The Texas Legislature’s dual chambers have unanimously approved a new bill. The purpose of this piece of legislation is to rescind certain parts of a law enacted in 2023. Previously, this law demanded a significant escalation in some counties’ polling locations. This obligation persisted even if suitable buildings were in limited supply or insufficient funds were allotted for their complete facilitation. As of now, the bill is moving forward to the governor’s desk, ready for approval.
Local election officials in multiple counties have spoken up regarding their difficulties in conforming to the 2023 regulations. The newly introduced legislation, known as Senate Bill 985, is scheduled to be implemented starting in September this year. Officials from an array of counties have collectively acknowledged the exertion they experienced to meet the previous law’s obligations.
A champion of Senate Bill 985 is State Senator Paul Bettencourt, a Republican stalwart from Houston. This effort of amending the law has also received strong backing from significant organizations like the Texas Association of Election Officials as well as the Texas Association of County and District Clerks.
Described as a remedial action, SB 985 is aiming to rectify the unforeseen repercussions caused by a decision made in a previous legislative session. This earlier resolution left the counties hastily seeking to enhance the number of polling locations. The introduction of the new bill emphasizes the streamlining of taxpayers’ budget and enhances voter accessibility.
The proposed law aims to revamp a 2023 precedent that progressed the complexity for counties who have adopted the countywide voting system. The complexity arose while merging smaller voting precincts into bigger ones. This newly proposed bill exclusively removes a restriction from the original law that ultimately escalated the least polling sites a county should host.
In the past, the countywide voting program provided jurisdictions with the liberty to integrate their polling sites. It served two purposes; sparing financial resources and facilitating voters’ convenience. Unfortunately, complying with the new stipulations became aching for counties.
To put into perspective, a case in point is Harris County. Post the original law’s execution, they found themselves in a position where they had to provide over a hundred additional polling locations compared to their previous arrangements. This spike in the number of required locations led to both Republican and Democratic parties needing to conduct their primary elections in coordination.
Due to this spectacular rise in polling locations, the parties ended up sharing voting equipment as there was a shortfall of adequate resources for each location. This factor essentially compelled counties to demonstrate unprecedented levels of cooperation and resource sharing to ensure smooth elections.
Several election officials have candidly shared that they found it impossible to meet the high standards set by the 2023 law. Trudy Hancock, the Brazos County Elections Administrator, has openly admitted that the county’s budget did not suffice to hire staffing or secure additional machinery.
Despite the motivations of SB 985, it has not been without its fair share of critics. Several Democrats are apprehensive about the bill’s implications; they worry it may result in a reduction in the number voting precincts, thereby negatively impacting citizen’s accessibility to voting facilities.
Particularly outspoken about these concerns was State Representative John Bucy from Austin. He expressed his thoughts during a hearing in March, urging state authorities to emphasize the importance of better funding for election processes. In his view, this would prevent potential shutdowns of poll sites.
Presently, the bill is en route to Governor Greg Abbott’s office, where it awaits his autograph. If Abbott signs the bill, this would be the final step before its transformation into a binding law.
It is worth noting that, in the Texan legal framework, the endorsement of a governor is not entirely mandatory for a bill to transition into law. With or without the governor’s formal approval, the bill indeed has the potential to drastically shape the future of polling practices in Texas.