Michelle Beckley
Michelle Beckley
Texas Rep. Michelle Beckley’s bill that would clear the way for Denton County to create vote centers has been attached to two other elections bills — Senate Bill 7 and House Bill 6 — in a move she hopes gives House Bill 661 a greater chance of success.
“We had the debate [Thursday night], and my one amendment for the uniformity of the vote center was accepted,” she said Friday. “That was part of the negotiations between parties. It will now go into conference committee.”
On Tuesday, HB 661 advanced out of the House Committee on Elections. It would allow Denton County to clear the way for residents to vote at any polling location on election day — a convenience that is not available today. The bill would clear the way for the creation of what’s referred to as a “vote center.” Under current Texas law, the equipment counties use must be all-electronic. Paper-based counties like Denton County are not allowed to participate in the program, county Elections Administrator Frank Phillips has said.
HB 661 provides that the secretary of state “shall elect to participate in the program each county that uses direct recording electronic voting machines, ballot marking devices or hand-marked scannable paper ballots that are printed and scanned at the polling place or any other type of voting system equipment.”
Denton County uses paper ballots at all of its polling locations. A ballot is custom printed for each voter, who may fill it out using a pen or marking device. The ballot is then scanned electronically. In Denton County during early voting, residents may cast ballots at any polling place. But on election day, voters must cast ballots only at their designated polling places.
“I fought very hard to get this where it is for the people of Denton County,” said Beckley, D-Carrollton. “I made it a priority, and it has been a priority all session. Now, it’s in the hands of conference committee.”
The 87th regular legislative session is scheduled to end on May 31.
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PAUL BRYANT can be reached at 940-566-6881 and via Twitter at @paulbryant_DRC.
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