Teching all the boxes – How technology and practical backups are changing the voter experience (hopefully for the better)

THE WOODLANDS, TX – If the first day of early voting was any indication, this election season will be one that is participated in by a goodly percentage of voters. Fortunately, the Texas Secretary of State’s Election Division has merged cutting edge technology with traditional and tangible non-digital processes to make for a safe, secure, and easily verifiable election.

In particular, the previously purely electronic voting machines have been replaced and augmented with a physical paper ballot system. Woodlands area voters either early voting or casting their ballots on Election Day on November 8 will be greeted with an extra step or two.

But before you even head over to your local polling location, there is some tech available to speed up and uncomplicate your ballot-choice processes. An easy way to determine your voting status is to visit www.votetexas.gov. This nonpartisan site, powered by the Texas Secretary of State, can answer multiple questions you may have, including your voter registration status, what’s on the ballot, polling locations, statistics/turnout, how to become a poll worker, or to file an election complaint.

Another site that merges technology with held-in-your-hand practical supplementation is www.vote411.org, brought to you by the League of Women Voters Education Fund. This handy site allows you to simply enter your address and you’ll give a full listing of everything on your ballot. You can craft a personalized ballot step by step – including biographies and constant info of candidates – and have it emailed or texted to you. It’s important to remember that electronic devices of any type are not allowed to be used in polling locations, so we at Woodlands Online suggest you email your ballot to yourself and then print it out.

During the early voting period, which lasts from now until 7:00 p.m. on Friday, November 4, you can vote at any of the early voting locations inside your county of residence. For Montgomery County, the early voting locations are:

? North Montgomery County Community Center – 600 Gerald Street, Willis
? Lone Star Community Center (Not the Lone Star Convention Center in Conroe) – 2500 Lone Star Parkway, Montgomery
? West Montgomery County Community Development Center – 31355 Friendship Drive, Magnolia
? East Montgomery County Fair Association Building – 21675A McCleskey Road, New Caney
? South County Community Center – 2235 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands
? Central Library – 104 I-45 North, Conroe
? George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library – 8125 Ashlane Way, The Woodlands
? Magnolia Event Center – 11659 FM 1488, Magnolia
? Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center – 1300 Riley Fuzzel Road, Spring
? East Montgomery County Community Development Center – 16401 1st Street, Suite 100, Splendora

Whether you vote early or on Election Day, be prepared for an enhanced voting experience. Once you enter the location and the election judge verifies your identification, you will be given a slip of paper with your personalized code to access the voting machine, as well as a blank ballot. When you reach your voting machine and punch in your access code, you will be instructed to insert the ballot into a feeder tray in the machine. The paper stays there, in full view, throughout your voting process. Once you verify all your choices, you will cast your ballot.

Here’s where it’s something new: as well as the machine electronically storing your vote, the same “submit” button feeds the blank paper ballot through the machine and prints out your entire slate. You can then peruse the printed ballot to ensure your choices have been properly transcribed.

Now, your vote still isn’t fully cast until you make your next stop at the final ballot scanner, typically at the end of each row of voting machines and under the watchful eye of election judges, officials, and volunteers. At this scanner, you insert your ballot, which verifies the personalized-coded ballot and then stores the paper inside a secure lockbox. At this point, your vote is cast and the Election Commission has both electronic and physical records of your ballot for verification and confirmation purposes.

Beyond the initial voter registration verification machine that scans your ID in realtime to ensure you’re registered to vote and haven’t voted elsewhere already, none of these machines are connected to the Internet. After Election Day concludes, the hard drives will be removed from each scanner and brought under guard to Election Central for final tallying. Any discrepancies can be investigated by comparing the electronic tabulation with the physical ballots.

Texas has several counties that partake in the Countywide Polling Place Program (CWPP) for the November 8 General Election – meaning that you can vote at any of the polling locations in your county of residence on the day. It should be noted, however, that Harris County is a part of this program for the convenience of our residents who reside in the Harris County part of The Woodlands, but Montgomery County is not, meaning most of our Woodlands area residents will have to vote at their official polling location, easily discoverable at one of the websites listed above.