Val Verde County Clerk Teresa Esther Chapoy is reminding Val Verde County voters to carefully review their candidate selections when they are using the county’s voting machines and the names printed on their ballots before feeding those ballots into the tabulator.
Chapoy told The 830 Times in a telephone interview following the close of today’s early voting that she was approached by a man earlier in the day during the voting period.
Chapoy said, “The man came over to us and claimed his daughter had voted for a Democratic (Party) candidate, but the Republican (candidate) kept coming up.”
Chapoy theorized that because the Republican Party candidates are listed first on the ballot, someone “with long fingernails” might inadvertently hit the Republican Party candidate’s block as they moved their finger down the screen.
Republican candidates are listed first on the ballot because ballot order is determined by which party’s candidate for governor received the most votes statewide in the most recent governor’s election, according to the Texas Election Code.
Chapoy said voters having any trouble at all while using the county’s Express Vote voting machines should immediately raise his or her hand and get the attention of an election worker, who will come to assist them.
Chapoy said, “The voter can ask for us to increase the size of the font, so they can read the selections more easily, and they can also ask to see only one race at a time.”
Chapoy said the most important takeaway is that voters must check their selections, both on the screen and after the Express Vote prints out their ballots. If there is a problem, she reiterated, the voter should immediately get the attention of an election worker.
She also asked candidates to remind their supporters to check their ballots carefully.
“If the voter lets us know there is a problem immediately, we can work with them to fix it, but once they deposit their ballot into the DS200 (the tabulating machine), it’s too late,” Chapoy said.
Chapoy said there was no problem like this brought to her attention during the first five days of early voting, which began Monday, Oct. 19, at the Del Rio Civic Center, 1915 Veterans Blvd., despite the large volume of early votes cast.
“It’s my understanding that in other cities, people have complained about this issue on social media, and then all of a sudden, somebody complains about it here today,” the county clerk said.
Chapoy once again said voters must check their candidate selection carefully while using the voting machines and check their printed ballot before feeding it into the tabulator.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
