YOUR RIGHTS: Building a Better Cameron County, Pt. 2

By MARY HELEN FLORES
Citizens Against Voter Abuse

Mary Helen Flores

“The integrity of elections is a concern of all citizens, and although poll watchers may represent particular candidates, political parties or specific-purpose political action committees, their main interest is in the conduct of a fair and honest election.” Poll Watcher’s Guide (Sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/pollwatcher2013.pdf)

Poll watchers are the eyes and ears of the public in the electoral process. They have the right to follow the ballots from the time they are distributed to a polling place, gathered at a precinct at the end of an election day, transported to a central counting location, up until the time the ballots are locked away for storage after an election is canvassed and over. Poll watchers are able to observe and document an election at every step of the process. The information witnessed documented by a poll watcher is their own property to keep after they have served their duty and may be used to file any possible complaints about election code violations they may see.

Each candidate for public office and each county political party that has a nominee on the official ballot may appoint and have as many as two poll watchers at each early voting polling place and at each precinct polling place on Election Day.

Most anyone can volunteer to be a poll watcher. To serve as a poll watcher, a person must be a registered voter of the territory (e.g., city, school district) covered by the election and of the county for November general elections, primary elections, or other countywide elections. A poll watcher cannot be a candidate for public office nor hold an elective public office and a poll watcher cannot be related to or employed by an election judge or clerk serving at the same polling place.

The activities a poll watcher may observe are as follows: 1) Early voting polling place activities, including before and after the polls close. A poll watcher should sign ballot box seals placed on early voting ballot boxes if they are there to witness the ballots being placed into the ballot boxes. 2) Election Day polling place activities, including time before and after the polls close. 3) Early voting ballot board meeting activities (counting and processing of mail-in ballots). 4) Central counting station activities. 5) Central accumulation system activities. 6) Signature verification committee activities. 7) Voter being assisted by an election official. 8) Inspecting and securing the voting equipment. 9) Delivery of election results from a polling place.

Helping to ensure the integrity of each and every vote is one of the most important ways one can make a difference in his or her community, city, county, state and country. Local school board and municipal elections form the bedrock of our community structures and therefore must be protected with the same vigor as state and national elections. An informed, alert poll watcher plays a starring role in ensuring clean, fair, transparent elections. If we can keep corruption out of our electoral process then it seems that it would be that much easier to keep corruption out of our school districts, city commissions, county commissions, and state and federal elected offices.

We as individuals and families can make an effort to talk about this vital part of our democratic process and we can make the commitment to learn and to volunteer our time and efforts to instill a sense of trust in our local elections that has been waning for quite some time.

Please learn more about being a poll watcher by reading the Poll Watcher Guide at Sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/pollwatcher2013.pdf.

To keep up with Citizens Against Voter Abuse please join us on Facebook. We are still asking anyone who may have been turned away from voting during the May 10 school board or city elections to please call, (956) 280-5965 and share your experience. All information will be kept private and protected.