPLEMENTING ADDITIONAL CHAIN OF CUSTODY FORMS THAT WILL ALLOW EACH ONE OF THE JUDGES TO NOT ONLY TURN IN THEIR PAPERWORK, BUT RECEIVE A COPY OF THEIR PAPERWORK.
AND A LOT OF TIMES THE WAIT WILL BE THEM WAITING FOR US TO REVIEW IT, INITIAL TEAR OFF THE BACK AND GIVE IT TO THEM.
SO WE'RE WORKING ALL DAY, EVERY DAY AND MEETING ONCE A WEEK TO ENSURE THAT THAT PROCESS IS SMOOTH, TRANSPARENT, FAIR, SAFE, ALL OF THE ABOVE.
AND I'M ASSUMING THAT'S PART OF YOUR SURVEY TOO, THAT YOU'RE SITTING ON YOUR JUDGES.
ALSO, UM, AND FORGIVE AGAIN OUT OF ORDER HERE A LITTLE BIT.
UH, FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION RUNOFF, ONE OF THE CONCERNS THAT I'VE HEARD A LOT TOO ABOUT THE, PARTICULARLY THE A CCD, YOU KNOW, RACE.
THAT WE WERE LIMITED TO THREE LOCATIONS.
AND I, I, I DON'T THINK THOSE WERE THE MOST CONVENIENT LOCATIONS OR FOR WHAT PEOPLE WERE USED TO.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO ME WHY THAT HAPPENED? I MEAN, WHILE WE JUST HAD THREE, I I KNOW THE SIZE OF THE ELECTION, I GET IT.
BUT I MEAN, SO AND HOW WERE THOSE LOCATIONS DETERMINED? WE CONTRACTED DIRECTLY WITH A CCD AND RECEIVED DIRECTION FROM THEM THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO HAVE FOUR LOCATIONS.
SO WE STRATEGICALLY LOCATED CERTAIN PLACES THAT WOULD BE AVAILABLE IN DIFFERENT PORTIONS OF THAT DISTRICT.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE LIBRARIES, WHICH WE LIKE TO USE, WERE NOT AVAILABLE 'CAUSE OF THEIR SUMMER READING PROGRAM AND DUE TO SPACE, THEY HAVE ONE ROOM AND THEY USED IT FOR THEIR, FOR THE KIDS PROGRAMS DURING THE SUMMER.
SO WE HAD TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.
WE LOOKED AT THE MAP, WE ZOOMED IN, WE TRIED TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERY PORTION OF THAT DISTRICT, WHICH WAS LIKE THE LETTER SEVEN THAT THEY HAD LOCATIONS, A CCD PROVIDED US WITH TWO LOCATIONS.
ONE OF 'EM WAS THE MAIN EARLY VOTING LOCATION.
AND THEN ANOTHER ONE WAS, UH, FURTHER OUT.
I DON'T HAVE THE MAP DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME.
SO TO START OFF, WE HAD THE FOUR LOCATIONS THAT THEY REQUESTED.
WE WERE ABLE TO MEET THEIR REQUEST ON MAY 26TH ELECTION NIGHT, WHICH WAS RIGHT BEFORE EARLY VOTING.
STARTING ON MONDAY, WE HAD ONE POLL SITE PULLOUT.
AND THEN IT WAS, WE DID NOT HAVE TIME TO FIND ANOTHER LOCATION, STAFF THAT LOCATION, TRAIN THE WORKERS AND GET THEIR MACHINES READY BECAUSE WE WERE LIMITED BY DAYS.
THE DECISION WAS MADE BY A CCD, IT WASN'T A BEAR COUNTY DECISION, IT WAS A DECISION MADE
[01:35:01]
BY THE ENTITY IN WHICH THEY CONTRACTED WITH US, BUT THIS WAS THEIR ELECTION.THEY KIND THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION TOO.
UM, BECAUSE I, YEAH, I THINK THERE WAS LIKE LIMITED ACCESS FOR THE VOTERS.
AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT WE HEARD ABOUT THIS.
AND I THINK RESULTING IN SOME OF THE LOW TURNOUT BECAUSE THEY, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, JUST AN EDUCATION OF THE, OF OUR VOTERS.
UM, JUST A COUPLE MORE THINGS HERE IN PREPARATION FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS.
I KNOW THAT WE'RE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT.
SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 300 LOCATIONS NOW, HOPEFULLY, RIGHT? SO, UM, I WANNA MAKE SURE, TALK TO ME ABOUT THE ADEQUATE EQUIPMENT OKAY.
ARE WE GONNA, YOU KNOW, PLENTY OF EVERYTHING TO GO AROUND.
I WANNA KNOW ABOUT THE IT EQUIPMENT EXPERTS TO MAKE SURE IF THERE ARE ISSUES, YOU KNOW, WITH THIS MANY THAT ARE OUT THERE.
AND THEN, UM, UH, LET ME SEE HERE.
MY THIRD PART OF THAT WAS WHAT OF THOSE TWO YOU CAN ANSWER FOR ME.
IF YOU DON'T MIND, PLEASE QUICKLY, THEN I'LL LOOK UP THE OTHER ONE.
SO OUR CURRENT GOAL IS TO HAVE 300 ELECTION DAY SITES FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTION.
WE'RE LOOKING FOR EQUAL REPRESENTATION IN ALL COMMISSIONER PRECINCTS.
WE'RE ALSO INCREASING THE NUMBER OF EARLY VOTING SITES FROM 50 TO 56, SO THAT THAT WILL ALSO BE DIVIDED EQUALLY AMONG THE COMMISSIONERS.
UM, CURRENTLY WE ARE ABOUT 80 TO 85% WITH REACHING THAT GOAL.
OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE A LIST OF EVERY LOCATION MADE AVAILABLE TO PRESENT TO THE COURT IN JULY.
SO THAT IS OUR CURRENT GOAL, TO BE ABLE TO BRING THOSE LISTS, HAVE THEM APPROVED AND HAVE THEM REVIEWED.
UM, AS FAR AS EQUIPMENT GOES AND OUR PUL PADS GO, WE HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH NOW.
WE DID, AND THIS IS ANOTHER TALKING POINT WE'LL BE GETTING INTO LATER, AS WE, WE WE'RE AWARDED $4 MILLION FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE TO USE TO BETTER OUR ELECTION PROCESS.
AND WITH THAT WE DID PURCHASE ADDITIONAL VOTING EQUIPMENT.
WE ALSO HAD EQUIPMENT THAT WAS BEGINNING TO FAIL DUE TO THE USAGE.
AND IT WASN'T DUE TO AGE, IT WAS JUST DUE LIKE IT WAS A HIGH MILEAGE VEHICLE THAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED.
SO WE HAVE PARTNERED WITH ESNS TO COME IN STARTING TOMORROW AND BE HERE FOR TWO WEEKS TO PUT THEIR HANDS ON EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF OUR EQUIPMENT TO FIND OUT WHY IT'S HAPPENING.
BECAUSE MY TEAM DOES GO THROUGH, THEY DO A VI A VIGOROUS TESTING PROCESS TO ENSURE, AND THEY ARE ABLE TO TURN IT ON WHEN IT'S IN OUR HANDS, BUT WHEN IT GETS SOMEWHERE ELSE, IT WON'T TURN ON.
SO E ES AND S IS COMING IN THERE, WILL BE WITH US FOR TWO WEEKS TO PUT THEIR HANDS ON EVERY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT, MAKE SURE THAT EVERY PIECE IS A DA ACCESSIBLE BECAUSE EACH ONE OF THEM CAN BE.
SO WE'RE INCREASING OUR A DA ACCESSIBILITY AND WE'RE USING THE NEWLY PURCHASED MACHINES TO BE ABLE TO HAVE ADDITIONAL MACHINES AT SOME OF OUR LARGER SITES.
