BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas — LIVE:
A number of local organizations are speaking out against Brazos County commissioners for making a significant change to this year’s early voting locations; a change that will affect the Texas A&M student, staff, and faculty population.
Back in a July 5 session, Brazos County commissioners met to approve this year’s five early voting locations across the county. Since approximately 2015, the Memorial Student Center [MSC] on Texas A&M's campus has been one of those five locations for voting.
But, as explained by Brazos County elections administrator Trudy Hancock, Pct. 3 commissioner Nancy Berry had asked that the location be moved from campus to College Station city hall.
"I understand that it is very convenient for it to be on campus for students, but it is also inconvenient for those who are not used to traversing things at the campus," Hancock said.
The majority of commissioners voted in favor of making city hall the new location, with only Pct. 2 commissioner Russ Ford voting against the locations as proposed.
The decision leaves many people concerned about students getting their vote in, and thus the MSC Votes Coalition has been formed by various organizations with a petition prepared for commissioners: MSC Votes Coalition Faculty Letter of Support (google.com).
“We are a massive part of the surrounding area," said A&M student Christopher Livaudais, president of Texas Aggie Democrats. "... to be able to move it off of campus is something that really disenfranchises a lot of the students. They moved it to the city hall, which for most dorm halls would be about a 30-minute walk.”
While the easy solution might seem to be making a polling place for both the MSC and city hall, it’s not as simple as it sounds. Hancock pointed out, as was discussed in the July 5 session, that adding one new polling location costs local governments $50,000 per spot and would require hiring election workers who could work 12-hour shifts for two weeks.
Plus – the county can’t just give Pct. 3 an extra location all its own.
“The law requires that we keep all locations equal within each of the jurisdictions, and so if we add one to commissioner 3, we would have to add an additional location to 1, 2, and 4," Hancock said.
Brazos County Democratic party chair Amy Alge told KRHD the concern for student voters is not a partisan issue, as Republican party members have expressed their concern as well.
She pointed out that College Station does have an off-campus voting spot on Graham Road as well.
“You know, it’s on your right, and you can just hop off the feeder road and hop back on," Alge said. "So for those who drive and don’t want to walk to the MSC, there’s still a very convenient location for them to utilize.”
Coalition members plan to attend the next commissioner meeting Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. to share their concerns.
For information about the voting location, visit the following link:
2022_Nov_EV_Election_Schedule.pdf
For county commission agendas, visit the following link:
NovusAGENDA