Voting in Galveston

They're going to try to make voting as normal as possible in Galveston. I don't know how successful they'll be, but they're going to try.

With several polling locations in the southern portion of Galveston County heavily damaged by Hurricane Ike, the county's commissioners court expects by Oct. 8 to finalize a new voting plan for the Nov. 4 general election.

The plan would then have to be approved by the federal government, County Judge Jim Yarbrough said.

Early voting starts Oct. 20 and ends Oct. 31.

Of the county's 76 polling locations, six have been confirmed as unusable, while another 15 to 20 may also not be able to be used, Yarbrough said.

All of the county's early voting sites remain intact, except for Precinct 103's site at the AARP Library in Crystal Beach, he said.

Yarbrough said he did not anticipate that the county would use the so-called "super precinct" plan, which would allow voters to cast ballots at any polling place instead of an assigned location. Only electronic machines can be used for that option, he said.

The county likely will use a combination of paper ballots and electronic machines for Nov. 4's elections, Yarbrough said.

"No final decisions have been made, but at the very least, we will certainly be consolidating a number of precincts, especially on the south end of the county," he said.

I might have thought that the "super precinct" idea would be worth exploring, but I suppose it's not a good thing to try out under these conditions, especially when you can't be sure that everyone who would need to know about it can be made aware of it. Consolidating precincts is a common occurrence in Harris, so hopefully it won't be too unusual in Galveston. As long as people are clearly told where they need to go, it ought to be all right.

In discussing the possibility of extending the voter registration deadline, Governor Perry's office has said that no county judges have contacted them about it. At least here in Harris, the same people who have asked Governor Perry about this are now asking Judge Emmett to take action.

At a press conference outside the county administration building [Monday] afternoon, representatives from Houston Votes and the Texans Together Education Fund said Emmett should make the request since registering to vote has been far from people's minds these past few weeks as they rebuild their lives after the hurricane.

Calling it a "fundamental issue of fairness," fund director Maureen Haver said the residents of southeast Texas should have a chance to catch up to people from other parts of the state who had no obstacles to registering.

Representatives from the offices of Houston State Sen. Rodney Ellis and County Commissioners El Franco Lee and Sylvia Garcia read statements in support of a delay.

Emmett spokesman Joe Stinebaker said the judge would be willing to discuss the plan with any constituent who contacted him directly.

He did receive an e-mail from Garcia just before the press conference started. He didn't plan to meet with her.

Haver said the group's public appeal to Emmett would be followed by personal requests. As of mid-afternoon, Stinebaker said, no one had contacted Emmett directly.

Call me crazy, but I don't expect anything to come of this. Has anyone talked to Galveston County Judge Yarbrough? Maybe if the request is made from one county, it will be easier to get it made from another. Just a thought.

Finally, as we know, some legislators have been talking about making the office of Insurance Commissioner (among others) elected instead of appointed. According to BOR, this has now become a campaign issue in a couple of State House races, with Ernie Casbeer and State Rep. Juan Garcia coming out in favor of it; Garcia has even released an ad touting the idea. This may have some traction next year, but it won't go through without a fight. Keep an eye on it.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on October 01, 2008 to Hurricane Katrina