SO OF THE BUSIER, LARGER SITES, SOME OF THE FEEDBACK WE RECEIVED FROM OUR ELECTION JUDGES AND CLERKS WAS THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH EQUIPMENT.
SO WE'RE GOING TO, TO BE ABLE TO, IN SOME CASES, DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF EQUIPMENT THAT WE'RE SENDING ON TOP OF THAT WITH THE PURCHASE OF ADDITIONAL POLE PADS, WE'LL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL CHECK-INS.
WHAT WE'VE NOTICED AND FEEDBACK THAT WE'VE RECEIVED FROM OUR WORKERS THAT SAID THERE WERE TWO BOTTLENECKS IN THE POLLING LOCATION, THEY COULD SPEED UP THE PROCESS OF CHECKING IN VOTERS, BUT THEN THERE WAS A SECOND LINE FOR THE VOTERS TO GET TO THE MACHINE.
OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE ENOUGH MACHINES FOR THEM TO VOTE ON AND ENOUGH, UM, ADEQUATE POLL BOOKS TO GET THEM IN, CHECK 'EM IN, LET 'EM VOTE, AND THEN LEAVE IN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME.
SO NOT ONLY DID WERE WE ABLE TO PURCHASE ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT, WE'RE ABLE TO USE THAT TO ADD TO THOSE SITES.
WE HAVE, UH, ONE ELECTION, ONE OF YOUR ELECTION JUDGES WHO'S REQUESTED UPWARDS OF SIX CHECK-INS BECAUSE OF THE, THAT THEY'RE SO BUSY.
AND NOW WITH THIS PURCHASE, WITH THE HVA GRANT MONEY, WE'LL BE ABLE TO MEET AND HOPEFULLY EXCEED THEIR EXPECTATIONS ON THAT.
AND THEN THE LAST ABOUT THE EQUIPMENT, IF YOU DON'T MIND.
SO THIS WAS BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION IN, UM, A COUPLE OF THE ELECTIONS AS A MATTER OF FACT THAT ARE DS TWO HUNDREDS, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, EITHER THEY GET JAMMED OR THEY'RE OVERFLOWING, YOU KNOW, FROM THOSE LARGER SITES.
AND THAT, UM, AND I KNOW YOU AND I DISCUSSED THIS, BUT, UM, AND THAT THE PROTOCOL HAS BEEN THAT OF COURSE BOTH JUDGES ARE THERE, THEY OPEN THE MACHINE AND THEY HAVE CERTAIN PROTOCOLS OF PROTECTION ABOUT THE, THE ZIPS AND THE DATING AND ALL THOSE THINGS.
I MEAN, I, I'M, I'M MOST CONCERNED THOUGH ABOUT THE OPTICS OF THAT HAPPENING.
I, I, I AM, I THINK WHEN YOU HAVE VOTERS IN THAT ROOM AND YOU'RE OPENING UP A MACHINE AND YOU'RE TRYING TO PLAY WITH THE BALLOTS AND DO THOSE THINGS, AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN RESOLVE THAT.
I DON'T KNOW UNLESS THAT MACHINE IS SOMEWHAT, UH, CREATED TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT MAYBE DOESN'T HAPPEN AS FREQUENTLY AS IT HAPPENED IN, IN THE PRIMARY.
SO, I MEAN, DO YOU HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THAT OR ARE WE, ARE WE WORRIED ABOUT THAT? WE'VE CHANGED THE PROCESS ON THAT.
IN THE PAST, IN THEIR KITS, THEY WOULD RECEIVE A HANDFUL OF NUMBERED SEALS THAT WERE NOT DOCUMENTED.
SO WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT NUMBERS WE WERE SENDING OUT.
[01:40:01]
WAS ON THE MACHINE WHEN WE SENT IT, BUT WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE NUMBERS WERE IN THE BAGS.SO WE'VE ELIMINATED THAT THE JUDGES NO LONGER HAVE ACCESS TO THE, TO BREAKING SEALS.
THEY CONTACT US AND WE SEND A TECH DIRECTLY TO THEM.
SO LUCKILY ALL OF OUR MACHINES DO HAVE A SIDE POCKET.
THEY CAN, THE BALLOTS CAN BE DROPPED INTO UNTIL SOMEONE FROM MY OFFICE ARRIVES AND THEN THEY FOLLOW PROTOCOL.
WHEN IT COMES TO VERIFYING THE NUMBER THAT'S ON THE MACHINE, IS THAT THE NUMBER WE SENT OUT? AND IF IT'S NOT, WHY NOT? AND OUR TECHS NOW CARRY THE SEALS WITH THEM SO WE KNOW HOW MANY, THEY HAVE THE NUMBERS THAT ARE IN THEIR, IN THEIR LITTLE KITS AND THEY HAVE TO DOCUMENT THAT.
SO WHEN THEY WALK IN, IF THEY WALK INTO THAT SCANNER AND THEY LOOK AT THE SEAL NUMBER, THEY HAVE TO VERIFY IF IT SAYS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ON OUR PAPERWORK, THAT THAT SHOULD BE THE NUMBER ON THAT.
AND THEY ARE TO NOT BREAK THAT SEAL UNTIL THEY DETERMINE WHAT HAPPENED.
UM, OUR JUDGES AT THE END OF THE NIGHT ARE, ARE NOW PROVIDED WITH ONE SEAL.
SO AT THE END OF THE NIGHT, WE KNOW WHAT THAT SEAL NUMBER IS.
SO WHEN IT LEAVES THAT LOCATION AND IT COMES TO OUR WAREHOUSE, WE'RE ABLE TO NOTIFY THAT OR VERIFY THAT THE SEAL NUMBER WE GAVE THEM IS WHAT'S ON THE MACHINES WHEN IT GETS BACK TO US.
SO BALLOT SECURITY HAS BEEN HIGH ON OUR LIST TO ENSURE THAT EVERY VOTE IS PROTECTED FROM THE TIME THAT IT'S AT THE POLLING LOCATION AND IT ARRIVES BACK AT HEADQUARTERS.
SO WE'VE REALLY PULLED IN THE REINS ON THAT.
THERE'S NOT AS MUCH THE VOTER, I'M SORRY, THE JUDGES AND ALTERNATE JUDGES AND CLERKS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BREAK THE SEAL.
THEY'RE EXPECTED TO CALL US AND US SEND A TECH DIRECTLY OUT THERE.
AND THE TECH NOW HAS NEW PROCESSES IN PLACE TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE HANDLING THAT WITH THE UTMOST SECURITY.
AND THEN LAST, LAST FOR US, UH, MADAM ADMINISTRATOR IS THAT, UM, UH, THIS, THIS LAST ELECTION ALSO, AND I KNOW IT WAS BROUGHT UP, BUT I'M JUST, I I'D LIKE A LITTLE RESOLUTION AND MAYBE I DIDN'T HEAR IT.
SO, UM, WHEN THEY HAVE THEIR MAIL-IN BALLOTS AND THEY GO INTO THE POLLING SITES, RIGHT.
AND THIS TIME, I, I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO CALL PER SE TO HAVE THAT, THAT THAT BALLOT CANCELED.
WE WERE DOING ALL PROVISIONALS, WHICH MEANT THAT THE PROVISIONALS IN MOST OF THESE LOCATIONS, YOU WENT FROM A TWO WEEK PERIOD OF MAYBE ONE OR TWO PROVISIONALS TO LIKE 30 PROVISIONALS.
AND I'M MAKING THAT NUMBER UP FOLKS, JUST SO YOU KNOW.
BUT I MEAN, BUT IT WAS, IT WAS, IT WAS A HEAVY AMOUNT OF, OF PROVISIONALS THAT WE WERE NOT USED TO IS WHAT I UNDERSTAND.
