HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — There have been a lot of questions and concerns over voter ballot security in Harris County, so the elections administrator's office held an open house to demonstrate how security will be handled for the midterm election.
Harris County Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum gave reporters a tour of Election Central. That’s where all ballots from the 782 polling places will be counted on election day.
Election Central will be under 24-hour surveillance at NRG.
How the election process will work
Precinct judges or drivers will drive-thru one of 15 lanes to drop off the key items, which are ballot boxes, the scan, the ballot bag, the tech case and the judge’s box, according to voter outreach deputy director D.J. Ybarra
Workers will confirm each barcoded item matches the assigned polling location. If anything is flagged as missing, Ybarra said they're going to send a driver or the judge back to the polling location to retrieve the missing items.
The V-drive or flash drive with the ballots is taken for tabulation while the corresponding paper ballots are stored elsewhere.
A deputy will be posted at the central tabulation section to allow access only to individuals with appropriate badges.
There will be no electronics, cellphones or tablets allowed in the Central Tabulation, said central count supervisor Jason Bruce.
You can go to harrisvotes.com to check for polling places near you and get wait times to find the most convenient spots.
You can also generate your own custom ballot to fill out ahead of time.
That makes things easier for you and faster for all on election day.