County extends campus voting
Texas State University students will have two more days of on-campus early voting and will be able to vote on campus on Election Day.
During an emergency meeting, the Hays County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to open three early voting locations in the county for additional days: The Live Oak Clinic/Health Department on Broadway Street in San Marcos, the Belterra Welcome Center in Austin in Precinct 4, and the LBJ Student Center on the Texas State campus.
County general counsel Mark Kennedy said during the emergency meeting that because of the five-day public notification requirements set in the Election Code, the three locations will be open on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 -- the last two days of early voting.
In addition, voting precincts 330 and 334, which previously shared an Election Day polling location at Crockett Elementary, will be split, and 334’s Election Day polling place will be the LBJ Student Center.
The commissioners’ emergency meeting was prompted by the threat of litigation from the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP). The Texas Tribune reported that the TCRP made demands on behalf of two Texas State students, MOVE Texas Action Fund and the League of Women Voters of Hays County to reopen the campus early voting location and add an Election Day voting site in order to avoid a lawsuit. MOVE Texas describes itself as “a progressive non-profit dedicated to giving youth a voice in politics.” The League of Women Voters of Hays County is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to voter education.
TCRP had posted on social media late Thursday that organizers from MOVE Texas Action Fund “watched as students struggled to remain in a 1.5-2 hour long line to cast their ballot, resisting the need to step out of line to use the restroom, eat, or go to class.” The civil rights organization also posted, “The County’s failure to extend the time for a temporary early voting location on campus is against the law and we are demanding that the County enter into compliance and ensure that they are providing every possible opportunity for students to cast a ballot.”
Hays County had issued a press release Thursday night acknowledging that some candidates had requested an extension of dates and/or times for early voting on campus. “Due to the ‘public notice’ requirements for the branch voting schedule, extension of dates and times for any branch location is not practicable at this time,” the release said.
TCRP’s demands came after Democratic candidate for the Texas House of Representatives Erin Zwiener posted on social media an excerpt from an email allegedly sent by Wally Kinney, head of the North Hays County GOP, to a group of Republicans urging them to talk to Precinct 2 Commissioner Mark Jones about denying any extended early voting opportunities on campus. The email states in part that extended early voting on campus “favors Democrats and we sure don’t want to do that in this -- what is going to be -- a close election as it is.” San Antonio and Austin news media reported that Kinney said the email was not intended for the public or as a means of voter suppression. The Daily Record was not able to contact Kinney by press time.