SO IS THAT GONNA CONTINUE, IS THAT THE SAME FOR THIS NOVEMBER ELECTION? OR DO YOU SEE SOMETHING DIFFERENT BEING DONE WITH THAT THAT COMES DIRECTLY FROM THE TEXAS ELECTION CODE? OKAY, SO PREVIOUSLY IT'S BEEN, IT WAS BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT IT WAS STATED THAT BEXAR COUNTY RECEIVED A WAIVER FROM THE STATE SAYING YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT.
AND I REACHED OUT TO SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE AND WAIVERS NEVER EXISTED.
SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE DOES NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO CHANGE THE TEXAS ELECTION CODE FOR A COUNTY OF ANY SIZE, WHETHER IT BE BAYAR COUNTY OR ARANSAS COUNTY.
YOU KNOW, EVERY COUNTY'S EXPECTED TO FOLLOW THE SAME LAWS THAT ARE IN PLACE.
SO THAT'S NOT GOING TO CHANGE.
THAT WAS A PROCESS THAT WAS IN PLACE BY MY PREDECESSOR THAT DOES NOT ALIGN WITH THE TEXAS ELECTION CODE.
SO UNFORTUNATELY, DO WE LIKE PROVISIONAL BALLOTS? THEY'RE NOT OUR FAVORITE.
BUT WE STILL HAVE TO FOLLOW THE LAW.
UH, MR. CHAIRMAN, ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? UM, LET'S MOVE, LET ME PUT ON THE RECORD, UH, COMMISSIONERS, UH, I BELIEVE YOU'VE BEEN GIVEN COPIES, BUT I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND ASK THAT WE TAKE NOTE AND ASK THAT BE FILED WITH THE PAPERS IN A MINUTE, MINUTE OF TODAY'S COMMISSION MEETING.
FIRST, I BELIEVE IF YOU LOOK AT THE PAPERS THAT WE HAVE SUBMITTED TO YOU, WE HAVE A LETTER DATED APRIL 22ND, 2026 FROM MICHELLE CARU ADDRESSED TO COUNTY JUDGE SAKA AND MEMBERS OF THE BEXAR COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S COURT.
AND AS I READ THIS, UH, AND FINISH, THEN MICHELLE, IF YOU WANT TO, UH, SUPPLEMENT THE RECORD AS TO WHAT TRANSPIRED AT THIS TIME, YOU AT THAT TIME WERE ALERTING THAT THE VR SYSTEM CONTRACT THAT WAS AUTHORIZED IN FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR, AND YOU WERE TASKED TO WORK DIRECTLY WITH THE VENDOR, THE TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE AND ACCOUNT TO ASSURE A SMOOTH TRANSITION FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE TEAM SYSTEM TO THE VR SYSTEM PHOTO FOCUS.
IN SUMMARY, YOU WERE HIGHLIGHTING THAT THERE WERE DIFFICULTIES AND THAT YOU HAD NOT GOTTEN ANY RESPONSE FROM YOUR INQUIRIES, UH, IN ORDER SO THAT THE VR SYSTEM COULD BE ENGAGED AND GO ONLINE.
IS IS THAT A RELATIVELY QUICK SUMMARY OF YOUR LETTER APRIL 26TH TO THE JUDGE SAKA MEMBERS OF THE COURT? THAT'S CORRECT.
THEN FOR THE RECORD, WE HAVE JUDGE
[01:45:01]
SAKA AND COMMISSIONER TOMMY CALVERT ADDRESSING THE LETTER ON THE SAME DAY TO THE HONORABLE JANE NELSON SECRETARY OF STATE IN REGARDS TO THE REQUEST TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE REGARDING BEXAR COUNTY VOTER DATA MI MIGRATION FROM TEXAS ELECTION ADMINISTRATION MANAGEMENT TEAM SYSTEM TO THE VR SYSTEMS NOW ON CONTRACT HIGHLIGHTING THE COMMUNICATION AND LACK OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE COUNTY AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE, ASKING THAT THERE WERE CERTAIN DEADLINES IN ORDER FOR US TO HAVE THIS FULL MIGRATION AND OF THE SYSTEM IN ORDER TO GET OUT THE MAIL BALLOTS, VOTER REGISTRATION CARDS, ET CETERA.AND THEN IT APPEARS FOR THE RECORD, UH, A A SIMILAR LETTER WAS ALSO SENT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE BEXAR COUNTY STATE LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION ON BOTH SIDES OF THE POLITICAL FENCE IN REGARDS TO, AND I BELIEVE IT WAS, IS IT PRETTY MUCH AN IDENTICAL LETTER THAT WAS SENT TO THE HONORABLE JANE NELSON? CORRECT? YES, SIR.
AND ALERTING THE LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION, BOTH, I BELIEVE STATE REPRESENTATIVES OF STATE SENATORS ABOUT THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE INTEGRATION OF BOTH DATA INFORMATION SYSTEMS, CORRECT? YES, SIR.
THEN ON APRIL 28TH, 2026, THE HONORABLE JANE NELSON SENT TO THE HONORABLE PETER SAKA, A RESPONSE, UH, HIGHLIGHTING THEIR EFFORTS IN COMMUNICATION.
AND IN SUMMARY, UH, PUSHING BACK, SO TO SPEAK, I BELIEVE THE WORK THAT SHE, THE WORD THAT HONORABLE JANE NELSON IS THE TIMELINE THAT WE HAD SUGGESTED FOR US TO GET OUR SYSTEMS ONLINE WAS THE WORD UNWORKABLE.
AND THAT, UH, THEY WOULD CONTINUE TO WORK WITH US, BUT THEY COULDN'T MAKE NO PROMISES.
FOR, AND SO AS I ASK IT BE FILED WITH PAPERS AND THAT Y'ALL REVIEW THAT, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPLEMENT FROM THOSE CORRESPONDENCE? BECAUSE AS WE KNOW IN GETTING TO REAL TIME TO TODAY, THE HONORABLE JANE NELSON HAS RESIGNED AND THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS RESIGNATIONS AT THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT.
IS THAT A TRUE STATEMENT? THAT IS TRUE.
AND WHAT, IN SUMMARY, WHAT DIFFICULTY, I ASSUME THE DIFFICULTIES CONTINUE BETWEEN THE COUNTY AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE, BUT YOU HAVE PUT ON THE RECORD, I WANT YOU TO ITERATE THAT THE COUNTY AND THE STATE THROUGH THE SECRETARY OF STATE CONTINUE TO WORK TOGETHER.
AND YOU HAVE REPORTED, IN FACT TODAY THAT YOU'VE GOTTEN A REPORT OR WHAT HAS NOW COME FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO BEAR COUNTY IN REGARDS TO THIS COMPLEX, COMPLICATED ISSUE OF VOTER REGISTRATION.
SO AS I MENTIONED EARLIER TODAY, WE DID RECEIVE WORD FROM VR SYSTEMS THAT THE DATA WAS MADE AVAILABLE TO THEM TODAY, WHICH WAS THE DEADLINE DATE THAT YOU REQUESTED.
AND MOVING FORWARD, OUR, OUR NEXT STEPS IS JUST REVIEWING THE DATA TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S GOOD CLEAN DATA.
SOMETHING THAT'S NOT SOMETHING, BUT SOMEONE IN MY OFFICE, JOHN FISHER, HAS BEEN THE DRIVING FORCE WHEN IT COMES TO CORRECTING OUR DATA AND WORKING DIRECTLY WITH SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE AND NOW WITH VR SYSTEMS, HE'S WORKING HAND IN HAND WITH THEM.
NOW THAT WILL JUST BEGINNING TODAY TO LOOK AT THE DATA, BUT JOHN IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND ONE, GETTING US ON TEAM FOR OCTOBER ONE.
