A few of you may have heard that there's an election coming up in November, not just a Presidential election, but also several Llano County races that were postponed from May 2, including contests for Llano Independent School District Board of Trustees, Kingsland Municipal Utility District Board of Directors, and the City of Llano City Council.
Llano County Elections Administrator Cindy Ware pointed out that Texans will not have straight party voting for the first time in over 100 years. “This is going to cause lines as we anticipate having a record number of voters show up at the polls to vote, so we are encouraging voters to obtain a sample ballot, study the races, mark the ballot and take it with them to the polls to assist them in voting their preferences.” The local races will be at the bottom of the ballot. Sample ballots will be posted on the Llano County Election Office website by September 18 and will also be available at the Election Office, Llano County libraries, and at Horseshoe Bay City Hall.
Texas has long allowed persons over the age of 65, persons with certain disabilities, and voters who will be absent from the county to vote by mail by requesting an Absentee Ballot By Mail (ABBM). Ware said her office has received 1,629 ABBM requests for the 2020 General Election which is about 1% of the 16,240 registered voters in the county. In 2016, the last Presidential Election year, Ware said her office mailed out approximately 1,300 ABBMs and received back 1,231 from voters. The deadline to apply for an ABBM for the November 3, 2020 election is October 23.
Ware said her office will begin mailing out absentee ballots around September 23, and she hopes voters will return their ballots as quickly as possible. “We have ballot boxes for the ballots and the ballots will stay in the locked ballot boxes until the Early Voting Ballot Board comes in to process the ballots.”
For those who prefer to hand deliver their absentee ballots rather than put them in the mail, the only drop off location will be the Llano County Election Office at 1447 E. State Hwy 71 in the City of Llano. Voters will not be allowed to deliver ABBMs to polling locations, nor will there be a drive by drop off option. ABBM voters must come into the Election Office reception area with their ballots any time after Early Voting starts on October 13. The ballot should be placed inside the Carrier Envelope and the voter should sign the outside of the Carrier Envelope. ABBM voters must present valid identification such as a driver’s license and sign a roster presented to them at the Election Office when they drop of their ballot. Voters can only bring their own ballot.
What if a voter asks for and receives a ABBM but then decides he or she would prefer to vote in person? Ware said voters can surrender their absentee ballot at the polling place, sign a Cancellation of Absentee Mail Ballot form, and vote a regular ballot. Voters who do not have their absentee ballot to surrender will be allowed to cast a Provisional Ballot which will be cross checked by election officials to insure the voter did not also send in an absentee ballot.
Anyone who voted in person in the July 14th Joint Primary Runoff knows that Ware and her staff did everything possible to keep voters and poll workers safe in the polling places. Ware said, “We believe we have plenty of PPE to keep everyone safe and masks are strongly recommended.”
Ware would welcome some additional poll workers for both early voting and Election Day at the HSB City Hall polling location. Anyone willing to help during this election season is asked to call the Election Office at (325) 247-5425 for an application.
The deadline to register to vote or to make changes to your voter registration for the 2020 November 3 General Election is October 5. The early voting period has been expanded this year and runs from October 13 through October 30.
