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File photo Voters will have one new early voting location Feb. 20 to March 1 in Burnet County in Bertram, while preparation is underway for a split primary on election day, March 5.
During early voting, Burnet County voters will make their way to the polls at four locations throughout the county.
“Early voting will be the same,” Burnet County Election Administrator Doug Ferguson told The Highlander. “We’re still open in our four locations for early voting, which is Granite Shoals, Texas Tech (Marble Falls), the AgriLife Building in Burnet and in Bertram.”
Early voting for the primary election goes from Tuesday, Feb. 20, to Friday, March 1. Election day is Tuesday, March 5.
The Bertram early voting location has changed from the library in that community to the Bertram Community Center. (See polling places, dates and times article, “Early voting next week,” on Page 1).
Voters can cast their ballots at any of the four locations.
March 5 Election Day
On election day, however, voters will make their way to the ballot along party lines, Ferguson explained. Election day voters will line up according to their party declaration, creating a split primary election as opposed to a joint primary.
“Joint primaries happened long before I was here,” said Ferguson, who has been in his position since 2015.
But this election day, March 5, “The Republican party insisted that they have their own equipment. You will vote that party’s set of equipment,” he explained.
To accommodate the request, election offi cials opted to consolidate some polling places.
“Because I’m limited on the amount of equipment I have – mainly the controllers that assign you the ballot code, the four digit-code, to go to the machine and enter your code – I don’t have enough of those machines to put 38 of them out in the field," Fergu son continued. “We had to size down. We’re only opening 12 locations (24 sets of equipment at each location).
“Instead of 20, there will be 12 locations,” he said of election day.
Even with fewer locations, voters still have expanded polling place options.
“People can still vote anywhere,” he said. “There will just be fewer sites.”
Election workers will surmount a few challenges.
"It's more difficult to organize. Generally, all of your lead people have been Republicans, and they’re the ones who have the most experience with equipment,” Ferguson said. “Now we’re forcing the Democratic party to run the whole thing (election day event) themselves.
“There’s going to be some new people, who will have to learn a lot in the next few days in training.”
For more information, contact the Burnet Coun- ty elections office. The office is located at 106 W. Washington St., Burnet. Call 512-715-5288 for questions or visit burnetcountyelections. com.
"We have just filled all of our positions,” Ferguson said. “By the time the election rolls around, I’m sure there will be a few changes.”