'CAUSE WITHOUT HIM IT WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED AS FAST AS IT DID.
AND TWO, TO HELP MIGRATE US OVER TO VRS SYSTEM.
SO YOU ARE CORRECT, JUDGE, THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MYSELF AND SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE WAS NON-EXISTENT.
BUT SINCE THOSE LETTERS WERE SENT, AND ALTHOUGH THEY SAID IT WAS UNWORKABLE, THEY HAVE WORKED SIDE BY SIDE WITH US TO ENSURE THAT WE DO RECEIVE THAT WE DID RECEIVE THE DATA THAT WE NEEDED.
UM, WE WERE LUCKY THAT, LUCKY ENOUGH THAT THEY WERE IN MY OFFICE LAST WEEK FOR REGIONAL TRAINING AND WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE A ONE-ON-ONE WHEN IT CAME TO DISCUSSING THE TEAM SYSTEM.
UH, WE ACTUALLY WERE ABLE TO DISCUSS INSTANCES THAT THEY WERE NOT EVEN AWARE OF OR PROBLEMS WE WERE HAVING WITHIN A DAY OF THEM BEING IN OUR OFFICE.
THE NEW DIRECTOR OF TEAMS SCHEDULED A MEETING TO TALK WITH US.
SHE'S CURRENTLY REVIEWING ALL OF OUR TICKET ITEMS, AND THAT WAS JUST FRIDAY OF LAST WEEK.
SHE'S REVIEWING ALL OF OUR TICKET ITEMS AND PUTTING TOGETHER NEXT STEPS TO ENSURE THAT THE DATA THAT WE HAVE FOR NOVEMBER IS SOLID.
BUT YOU HAVE ALERTED US IN THE COMMISSION AND ULTIMATELY TO THE PUBLIC IN TRANSPARENCY, THAT THE FULL INTEGRATION OF THE VR SYSTEMS MAY NOT BE READY OR COMPLETED FOR THE NOVEMBER GENERAL ELECTION.
[01:50:01]
WILL NOT BE READY IN TIME FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTION.SO IN SIMPLE LANGUAGE, ESPECIALLY FOR A PERSON LIKE ME THAT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND ALL THE TECHNOLOGY AND USES HIS CELL PHONE PURELY AS A CELL PHONE
WE'RE STILL GOING TO GO THROUGH GLITCHES SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'VE ALREADY EXPERIENCED.
IS THAT A FAIR STATEMENT OR IS THAT AT THIS POINT YOU'RE SAYING, JUDGE, WE'RE REALLY GONNA WORK HARD AND WE MAY, WE MAY BE ABLE TO FIX THINGS TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY ON THE BARRY COUNTY SIDE OF THE PAGE, WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO ENSURE THAT EVERYTHING IS FOLLOWED TO THE LETTER OF THE LAW WHEN IT COMES TO THE ELECTION PROCESSING APPLICATIONS, WHETHER IT BE FOR VOTER REGISTRATION OR BALLOT BY MAIL.
AND TO ENSURE THAT EVERYONE WHO REQUESTED A BALLOT RECEIVES A BALLOT ON THE STATE SIDE.
UM, I BELIEVE IT WAS A WEEK AGO THEY MET, THEY HAD MET WITH THE SENATE AND THEY WERE GIVEN A DEADLINE AND EXPECTATIONS WERE SET BY THE SENATE TO, AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE STOOD UP AND SAID THAT EVERYTHING WOULD BE UP AND RUNNING ON THE TEAM SYSTEM FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTION.
WHERE THEY ARE IN THAT PROCESS, I CAN'T SPEAK ON, BUT I DO KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, THE LEGISLATION AND THE LEGISLATORS AND THE LAWMAKERS ARE SPEAKING DIRECTLY TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE DEMANDING ANSWERS AND EXPECTING THAT THINGS WILL BE RUNNING THE WAY THAT THEY SHOULD COME NOVEMBER ELECTION.
AND TO HELP THE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND AND THE COMMISSION UNDERSTAND WHAT, WHAT THE CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES ARE BECAUSE OF THE FAILURE OF THE SYSTEM BE FULLY INTEGRATED.
IT APPEARS TO ME, AND I WANT TO CORRECT STATEMENT FROM YOU, THAT IT REQUIRES AN IMMENSE LABOR.
WE'RE LITERALLY HIRING A VENDOR VR SYSTEMS. AND I UNDERSTAND IT'S A MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT THAT ONCE IT'S FULLY INTEGRATED, ALL THIS INFORMATION WILL FLOW OUT, CARDS WILL GO OUT, WE SHOULD HAVE NO FURTHER GLITCHES, WRONG ADDRESSES, NAMES NOT BEING CORRECTLY SPELLED, AND WE SHOULD HAVE A SMOOTHER OPERATIONS, WHICH SHOULD THEN HOPEFULLY ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR THE INTENSE LABOR.
BUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW IS LITERALLY BRINGING YOUR STAFF FULL TIME ALONG WITH ALL THE TEMPS.
AND WE HAVE SPENT HUNDREDS OF THOUSAND DOLLARS ON TEMP EMPLOYEES IN ORDER TO CLEAN UP THE ELECTION.
IS THAT A FAIR, ACCURATE STATEMENT OF THE WORLD YOU'VE BEEN LIVING IN FOR THESE FOUR ELECTIONS AND POSSIBLY FOR THIS ELECTION THIS FALL? THAT IS VERY ACCURATE.
SO MY OFFICE, SINCE JOINING THE TEAM SYSTEM, HAS WORKED TIRELESSLY SINCE OCTOBER THE FIRST.
THIS IS OUR FIRST REAL, REAL BREAK, WHICH IS REALLY NOT A BREAK, RIGHT? BUT PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY ABLE TO START TAKING TIME OFF.
BUT ON THE FLIP SIDE, IT'S IMPACTING OUR DATE, DATE.
WE'RE LIKE SKELETON CREW AND THERE'S SOME PEOPLE WHO AREN'T THERE TO ANSWER A QUESTION.
BUT GUESS WHAT? WE'RE WORKING THROUGH IT BECAUSE WE ARE A TEAM AND WE UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF MORALE.
WE UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF YOU EARNED YOUR TIME, YOU SHOULD TAKE YOUR TIME.
AND I PUT A LOT OF CONFIDENCE, NOT ONLY IN MY TEAM, BUT I PUT A LOT OF CONFIDENCE IN THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE.
AND THIS JUST COMES FROM MULTIPLE YEARS OF WORKING WITH THEM IN THE PAST.
WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW BETWEEN TEAM SYSTEM I BELIEVE COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.
YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW WHAT, WHAT THEY'VE HEARD FROM THEIR VENDOR, BUT I DO KNOW THAT YOU HAVE OUR COMMITMENT, NOT JUST MYSELF, BUT MY ENTIRE STAFF, TO ENSURE THAT EVERYTHING IS HANDLED 100% PRIOR TO EARLY VOTING BEGINNING.
UH, I'M GONNA MOVE ON THE AGENDA ITEM IN ORDER FOR US.
UH, WE'RE NOW REALLY COMING UP ON A TWO HOUR MARK.
UH, BUT THAT'S THE WAY WE HAD IT SCHEDULED.
SO COMMISSION, I'M TRYING TO BE MINDFUL OF TIME.
UH, WE HAVE DONE THE PRESENTATION OF WHAT, FOUR AGENDA ITEM FOUR.
