Early voting is underway for fourteen amendments to the state constitution. Voters can tell Texas how to spend their tax dollars. Election day is November 7.
For many county administrators this Fall, this election will be somewhat of a test run before the high-pressure elections in 2024. NBC 5 spoke with Denton County election administrator Frank Phillips about law changes and preparations.
Phillips says he focuses on building trust in the election system and securing safety at voting locations. He gave NBC 5 a tour of the county election headquarters Tuesday morning, where the staff ensured the screens and machines worked adequately, along with the accurate information going in and out.
There are 39 polling locations in Denton County for early voting. That number will go up to 61 on election day. Next year, in November, that number will triple to more than 180 polling locations in what will likely be a high-pressure environment.
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The most significant change this year from the Texas legislature, according to Phillips, is a new law allowing any person to come in and inspect ballots 61 days after the election. People used to have to wait 22 months before having that ability. People's names and identifying information are not able to be seen.
"More than anything, we want the public to trust and be satisfied with their voting system, the election system as a whole," said Phillips.
Denton County has used paper ballots since 2017, so a new state requirement paper didn't impact them.
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A significant change, however, came after the 2020 election when the county was required to have a big metal cage to store the ballots with cameras on it 24/7 and live-streamed across the state.
"Prior to the cage, we still had them locked up and secure. But nobody could see them. So, where are they? What are they doing? Who's messing with them? But now, you can see that. It's just transparency," said Phillips.
For security, Phillips tells NBC 5 they have to work with local law enforcement more often - mainly when they use schools as polling places.
"If we use a school, we put a police officer there," said Phillips, "The schools requested it. We obliged. It costs a lot of money, but that's immaterial when you're looking at that kind of security. That's the big thing that's changed for us."
