Early voting begins Monday

Burnet County adds audio sample ballots

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Early voting for the May 6 municipal and school board elections will begin Monday, April 24.

Applications for voting by mail must be in the hands of the election office by Tuesday, April 25.

Voters will be making a choice for Burnet Consolidated School District Board of Trustees and for city council candidates in the cities of Bertram, Burnet, Cottonwood Shores, Granite Shoals and Meadowlakes.

Early ballots for any election may be cast weekdays through May 2 at either the the Burnet County Courthouse Annex, 810 Steve Hawkins Parkway or the Burnet County Courthouse 220 South Pierce Street in Burnet.

The weekday hours will be from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., except for April 27 and May 1, when hours will be 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

The Burnet County Elections Office offers more accommodations than extended hours. Sample ballots will be posted at polling places and are available in print at the office of Elections Administrator Doug Ferguson in the Burnet County Courthouse Annex Records Building at 1701 East Polk Street in Burnet. Voters can always depend on answers to their questions there or by calling, 512-715-5288.

Online they will find an award-winning website with a new feature—audio sample ballots.

At the Burnet County website, www.burnetcountytexas.org, choices that roll down under “Departments” include “Elections.”

Such a wealth of information is available there at the click of a mouse that the League of Women Voters of Texas honored Burnet County with an outstanding evaluation in the 2016 Election Website Voter Education Review.

It includes ballots not only in English and Spanish text, but also in audio format in both languages. Voters can quickly double check whether they are registered for the upcoming election or test drive a virtual voting machine. Just a few other topics for which voters find information are the official election calendar leading up to Election Day, May 6, polling locations, forms of acceptable identification, military voting and campaign finance. A link to the Texas Secretary of State website, www.votetexas.gov, is provided.

A big campaign sign on the page proclaims “Poll Workers Needed!”

“We are always adding poll workers,” said Ferguson. “They are not needed as badly right now, after the elections we just had, but it is a great year to learn. Workers come and go and we always need people trained and ready to step in.”

The workers are paid. Election Day judges receive $9 per hour and clerks are paid $8 per hour, although Ferguson considers that almost a token.

“In a big election, especially, it is hard work, but it is a great public service.”

All during early voting and on Election Day, 7 a.m.-7 p.m., those workers will be on the job again.

Llano County

In Llano County, only the City of Llano is carrying on an election, but it is for three big options.

• The first is for or against the legal sale of all alcoholic beverages, including mixed beverages.

• Proposition 1 would authorize or reject the issuance of tax bonds in the amount of $4,785,000 for improvements to streets.

• Proposition 2 would be for or against $500,000 in tax bonds for city parks and recreational improvements.

Early voting there will be going on from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday, April 24 and May 1. Hours from April 25-28 will be from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Election Day, Saturday, May 6, hours are 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Both early and Election Day voting will take place at the Llano Library, 102 East Haynie Street.

For more information, visit the office of Elections Administrator Cindy Ware at 1447A Texas 71 East, call, 325-247-5425, or go online to www.co.llano.tx.us and select “Elections Administrator” from the “County Offices” menu.