[V. Discussion and presentation on next steps in coordinating the November 2026 Uniform Election ]
[VI. Discussion and presentation on the implementation of VR Systems Voter Registration and Election Management System and coordination efforts with the vendor and Texas Secretary of State for system implementation]
IT APPEARS TO ME THAT WE HAVE, I'VE ALLOWED AND, AND THE PEOPLE ARE NOT HAPPY WITH THAT.I'VE ALLOWED DISCUSSION, PRESENTATION OF NEXT STEPS IN COORDINATING THE NOVEMBER, 2026 UNIFORM ELECTION AND ITEM AGENDA SIX, DISCUSSION AND PRESENTATION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF VR SYSTEM, VOTER REGISTRATION, ELECTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, AND COORDINATION EFFORTS WITH THE VENDOR AND THE TECH TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION.
SO UNLESS THERE'S AN OBJECTION, IS THERE ANY, I'M CALLING THOSE BOTH AGENDA ITEMS FOR PURPOSES OF THE RECORD, IS THERE
[01:55:01]
ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD WANT TO PRESENT THROUGH YOUR POWERPOINT OR ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D WANNA SUPPLEMENT ON THE RECORD OR IS THERE ANY OTHER COMMENTS? 'CAUSE I BELIEVE FROM THE QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, RESPONSE, THERE IS ONE ITEM.BELIEVE I THINK WE'VE ADDRESSED ALL THE ISSUES THAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT.
I WANNA MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO PUT YOUR SIDE OF THE FACTS ON THE RECORD.
AND THEN I WANT THE COMMISSION TO FEEL SATISFIED THAT THEIR QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED OR THEIR INSTRUCTIONS OR THEIR ADMONITIONS ARE BEING FOLLOWED AND YOU'RE BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT BOILS DOWN TO.
SURE, YOU NEED TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
UM, WE ARE GONNA HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE, BUT YOU ALSO, OUT OF FAIRNESS, IN DUE PROCESS, HR, YOU'RE ENTITLED TO FAIR NOTICE AND YOU'RE ENTITLED TO KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO DO.
SO WITH THAT, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE? IS THERE ANY OTHER, IS THERE ANY OTHER INFORMATION OUTTA THE POWERPOINT? IS THERE ANY OTHER INFORMATION TO SUPPLEMENT? AND THEN I'M GONNA YIELD BACK TO THE FLOOR AND SEE IF WE CAN GET AGENDA ITEMS FIVE AND SIX TAKEN CARE OF AT THIS TIME.
SO THE FLOOR IS YOURS, MS. CARU.
ONE OTHER THING I DID WANNA TOUCH ON IS THAT SOME OF THE FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED FROM OUR, OUR EVERY, ALL VOTERS AND JUST ANYONE WHO WANTS TO CALL OUR OFFICE IS WAIT TIMES.
THEY'RE WANTING TO KNOW HOW LONG IS THE WAIT AT A LOCATION NEARBY.
SO WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PARTNER WITH TARRANT COUNTY WHO HAS THE SAME POLL PADS THAT WE HAVE, THE SAME POLL BOOKS, AND THEY SHARED A PROGRAM THAT THEY BUILT THAT WE CAN NOW AT THE POLLING LOCATION, MARK THE, UH, ESTIMATED WAIT TIME FOR VOTERS.
SO WE'RE IMPLEMENTING THAT THANKS TO BCIT FOR PARTNERING WITH US TO ENSURE THAT WE CAN GET THIS DONE.
WE'RE, UM, WORKING TO HAVE THIS DONE IN TIME FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTION, BUT IT'LL BE SO SIMPLE.
VOTERS WILL BE ABLE TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE, CLICK A LINK, AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE BASED ON A COLOR, LIKE IF YOU ZOOM IN ON THE MAP, WHAT THE WAIT TIME IS LIKE, AND EACH COLOR WILL BE, UH, LIKE A STOPLIGHT RED, YELLOW, GREEN.
AND SO WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THAT AND HOPING TO KICKSTART THAT.
THAT WAS ONE OF THE ITEMS THAT WAS ON FOR NOVEMBER THAT I WANTED TO TOUCH ON.
UM, I, FOR THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED, THIS IS A BREAKDOWN IN THE FINAL BUDGET EXPENDITURES THAT WE DID WITH THE HAVA GRANT.
WE PUT A LARGE AMOUNT OF THE HAVA GRANT MONEY INTO ENHANCING THE POLLING LOCATIONS.
WE ALSO ARE WORKING TO ENHANCE THE BY MAIL PROCESS.
BY GETTING A MAIL BALLOT SORTER THAT HAS ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES, IT'S ABLE TO TAKE, UH, A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE FRONT AND THE BACK OF EVERY ONE OF THE RETURN BALLOTS.
IT'S ABLE TO WEIGH IT TO DETERMINE IF MAYBE THERE'S MORE THAN ONE BALLOT IN THE ENVELOPE.
IT DOES A LOT OF THINGS DIGITALLY THAT WILL ENHANCE THE EARLY VOTING BALLOT BOARDS PROCESSES SO THAT THEY CAN GET BACK ON BOARD WITH WHAT, WITH HOW IT USED TO RUN.
WHEN WE HAD VO-TECH WITH EC, THEY WERE ABLE TO LOOK AT PREVIOUS SIGNATURES.
NOW THEY STOP AND THEY HAVE TO ASK US TO GO PULL THEM.
SO WE'RE ADDING A MAIL BALLOT SORT TO THEM.
WE DID BUY ADDITIONAL CURBSIDE CARTS FOR EVERY ONE OF OUR POLLING LOCATIONS.
AND THIS PARTICULAR CART IS OF THE BETTER WAY TO DESCRIBE IT, OF MEDICAL GRADE.
IT IS DESIGNED FOR VOTERS WITH DISABILITIES.
IT MOVES LEFT AND RIGHT UP AND DOWN IF IT'S IN THE WINDOW OF A CAR.
AND NOW OUR ELECTION WORKERS ARE NO LONGER EXPECTED TO CARRY HEAVY MACHINERY OUT TO LOCATIONS AND LIFT THEM ABOVE THEIR HEAD INTO TALLER VEHICLES.
SO, FOR, UH, FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS, IF YOU'D LIKE, IT IS AVAILABLE, UH, I'M HAPPY TO SEND IT TO OTHERS.
ONE OF THE OPTIONS WAS TO RECEIVE A REIMBURSEMENT FROM THE STATE FOR EXPENDITURES THAT WE'VE MADE, AND I'M REQUESTING A LITTLE OVER $192,000 BE REIMBURSED BACK TO BEXAR COUNTY FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE BALLOT PRINTERS.
AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, THIS PARTICULAR GRANT WAS LIMITED ON HOW WE COULD SPEND IT.
IT'S BROKEN DOWN COLOR COORDINATED VOTING EQUIPMENT, ELECTION AUDITING VOTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM, ALTHOUGH IT WILL NOT COVER VR SYSTEM AND CYBERSECURITY AND COMMUNICATION.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, WE SPENT A LITTLE OVER $3 MILLION JUST BUYING ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT TO ENHANCE THE VOTING PROCESS FOR OUR VOTERS.
THE LAST, UM, TOPIC ON HERE WAS SENATE BILL 27 53.
WE DID TALK ABOUT IT, BUT I DO WANT TO EXPRESS AGAIN AND HAVE ON THE RECORD THAT ONCE THIS IS IMPLEMENTED, EARLY VOTING NUMBERS WILL NOT BE RELEASED UNTIL THE LAST POLLING SITE HAS REPORTED BACK TO HEADQUARTERS ON ELECTION NIGHT.
SO NUMBERS WILL NOT BE MADE AVAILABLE AFTER SEVEN O'CLOCK, AND THEY WON'T BE MADE AVAILABLE UNTIL THE VERY LAST POLL SITE HAS REPORTED BACK TO US.
ANOTHER THING I WANTED TO POINT OUT ABOUT 27 53 IS IT
[02:00:01]
DOES HAVE A CONTINUOUS VOTING PERIOD.EARLY VOTING WILL NO LONGER START ON A MONDAY.
