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Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 11:15 AM CST
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| Now this is an incredibly sensible idea. I sometimes forget that other parts of the state don't enjoy the same standard 7am-7pm polling hours during early voting. For instance, in Houston, voting ends at 5pm during the first week of early voting which is highly inconvenient for any number of workers who have 9-5 jobs.
This bill, HB 512, is only applicable to counties over 100,000 in population. Via Press Release...
"Currently, early voting hours vary significantly from week to week and from polling place to polling place," Ortiz said. "This bill will standardize the hours at permanent locations and help people avoid confusion when they're making plans to go vote."
The bill requires that permanent early voting polling places remain open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. for the duration of weekday early voting in counties with 100,000 or more people.
"During the entire first week of early voting during the November general election, the polls in some counties were only open until 5:00 p.m. " Ortiz said. "That left many Texans without the opportunity to go vote after work."
Before filing the legislation, Ortiz consulted elections officials who conduct elections at the local level.
"As it stands, polling place hours vary from one week to the next," said Nueces County Clerk Diana Barrera. "Rep. Ortiz's legislation will eliminate voter confusion and help make sure more voters make it to the polls." |
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