On the first day of Early Voting for the November 2022 General Election, Texas Secretary of State John Scott released the fourth and final episode of ‘SOS 101,’ a series of educational videos to inform Texas voters about the election process in Texas. In the new video, Secretary Scott gives an overview of how ballots are cast and counted in Texas elections, what voters should expect when they go to the polls, how results are reported, and the protocols and procedures in place to protect the security, integrity and accuracy of elections in Texas. Secretary Scott also speaks with Tarrant County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia, who provides a step-by-step explanation of what happens from the time a Texas voter arrives at a polling place to when the polls close at 7:00 p.m. local time on Election Night.
To view the episode online, go to https://youtu.be/hKymbyeVAuA
–Remember to look up your polling place by visiting VoteTexas.gov, and during the Early Voting period, you can vote at any location in the county where you’re registered. If your county has Countywide Polling (or ‘Vote Centers’), you can vote at any location in your county of registration on Election Day. Otherwise, you will have to go to your specific precinct if you choose to vote on Election Day.
–Once you get to your polling place, you have to show an ID to get checked in – bring any one of seven approved forms of photo ID, and learn what you can bring if you don’t have and can’t reasonably obtain one.
–Remember the ground rules when you’re going to the polls – once you cross the 100-foot marker outside the polling place, you cannot wear hats, t-shirts, buttons or anything else relating to a candidate or measure on the current ballot, and you may not use cell phones, tablets, laptops, cameras, sound recorders, or any device that communicates wirelessly within 100 feet of the voting stations.
“So please, wait until you’re back outside the polling place to take your selfie. Trust me – it can wait!”
In the video, Tarrant County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia walks voters through the entire process of checking in at the polling location, receiving your blank ballot paper, making your selections on the voting machine, printing the voted ballot and casting it on an electronic ballot tabulator.
“None of the machines that touch your ballot, or that count it, are connected to the internet,” Garcia says in the video.
“The pollbook is connected to the internet – so that you don’t vote in two places, they have to talk to each other. But the paper process that we’ve followed is completely disconnected from the internet.”
“I hope that you feel confident that you’re ready to make your voice heard at the ballot box. Remember that your vote is secure, and that every vote matters here in the Lone Star State,” Secretary Scott concludes.
For more information about voting in the General Election, visit the state website at votetexas.gov or the Freestone County website at co.freestone.tx.us/page/freestone.Elections
