One More Public Hearing Set for Input on Voting Centers

TYLER — Smith County Commissioners will one more public hearing today to gather input on the Voting Centers implemented in the November 3 election. A news release reports a hearing was held this morning in Commissioners Court, and the second is set for 5:30 p.m. at the R.B. Hubbard “Hub” Center at 304 E. Ferguson St. Voting Centers are an early-voting concept on Election Day, allowing residents to vote at any polling place without being restricted to their precinct.

On Election Day, voters were given the opportunity to fill out a survey on the new Voting Centers concept. Out of the 9,177 people who voted on Election Day, 3,671 people returned the surveys. Mrs. Nelson reported that 2,414 people said they liked the concept, while 92 people said they did not; 2,602 people thought Voting Centers were more convenient while 369 did not; 1,915 people voted at their precinct location while 1,135 did not; 2,841 people said where they voted was easy to find while 95 said it was not; and 2,939 people said they wanted Voting Centers to continue in Smith County while 112 said they did not. The surveys also showed that 2,301 people voted in a polling place close to their home, 508 close to work, 51 close to school, and 403 reported other.

Commissioner Terry Phillips said he was very pleased with the results of the surveys. Elections Administrator Karen Nelson said she would make presentations on the survey findings at the public hearings. Since the Secretary of State approved Smith County’s plan to implement the Voting Centers, the Elections Department was required to schedule the public hearings to gather input from voters and submit an election report detailing the November election results by Dec. 3. If the state designates that the election was “successful” using the new Voting Centers, the county may continue to use the program for subsequent elections, Mrs. Nelson said.

Commissioner JoAnn Hampton said officials are encouraging input on the Voting Centers, especially from people who didn’t like them so officials can hear their concerns and see what needs to be changed. Commissioner Phillips agreed. He said some people were unhappy because they weren’t able to vote at their old precinct polling places. However, some of those locations were going to have to be shut down anyway because they were not ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant.