After a back-and-forth legal battle regarding Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Oct. 1 proclamation, Texas counties will only have one in-person drop-off location for mail-in ballots which will not affect the Rio Grande Valley.
Following a ruling that blocked Abbott’s proclamation, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an emergency appeal to have the order overruled. This past weekend, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Paxton a temporary stay in appeal to secure the ballot hand-delivery locations.
Abbott’s proclamation also requires early voting clerks to allow poll watchers to observe any activity conducted at the early voting clerk’s office location related to the in-person delivery mail-in ballots. It amends a July 27 proclamation that extended the period in which mail-in ballots may be delivered in person.
According to a news release from the Office of the Texas Governor, Abbott says the State of Texas has a duty to voters to maintain the integrity of elections and must take extra care to strengthen ballot security protocol.
Vaquero Radio contacted the four counties’ elections departments in the Valley if the proclamation will affect them and all replied no.
Elections Administrator Remi Garza explains the reason why Cameron County will not be affected.
“We have [an] elections administrators system down here versus a county clerk overseeing the elections,” Garza said. “So, generally, the elections office only has one office location, where they can be dropped off. It’s only in counties where the county clerk has branch annexes throughout the county that got affected by that and they’re not able to accept them at the offices of the county clerk, other than the main office.”
To drop off a mail-in ballot in person for Cameron County, visit 1050 East Madison Street in Brownsville.
Hidalgo County Elections Administrator Yvonne Ramón said Texas has 254 counties and some had planned to open several dropoff locations due to their size, such as Harris County.
“So, we weren’t affected because we already had planned on the main election office being the dropoff [location], just like it always has been, but I can certainly see the concerns with those counties that are larger and that perhaps needed several points of dropoff.”
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo tweeted that they are bigger than the state of Rhode Island and mail ballot voters should not have to drive 30 miles to drop off their ballots.
She also states that Harris County has closed 11 out of 12 mail dropoff locations.
To drop off a mail-in ballot in person for Hidalgo County, visit 213 South Closner Boulevard in Edinburg.
Early voting begins Tuesday and ends on Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3.
To find early voting or Election Day polling sites, visit the Hidalgo or Cameron County elections department’s website.
The UTRGV Edinburg campus will have early voting and Election Day site in the Ballroom.
While the Brownsville campus will not have an early voting site, there will be one in close proximity at the Texas Southmost College Jacob Brown Auditorium.
Visit votetexas.gov on what to take to the voting poll sites.
FOR VAQUERO NEWS, I’M VICTOR RAMIREZ
