By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City council members finalized a list of polling locations for in-person voting on Election Day, May 7, during their special meeting April 18.
The Election Day polling locations were approved as follows:
- Joe Ramos Facility, 1105 E. De La Rosa St. – For voters who live in county voting precincts 10, 11, 12 and 13
- Del Rio Civic Center, 1915 Veterans Blvd. – For voters who live in county voting precincts 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24
- 4-H Barns/County Fairgrounds, 2006 N. Main St. – For voters who live in county voting precincts 30, 31 and 33
- Comstock Community Center, 68 Langtry St., Comstock – For voters who live in county voting precincts 32, 42 and 43
• SFDRCISD Student Performance Center and Administration Building, 315 Griner St. – For voters who live in county voting precincts 40 and 41
The council had initially considered finalizing the Election Day polling locations during a regular meeting on April 12, but postponed the decision when concerns were raised about one of the sites.
At issue was a polling location for District I/County Voting Precincts 40 and 41 voters, which had initially been proposed as the Val Verde County Community Center on Cienegas Road.
Council members, led by Councilman Alfredo “Fred” Carranza Jr., voiced concerns about that location during the April 12 meeting, saying many elderly District I voters typically walk to the polls on Election Day, and that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for those voters to walk to the community center.
The council postponed finalizing the list of Election Day polling places until its special meeting last week.
Carranza also gave the sole opposing vote to the ordinance setting the polling locations, considered by the council during its special meeting.
The sole change in the ordinance was moving the polling location at the county community center to the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District Student Performance Center and Administration Building at 315 Griner St.
The council approved the ordinance on a 5-1 vote, with Carranza opposed and Councilman Raul Ojeda not in the council chambers when the vote was taken.
After the meeting, Carranza explained his objections to the 830 Times.
“I voted against the motion because I really felt that the polling location should have been at City Hall, as it has been historically. I represent the people of District I, and in today’s voting environment, we need to make sure voting is as smooth and uneventful as possible. The people in that area are so used to showing up at City Hall to vote. Now we will have to have signs at City Hall telling people to go to the school admin building. Without a daily newspaper, it is difficult to get the news out to the elderly population about the change,” Carranza said in a text message.
“The reasons I was given why (voting) wouldn’t be at City Hall was that it was too small and the building was not ADA accessible. The voting has been held there for joint elections as far back as I can remember, and City Hall is handicapped-accessible. Our voting numbers have been low in the last few elections. Why do anything that might discourage the people from voting? We were changing the poll(ing location) from the Val Verde County Community Center out towards Cienegas, which made no sense to me. Why not just leave it at City Hall?” Carranza added.
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