Elections administrator reminds voters of a few changes

(Seguin) — Early voting is underway for the next two weeks throughout Guadalupe County, and for the first time, ballots can also be cast at the county’s brand-new Elections Office on State Highway 123.

The newly opened facility at 3251 N. State Highway 123 is now the official site for both early voting and Election Day voting.

Guadalupe County Elections Administrator Lisa Hayes says she wants voters to take note of the change to avoid any confusion.

“We have our new elections office. We have moved. We are over at 3251 N. State Highway 123 so there will be early voting and election day voting here. There will not be any early voting or election day voting at the old office. Another department has moved in there. So, they will not be having voting there,” said Hayes.

In addition to the new Elections Office location in Seguin, seven other early voting sites are open across the county, including Texas State Technical College in New Braunfels, Christ Lutheran Church in Seguin, the Seguin ISD Administration Building, Cibolo Fire Station #2, Redemptive Grace Ministries in New Braunfels, the Elections Office Annex in Schertz and Marion ISD’s Tondre Room.

The November 4 election includes 17 constitutional amendments on every ballot. Hayes says depending on where they live, voters may also see local races such as cities, schools and water districts.

“We’ve got 14 different ballot styles for the voters in our county to choose from. They don’t actually get to choose any ballot they want. They get the ballot style for the districts in which they reside so there’s going to be some voters that just have constitutional amendments on their ballot. There’s going to be some voters who have a water district and school district and constitutional amendments, but across the board, everyone should have the constitutional amendment. There’s 17 of those so if voters want to do a little research ahead of time and look at their sample ballot on our website or stop by our office and get a sample ballot, they can do some research and some studying ahead of time because there are 17 of them. It might take a little while standing at the voting machine, if they don’t look ahead,” said Hayes.

Hayes says to eliminate any issues; she reminds voters to come prepared.

“They need to bring a photo ID. A Texas driver’s license is the easiest one but military ID, license to carry, passport and things like that work too. They need to make sure they are not wearing any political gear. No T-shirts for their favorite candidate or campaign, no hats, no buttons, no bumper stickers. None of that is allowed within 100 feet of the polls. We do have distance markers out there that will say ‘there is no electioneering from this point on,’” said Hayes.

Voters heading to the polls will also notice a change to Texas law concerning cell phones. Hayes says this is one major change she wants all voters to know.

“There has been a change in the law now. Voters are allowed to have their cellphones on and out within 100 feet of the polls – so while they are standing in line, waiting for their turn to vote – if there is a line – they can be using their cell phone. They just can’t be recording anything. No taking pictures and then once they go into the voting room, then they have to have their cellphones put away. So, I think that will make things a lot more pleasant for the voters that do have to stand in line. As always, we are trying to avoid lines, but we know that sometimes lines happen and now the voters will actually be able to be on their cellphone while they are outside or inside wherever they are standing in line, so I think that’s going to be a lot better for the voters,” said Hayes.

Hayes says opportunities to vote early will be in place for the next two weeks. She says an election voting schedule can also be found on the elections office website at co.guadalupe.tx.us.

“Early voting starts today 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and it’s all this week through Friday. Then Saturday, the hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday is 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and then next week Monday through Friday, it’s 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and early voting ends on Oct. 31 and then election day is Nov. 4,” said Hayes.

Sample ballots are available both at the new elections office or online. Applications for ballot by mail must be received by Oct. 24.