Randall County Commissioners approve voting measures for election
The Randall County Commissioners' Court held its regular meeting Tuesday morning, and commissioners went over several items on their agenda, including taking action of the jail physician contract for inmate medical services.
The medical team was praised by the court for the endless care they take to ensure their work is done properly. This was approved by the court for a 5% living increase.
Early voting, voting locations, and a new updated way to vote were all discussed. A schedule for early voting has been mapped out. The recommendation to extend hours on early voting was approved 5-0.
“Historically most people wait until the last day to vote. The more options we give them to vote will hopefully spread it out,” said Shannon Lackey, Randall County Elections Administrator.
There will be 16 voting locations in order to give the community a wide variety of places to cast their vote.
There is a new update to the voting process that includes a paper trail to keep in compliance with Texas state law. The process is still virtually the same but adds an extra step. Voters will still receive their access codes after verification. A paper will be received. After this the voter goes to the voting booth, the paper is inserted into the machine, and voters cast their votes on the screen like in previous years. A difference will be instead of hitting “cast ballot,” the voter will hit “print ballot,” still verifying the information on the screen. The voter then takes their paper and scans in their vote. This will then count their vote with a paper trail.
For those worried about the change in voting procedures, there will be staff on hand to help make the process an easy adjustment.
The next Randall County Commissioners' Court meeting is scheduled for Sept. 13 at 9 a.m.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Randall County Commissioners discuss, election voting measures
