As millions of people head to the polls for the 2024 general election, election integrity is paramount, not only for those casting their ballots, but for election departments across the country.
Before voters head to the polls, election administrators are busy — state law, set by the Texas Secretary of State, requires them to test voting machines, provide hours of training to poll workers and follow all other procedures to administer a free and fair election .
The El Paso Times spoke with Melissa Martin, election information and resources coordinator for the El Paso County Elections Department, about election integrity:
El Paso Times: What stops people from committing voter fraud and what safeguards are there?
Martin: “Our office must follow federal and state laws that come from the Secretary of State. So when it comes to voter fraud, it is something that I have never really seen in the twelve years that I have been here in our office. It is something that is rare and if it is something that needs to be addressed, it is actually handled by the Secretary of State and of course by law enforcement.”
El Paso Times: Why is voter fraud unlikely in El Paso?
Martin: “For example, let’s say someone were to report something about ‘someone using my name to vote for my side’ – that’s something we are required by law to share with the authorities. Again, when it comes to voter fraud, it’s rare before we saw anything here.”
El Paso Times: What is the penalty for voter fraud?
Martin: ‘It all depends on the case. So I know that the Secretary of State – if they find that someone is breaking the law, maybe he registered to vote and was not a U.S. citizen, then of course the same thing – they go ahead and follow the rules. procedures to report this to the police can be a class c misdemeanor, up to a misdemeanor.”
El Paso Times: Is it difficult to catch someone trying to vote more than once, and has that happened to you in the 10-plus years you’ve worked in the elections department?
Martin: “Here in El Paso County, we haven’t done that. But again, it’s something that we would have to report to authorities, and they would deal with it accordingly.”
El Paso Times: How are voting machines tested to ensure votes are counted accurately?
Martin: “When it comes to voting machines in El Paso County, they are certified by the Secretary of State and also certified through the vendor itself. There are certain protocols and procedures that not only the Secretary of State must follow before approving a voting system , but also in our department. We conduct an L&A test, a logistics and accuracy test, prior to the election and it is actually open to the public. We advertise it in the newspaper, and when we continue to conduct the L&A test, anyone can come to our office and test the machines for accuracy.”
El Paso Times: The results are never finalized on election day. Can you explain why it may take longer to count the votes?
Martin: “The results are never final on election night. We have to post it on our website as unofficial election results, the reason for this is that we still have to wait for the mail-in ballots that come from abroad and whether the voters actually voted. a preliminary vote. Maybe they forgot their photo ID; they have six days to come to our office in person and show their acceptable identification so that their provisional vote can count. There are certain scenarios where provisional voters need to be reviewed after the election and there is a six-day period for that. After the six-day period, the election committees meet here in our office. There’s a whole process where both parties have to participate in reviewing the signatures and ballots and that’s when they decide whether it counts or not – and that’s when the results become official.
El Paso Times: What protections exist for absentee voting?
Martin: “Voters fill out the application, they send it to our office, and we process the application, and they get a ballot in the mail. We work very closely with the United States Postal Service; as soon as they see our stamp for official election mail we get those immediately. There are also securities available from the post office to our elections department.”
El Paso Times: Why are pollsters important and what requirements must be met to become one?
Martin: “Prior to each election, we reserve two to three weeks for training. For this time, we had a total of 600 election workers for early voting and Election Day. It took us two weeks of extensive training because it takes all day. They provide practical training, we discuss the handbook for election judges and clerks, election laws and procedures, and practical exercises for voting equipment. We also have the training online in case they want to go through it a little bit further after the training because it’s a lot of information. They are very necessary because they staff the polls. We have fair representation of both parties as required by state law. We have poll workers who are Democrats and Republicans during the general election, during early voting and Election Day.
El Paso Times: What kind of security will El Paso have at polling places?
Martin: “Our office is working closely with the sheriff and police to ensure the safety of polling places. They will patrol certain locations assigned to them. I believe it’s about five or six locations. per deputy to ensure everything runs smoothly.”
El Paso Times: Would you like to add anything?
Martin: “Early voting runs through November 1 and we have a total of 33 early voting locations in El Paso County. Hours vary by location, so we always encourage voters to go to our website, which is epcountyvotes.com They can use Google Maps there, and Google Locator will give them the nearest location at that exact time, and we also have wait times by location.
Natassia Paloma can be reached at npaloma@gannett.com, @NatassiaPaloma on Twitter; natassia_paloma on Instagram and Natassia Paloma Thompson on Facebook.
More: El Paso Election Day 2024 guide: What you need to know before you vote
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso County Elections Dept answers questions ahead of Election Day