IT WILL START 12 DAYS PRIOR TO ELECTION DAY.
IT WILL RUN CONTINUOUSLY ON A NOVEMBER ELECTION.
PARTICULARLY IT'LL GO THROUGH TWO PERIODS OF, UM, WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS.
SO IN THE PAST WHEN A HOLIDAY FELL IN THE MIDDLE OF A VOTING PERIOD, THE POLLS WERE CLOSED, BUT NOW THEY'LL BE OPEN CONTINUOUSLY.
WE'LL ALSO BE REQUIRED AS A LARGE COUNTY TO HAVE 12 HOUR VOTING DAYS, THE LAST FOUR DAYS OF THE EARLY VOTING PERIOD.
AND THE SUNDAY VOTING HOURS HAVE NOW INCREASED FROM SIX HOURS TO NINE HOURS.
SO THE ABILITY FOR OUR VOTERS TO GO IN AND VOTE PRIOR TO ELECTION DAY WILL BE WIDESPREAD, AND IT WILL BE A CONTINUOUS PROCESS.
UM, WHAT WE CAN DO THAT WILL HIGHLIGHT OUR EARLY VOTING BALLOT BOARD IS WE WILL BE ABLE TO START COUNTING THE BALLOT BY MAILS AHEAD OF TIME, NOT JUST ON ELECTION DAY.
SO THEY'RE EXTENDING THAT OUT TO WHERE WE CAN WORK THROUGH THOSE.
AND CURRENTLY, SECRETARY OF STATE IS WORKING ON A REPORT THAT WOULD BE PUBLISHED AND PRESENTED TO THE LEGISLATORS TO DETERMINE IF WHETHER OR NOT THIS PROCESS WILL GO INTO EFFECT IN NOVEMBER OF THIS YEAR.
SO WE HAVE A LOT OF THING, A LOT OF BALLS IN THE AIR WHEN IT COMES TO NOVEMBER.
WE DON'T KNOW THAT EARLY VOTING'S GONNA START ON A MONDAY UNTIL THEY'VE MADE A DECISION TO IMPLEMENT THE SENATE BILL 27 53.
IF THEY CHOOSE TO NOT, THEN IT WILL GO IN EFFECT IN OUR FIRST ELECTION OF 2027.
QUESTION, COMMISSIONER C***S, START ON YOUR SIDE.
SO JUST MICHELLE, I, I, I KNOW YOU TRY HARD, OKAY.
BUT I REALLY, REALLY NEED FOR YOU TO WORK ON THESE MAIL BALLOTS BECAUSE THERE'S JUST TOO MANY, TOO MANY INSTANCES WHERE PEOPLE THAT I KNOW THAT I TRUST THAT DID NOT GET THE MAIL BALLOT.
AND WE, AND WE'VE GOTTA FIX THAT.
WHATEVER THE PROBLEM IS, WE NEED TO FIX THAT.
OF COURSE, TRAINING, I'M GOING TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO, YOU KNOW, TAKE YOUR TRAINING TO THE NEXT LEVEL WHERE PEOPLE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY CAN AND CANNOT DO.
AND OF COURSE, WORK ON OUR EARLY VOTING TOTALS OR, YOU KNOW, SO, UH, WE CAN HAVE THOSE AS EARLY AS CLOSE TO SEVEN O'CLOCK AS POSSIBLE.
UH, AND THEN FINALLY, I JUST WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONTINUE TO MEET WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM DIFFERENT GROUPS AND FROM BOTH PARTIES.
WE WANT, YOU KNOW, FROM DEMOCRATIC PARTY, FROM THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, UH, AND OF COURSE, THE DIFFERENT PEOPLE THAT WANT TO MEET WITH EACH, MAKE TIME FOR THEM.
I'M NOT SAYING YOU DON'T, BUT I, I AM ENCOURAGE YOU TO MAKE TIME FOR, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE THAT ARE HERE IN THE AUDIENCE.
THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT IT.
CAN I MAKE ONE RESPONSE TO WHAT YOU JUST MENTIONED? SO, PRIOR TO ME TAKING THIS DEPARTMENT, TRAINING WAS NOT READILY MADE AVAILABLE TO EVERYBODY.
AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT INTERNALLY, I'M TALKING ABOUT ADDITIONAL TRAINING TO BECOME STATE AND NATIONAL CERTIFIED.
SO WE HAVE PUT A HUGE FOCUS IN TRAINING OUR STAFF.
CURRENTLY, BY THE END OF THIS SUMMER, ABOUT 95% OF MY STAFF WILL BE STATE CERTIFIED BY THE END OF SUMMER.
BY THE END OF NEXT SUMMER, THAT SAME 95% OF MY STAFF WILL BE NATIONALLY CERTIFIED.
AND THIS IS DUE IN PART TO A GRANT THAT WAS GIVEN TO OUR STATE ASSOCIATION THAT PAYS FOR THIS TRAINING.
AND I, I CAN SEE WHY IT WASN'T MADE AVAILABLE.
IT'S VERY EXPENSIVE EACH, IN ORDER TO BE NATIONALLY CERTIFIED, YOU HAVE TO TAKE 12 COURSES AND THE COURSE PRICE CAN RANGE FROM $650 TO $895 AND YOU HAVE TO DO 12 OF THOSE COURSES PLUS TRAVEL, PLUS ATTEND CONFERENCES.
BUT WE REALLY HAVE BEEN PUTTING A LOT OF FOCUS IN PROVIDING THIS PARTICULAR TRAINING TO NOT ONLY ENHANCE FOR THE VOTERS, BUT TO GIVE CONFIDENCE TO THE WORKERS IN MY OFFICE TO FEEL CONFIDENT IN THE WAY THAT THEY'RE ANSWERING THEIR QUESTIONS, THAT THEY'RE CORRECT.
THAT, AND THAT THEY KNOW WHAT THEY'RE SAYING TO BE TRUE.
AND I UNDERSTAND THE CERTIFICATIONS AND THAT'S ALL GREAT, BUT I'M JUST TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, RUNNING THE LOCATION, YOU KNOW, THINGS THAT THEY SHOULD KNOW THEY SHOULD BE LOOKING OUT FOR, NOT TRYING TO INFLUENCE VOTERS BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN JUDGES DO THAT.
SO I'M TALKING ABOUT JUST THE EVERYDAY, YOU KNOW, OPERATIONS, YOU KNOW, TRAINING, JUST TO WORK ON THAT.
AND AGAIN, THERE'S NO DOUBT IN MY MIND YOU'RE TRAINING, BUT, YOU KNOW, I'D LIKE TO SEE IT GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
COMMISSIONER DIAMOND CLARK, I WANNA SAY THAT THE CHAIN OF CUSTODY, I'M VERY IMPRESSED WITH CHAIN OF CUSTODY AND THE FORMAT THAT YOU'RE FOLLOWING.
[02:05:01]
ONE OF THE SLIDES YOU DID SHOW ABOUT AN APP, AN IMPROVEMENT IN TECHNOLOGY.I'M HOPING THAT WE CAN LOOK INTO BUILDING AN APP, A SECURE APP.
SO THEY, INSTEAD OF THEM GOING TO THE WEBSITE, THEY CAN DOWNLOAD THE APP AND IT CAN, UH, GIVE THEM INFORMATION ON EVERY ELECTION.
SO THEY CAN ACTUALLY DEPEND ON THE APP OF THE ELECTIONS OFFICE.
ANOTHER THING THAT WE UTILIZE IS WE UTILIZE A LOT OF THE GEO, NOT THE GEO, I'M SORRY, THE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM THAT WE USE ON THE COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE THAT WE WORK WITH, BCIT AND PUBLIC WORKS.
