Austin News

DALLAS – As voters participate in the primary runoff elections today, state leaders are preparing for a hearing tomorrow where some legislators will advocate ending the Countywide Polling Place program (CWPP). The Republican platform, adopted over the weekend, calls for terminating the CWPP.

Last legislative session, Senator Bob Hall introduced Senate Bill (SB) 990 to end CWPP. Although it passed in the state senate, it did not advance in the House. Senator Hall has indicated plans to reintroduce the bill next year.

The CWPP allows Texans in participating counties to vote at any poll site on Election Day, similar to early voting procedures. This program has been operational for 16 years and was utilized by 91 counties in 2022. A recent report from the Secretary of State stated: “After sixteen years of the countywide polling place program, the program continues to grow and has proven successful for participating counties.”

During early voting for these primary runoff elections, Harris County was unable to open several poll sites due to storm damage. Today, Dallas County announced weather-related delays.

In response to this upcoming hearing and poll closures, Common Cause Texas executive director Anthony Gutierrez issued a statement:

“If the countywide polling place program were not in place today, thousands of North Texans who are dealing with power outages and tornado warnings would also be left scrambling trying to figure out where to vote.

“In just the last two weeks, we’ve seen the vital need for the countywide polling place program demonstrated by poll site operations being impacted by severe storms in Dallas and Houston.

“Just about every Election Day, we see poll sites opening late or not at all for reasons ranging from severe weather or power outages to machines not functioning properly or election workers simply running late.

“The countywide polling place program has been an unequivocal success for Texans, allowing people the freedom to vote anywhere in their county on Election Day. This convenience has been especially important in those cases where unforeseeable circumstances prevent a poll site from opening on Election Day.”