Sign-up now underway for Citizens Elections Academy
(Seguin) – You are being invited to go behind the scenes of Election Day. Lisa Hayes, the elections administrator for Guadalupe County says citizens can now have the answers to their election questions thanks to this summer’s Citizens Elections Academy. In fact, Hayes says residents are being encouraged to apply for one of two free opportunities in which they can better understand the election process in Guadalupe County.
“We’ve got two summer sessions scheduled and each session consists of two classes, so the next session is going to be July 30 and Aug. 1. and the second session will be Aug. 6 and Aug. 8. The classes run about three hours and voters can sign up on our website. There is an application, and they just complete the application and submit it. They need to let us know what session they want to sign up for and basically, we cover everything from registering to vote to tabulating the election results on election day and they get to come in and help us with that. They get to help with logic and accuracy testing on the voting machines from mock election and then, they get to review signatures on mail ballots that are returned and of course, this is all for mock elections. It’s not real information but the processes are the same,” said Hayes.
Hayes says the local office inspired the innovative idea last fall. She says its initial success has prompted her office to again offer the opportunity.
“It has been a real, I say an asset to our process of the elections office too because it allows the voters to come in and actually see what happens in our office behind the scenes because most people see the stuff on the other side of the counter. They see the election. They see their voter registration certificate arrive and all of these things but they don’t ever see what goes into making all of that happen and so we’ve seen in the past where we have had temp workers and volunteers come help in our office and they see all the behind-the-scenes items and then they are like ‘wow, that is amazing! I didn’t know all of that happened.’ So, we thought well, why not make that to where that the public can come see that and learn what we do and give them accurate election knowledge and hands on experiences guided by election office professionals and so that’s really what led to this,” said Hayes.
By providing the citizens academy, Hayes says her office can better understand voters’ concerns and inform them throughout the election process.
“We’ve really enjoyed it. We’ve enjoyed meeting more of our voting public in a more relaxed environment and imparting the information we have about what we do and our passion for what we do because we love what we do, or we would not be here, and it’s been tremendously satisfying for me. I hope that the attendees are also getting a lot out of it and it does seem like they are enjoying it but it has been very rewarding for me as well to have that interaction with our voters,” said Hayes.
Sign-up is required as enrollment is limited for each session. Those interested are encouraged to visit https://www.co.guadalupe.tx.us/elections/index.php?content=election_academy
Citizens may also contact the Guadalupe County Elections Office at (830) 303-6363.