WASHINGTON CO. CLERK PREPARING FOR BUSY ELECTION
While voting for November’s General Election does not begin for a few weeks, Washington County election officials are busy making sure everything goes off without a hitch.
County Clerk Beth Rothermel gave an update to Washington County Commissioners at their meeting Tuesday about the county’s ongoing preparations for what she believes could be an election with historic voter turnout.
As of Tuesday, according to Rothermel, the county had received over 1,500 applications for ballots by mail. To compare, the county had received approximately 850 applications at this time in 2018, and 540 at this time in 2016.
Rothermel cited a publication she recently read which aptly described her thoughts on this year’s election planning process.
Rothermel noted that the county is still waiting to receive ballots after the Texas Supreme Court last Tuesday ordered three Green Party candidates to be added to the November ballot. The ruling forced county elections offices to scramble to update their military and overseas ballots prior to the mailing deadline this past Saturday.
Rothermel also gave a warning to any voters looking to “try the system.”
Commissioner Kirk Hanath said this has been a “chaotic” election season for all people in all states. He acknowledged the possibility of another spike in COVID-19 cases during the election, but said he knows that Rothermel and her election team will have all of the necessary precautions in place. He commended them for the work they have done so far before stating, “We will have an election in Washington County, and it will be a fair, honest election.”
October 5th is the final day to register to vote, while October 23rd is the last day to request a mail-in ballot.
Early voting will be held at the Washington County Courthouse Annex October 13-16 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., October 17th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., October 18th from 12 to 3 p.m., October 19-23 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., October 24th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., October 25th from 12 to 3 p.m., and October 26-30 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Election Day is November 3rd, which will have polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Click here to view the Election Information page on the Washington County website.