IT'S A VERY AMAZING TOOL THAT'S ALSO BEING UTILIZED BY, I THINK YOU USE IT TOO, THE TAX ASSESSOR.
IT'S WITH THE GROWING COMMUNITY THAT WE'RE HAVING.
A LOT OF THE RANCH PROPERTIES ARE CONVERTING INTO NEW SUBDIVISIONS.
IT'S ACTUALLY IDENTIFYING THOSE NEW SUBDIVISIONS.
SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN PROBABLY LOOK AT IF IT'S A PERFECT TOOL FOR YOU.
ALSO, I'M VERY, VERY HAPPY THAT YOU'RE USING A SEAL WITH A NUMBER MYSELF, COMING FROM EVIDENCE BACKGROUND, I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT.
I DON'T KNOW WHO BROUGHT IT UP ABOUT THE JUDGES BREAKING THIS.
I THINK IT WAS MS. CHRIS, UH, THAT THE SEALS WERE BEING BROKEN.
I'M GLAD I DIDN'T SEE IT 'CAUSE I WOULD'VE QUESTIONED IT AS WELL.
SO I'M GLAD THAT YOU'RE PROVIDING THEM WITH THE SEAL AND NUMBER TO MAKE SURE THAT THE INTEGRITY OF ANYTHING THAT CAN BE LOOKED AT OR QUESTIONED IS BEING HANDLED BY YOU.
SO THAT'S A PLUS AS WELL, TOO.
ANOTHER THING IS THE MAIL-IN BALLOTS.
LET US KNOW HOW WE CAN HELP YOU WITH THAT.
AND THANK YOU, JUDGE, FOR ADVOCATING.
I DON'T KNOW IF THE, THE AUDIENCE WAS ABLE TO GET THESE LETTERS.
I'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO MAKE COPIES DOWNSTAIRS IN MY OFFICE AFTER HOURS.
THIS IS VERY INFORMATIVE TO ALL OF US TO KNOW THE TIMELINE, THE PROCESS, THE ADVOCACY, THE, THE TEAM SYSTEM, AND ALSO TO KNOW THAT PEOPLE RESIGNED.
I WOULD NOT RESIGN IF I WAS DOING MY JOB.
SO FOR PEOPLE TO RESIGN AT THE STATE LEVEL, THAT BECOMES QUESTIONABLE TO ME.
SO THIS REALLY ADDS A LOT OF VALUE TO US.
SO IF YOU ALL WANT A COPY, I'LL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO GO DOWNSTAIRS TO MAKE COPIES.
OTHER THAN THAT, UH, THANK YOU JUDGE AND THANK YOU COMMISSION FOR TAKING THIS DAY TO LISTEN TO OUR VOTERS, TO OUR INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE ADVOCATING FOR THIS TO HAPPEN TODAY.
IT'S NEVER, I WANT YOU ALL TO TAKE TO RECORD.
I'VE BEEN IN OFFICE SINCE 2019 AND WE'VE NEVER HAD A COMMISSION MEETING TO JUDGE AKA CAME IN.
SO THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR YOU ALL TO KNOW THAT JUDGE AKA BROUGHT THIS FORWARD FOR US TO HAVE A COMMISSION MEETING.
AND I LOOK FORWARD AND THANK YOU FOR WANTING TO GET CERTIFICATIONS BECAUSE TO ME, ACCREDITATION, CERTIFICATIONS AND TRAINING MATTER.
SO I HOPE THAT WITH US HAVING THIS MEETING, YOU GET THE STAFF THAT YOU'RE REQUESTING BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT TO HAVE STAFF TO RUN A MORE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT OPERATION, ESPECIALLY OUR ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT.
SO THANK YOU MS. CARU, FOR LETTING US KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN THERE.
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THE NEXT IMPROVEMENT FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION.
UM, MR. FISHER AND THE ENTIRE ELECTION STAFF, THANK YOU TO THE PUBLIC WHO CAME AND SPOKE TODAY.
REALLY INFORMATIVE AND IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO HEAR YOUR VOICES.
I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THE ELECTION JUDGE FEEDBACK LATER IN THE SUMMER.
UH, I DO REQUEST, UH, AS WE'VE ALL BEEN TALKING ABOUT MAIL BALLOTS, UH, THAT YOU COME UP WITH A SET OF MEASURES THAT, UH, WILL ALLOW US TO REALLY SEE WHAT WAS SENT, WHAT CAME BACK.
I KNOW YOU HAVE ALL OF THIS INFORMATION, BUT I THINK IF YOU CAN SHARE IT WITH US, UH, YOU KNOW, IN THESE SETTINGS, I THINK IT WOULD BE VERY, VERY HELPFUL JUST TO BE ABLE TO POINT TO IT, WHAT YOU DID WITH, UH, THE, THE COMPARISONS WITH THE OTHER LARGE COUNTIES.
UM, AND SO I THINK THAT SET OF MEASURES, PARTICULARLY AS IT RELATES TO MAIL BALLOTS, REALLY IMPORTANT.
UM, I'M VERY, VERY EXCITED TO HEAR THAT WE'VE GOT THE DATA AT, AT VR SYSTEMS. SO, UH, UNFORTUNATELY WON'T GO LIVE BEFORE NOVEMBER.
UH, BUT I KNOW YOUR TEAM WILL WORK IT, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I FORGOT ONE THING, JUDGE, IF YOU DON'T MIND.
ON THE CURB VOTING, IF YOU CAN GIVE US STATS ON CURB VOTING, IF YOU CAN FIND MORE SOLUTIONS FOR CURB.
I, I WAS, I WAS AT MANY VOTING SITES WHEN COURT VOTING WAS HAPPENING AND THEY HAD TO WAIT.
THEY HAD TO WAIT AND THEY PULLED ALL THE WORKERS TO THE END.
IF YOU CAN LOOK THE ONE THAT HAS A REALLY GOOD, UH, DRIVE THROUGH PROCESS, I'M GONNA GIVE HIM CREDIT.
MY BROTHER OVER HERE, MR.
RIGHT? EVEN IF YOU CAN GET WITH HIM, SEE HOW WE CAN PUSH MORE CURB VOTING.
IF YOU CAN GET MORE IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT NOW THAT WE HAVE MS, WAS IT AUDREY AND MS. JAIL, IF WE CAN GET MORE KIDS TO SUPPORT YOU, I MEAN, I'LL
[02:10:01]
BE OUT THERE ADVOCATING FOR YOU.I'M NOT IN THE BALLOT FOR NOVEMBER.
I'LL GO DO WHAT I HAVE TO DO TO GET MORE KIDS INVOLVED.
BECAUSE IF WE CAN HAVE MORE CURB VOTING INSTEAD OF HAVING PEOPLE WAITING, HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE? 30 MINUTES.
AND WE CAN HAVE THREE PEOPLE CURB SITE VOTING AT LOCATIONS WITH THESE YOUNG KIDS WHO WANT TO DO IT.
I MEAN, WE'LL HELP YOU WITH THAT BECAUSE IT'LL MOVE THINGS FASTER.
'CAUSE IF THEY DON'T GET TO VOTE BY MAIL, LIKE MY PARENTS, THEY GET THEIR MAIL-IN BALLOT, BUT THEY STILL WANNA GO TO THE VOTING SITE.
SO WE'LL BE HAPPY TO ADVOCATE WITH YOU ON THAT AND HELP YOU AT THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO GET MORE KIDS TO HELP YOU OUT.
AND I UNDERSTAND THE STATE LIKES DRIVE THROUGH VOTING, SO MAYBE WE LOOK AT THAT, HUH?
UM, I BELIEVE WE HAVE, UNLESS THERE'S ANY OBJECTION, WELL, I THINK WE'VE COME TO THE CLOSE, BUT I'D LIKE TO MAKE SOME CLOSING STATEMENTS FIRST.
UM, I'M ALWAYS ONE THAT'S WANT TO THANK STAFF.
FIRST, I WANT TO THANK MY STAFF, NOAH BAR SHOP, WHO OVER THERE HAS BEEN TIMEKEEPER, PUT ALL THE AGENDA TOGETHER AND HELPS ME STAY ON TOP OF MY DUTIES AS, UH, NOT ONLY AS A COUNTY JUDGE, BUT ALSO AS THE PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE ELECTIONS COMMISSION.
AND, UH, IT'S BEEN AN INTERESTING RIDE, UM, IN MY FOURTH YEARS.
I'LL BE, UH, WRAPPING IT UP AT THE END OF THE YEAR.
BUT, UH, I ALSO WANT TO THANK JERRY RESPONDENT, WHO'S EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT FOR COMMISSIONER, UH, ESTE OVER AT THE TAX OFFICE.
AND, UH, SHE IS OUR SECRETARY, SO TO SPEAK, IN GIVING THE MINUTES AND REALLY ACCURATE MINUTES IS A LITTLE BIT TOO MUCH FOR ME, JERRY, BUT THAT'S OKAY.
YOU ARE RECORDING EVERYTHING AND PUTTING EVERY WORD DOWN.
UH, THE COMMISSIONERS, UH, THAT SERVE, UH, IT'S, IT'S NOT AN EASY JOB.
UH, I MEAN, WE, WE, WE'VE HAD TO DEAL WITH THE, UH, SELECTION AND WE'VE GONE THROUGH THAT.
WE HAD IN THIS FOUR YEAR TERM DEALING WITH HER PREDECESSOR AND THE CONVERSION OVER IT.
AND, UH, MICHELLE, WITH YOU AND YOUR LEADERSHIP, OBVIOUSLY THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF ISSUES AND CONTINUE.
AND I, I'M JUST BEING UPFRONT AND FRANK WITH YOU, AND I THINK YOU'VE GOTTEN FEEDBACK THAT WE REALLY DO NEED TO, WE GOTTA CLEAN THIS UP ONCE AND FOR ALL.
AND SO HOPEFULLY AT SOME POINT WE CAN GET THE TECHNOLOGY PIECE LOCKED DOWN.
UH, AND, BUT I THINK SO LONG YOU MAKE A COMMITMENT TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON ALL THE, UH, THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED TO MAKE OUR ELECTION SAFE, UH, ACCURATE AND EFFECTIVE, THEN I THINK WE CAN, WE, WE CAN KEEP MOVING FORWARD.
AND SO I WANT TO THANK MICHELLE AND, UH, HER NEW DEPUTY CHIEF THERE, JOHN FISHER AND ALL THE STAFF, UH, ALSO TO YOUR COMMITMENT TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE WORKERS THERE WITH CERTIFICATIONS AND TRAINING IS TO BE APPLAUDED.
AND QUITE FRANKLY, I WILL JUST SPEAK ONLY ON BEHALF OF MYSELF ON THE COMMISSIONER'S COURT.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO MAKE, WE HAVE TO REVIEW THOSE SALARIES AND THEN, UH, PAY FOR ALL THE JUDGES AND UNDERSTAND WE CAN'T JUST PICK CERTAIN PEOPLE.
WE GOTTA LOOK AT THE WHOLE SALARY RANGE.
AND SO THOSE WOULD BE DISCUSSED IN OUR DIFFICULT BUDGET YEAR THAT WE GOT COMING UP.
UM, I WANT TO THANK THE PEOPLE WHO COME HERE.
UH, I THINK IN THESE, WHAT, THREE AND A HALF YEARS WE'VE GOT THIS COMMISSION UP AND ROLLING.
AND WE HAVE BROUGHT ON, AS WE CAN SEE ON OUR MONITORS, THE AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE, UH, INTERPRETERS FOR US.
UH, THAT WAS THE FIRST, I THINK, MICHELLE, YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE SURE THAT ACCESS IS AT ALL POLLING SITES.
WHEN IT WASN'T DONE WAS YOU FIRST CAME IN, I THINK IT WAS ONLY ONE SITE THAT YOU, OR FOUR SITES, BUT NOW ALL POLLING SITES YOU NOW HAVE BROUGHT WITH THE $4 MILLION GRANT FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS, WHICH I WANT TO EXPRESS MY APPRECIATION, ALTHOUGH THERE'S BEEN ISSUES OF COMMUNICATION, THEY HAVE ASSISTED, WORKED HAND IN HAND.
AND WITH THAT $4 MILLION, WE BRING IN ADDITIONAL TECHNOLOGY AND EASIER ACCESS, ESPECIALLY FOR SENIORS AND DISABLED AND THE PADS AND EVERYTHING.
AND, UH, HOPEFULLY THE PROCESS OF VOTING DURING ELECTION DAY AND AT THE EARLY VOTING, UH, SITES ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE, EFFICIENT, AND FASTER.
AND, UH, AND ALSO WHAT'S VERY EXCITING TO ME, AND I WANT TO APPLAUD YOU TO VOTE, AND THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS AND ALL THOSE A, UH, ACTIVISTS WHO ARE INVOLVED IN VOTER REGISTRATION.
I'LL PUT ON THE RECORD THAT COMMISSIONER'S COURT HAS BEEN VERY PROACTIVE TO ASSURE, UH,
[02:15:01]
WE INCREASE THE VOTER REGISTRATION.DON'T KNOW IF IT'S A DIRECT RESULT, BUT WE KNOW IN OUR LAST GEN, LAST GENERAL ELECTION, WE HAD AN A VERY GOOD TURNOUT.
AND, UH, AND I JUST WANT TO APPLAUD EVERYBODY'S EFFORTS IN DOING THAT, THAT I BELIEVE IS REPRESENTATIVE OF GOOD GOVERNMENT.
AND SO, ALTHOUGH WE'VE DISCUSSED THE PROBLEMS, I WANTED TO PUT ALL THAT ON THE RECORD AS TO WHAT GOOD THINGS HAVE HAPPENED.
AND I WILL TELL YOU, I, I'VE BEEN RECOGNIZED BY THE HEARING AND IMPAIRED COMMUNITY.
THEY ARE SO APPRECIATIVE THAT THEY HAVE BEEN FINALLY RECOGNIZED AND THE ACCESS, AT LEAST THROUGH VOTING AND THE MORE AWARENESS THAT THEY HAVE, I BELIEVE, AND I GET FEEDBACK THAT OUR SENIORS AND DISABLED HAVE REALLY APPRECIATED THE SERVICE THEY GET AT THE VOTING SITES.
AND SO, AGAIN, WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK THROUGH THE HURDLES, THE OBSTACLES, UH, BUT I AM CONFIDENT THAT WE HAVE STAFF AND LEADERSHIP THAT WILL CONTINUE TO DO THE VERY BEST THEY CAN.
SO WITH THAT, UH, I WILL PROBABLY, NOAH, I WANT YOU TO REACH OUT TO THE COMMISSION.
I PRESUME WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER MEETING AS WHAT WE HAVE COMMITTED TO, TO ENSURE OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY.
AND SO WE'LL FIGURE OUT AND GET ON THE CALENDAR.
DO WE NEED, NEED TO DO THAT AFTER THE NEXT ELECTION? BEFORE THE NEXT ELECTION? SO I'M NOT GONNA MAKE ANY COMMITMENT OTHER THAN ASK FOR A MOTION TO ADJOURN.
SECOND MOTION BY COMMISSIONER
ANY OPPOSED? AND RETENTION MEETING ADJOURNED.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL THOSE THAT PARTICIPATED IN OPEN DEMOCRACY.
THIS IS WHAT GOVERNMENT LOOKS GOOD, GOVERNMENT LOOKS LIKE.