The November General Election is still months away and the Cameron County’s Elections and Voter Registration Office continues to prepare for it.
The Cameron County Elections Commission Monday approved a proposal that would allow the Elections Department to hold an Election Academy that will allow those working the elections to familiarize themselves more with the process.
Cameron County Commissioners Court has the final say and vote on the proposal.
The Elections Department usually does about two to three hours of training before each election with the judges, presiding alternate judge and clerks. Officials try to do the training in groups of 75 to 100 people depending on how much time there is between elections, said Remi Garza, administrator for the Elections Department.
“You can’t get everything that they need to understand within the three hours, “Garza said. “You even have experienced judges that come back election after election and still we find these little things that are overlooked or mistakes that are made.”
Garza said his office has been putting together something a little more intense – the Election Academy- that would be offered year-round to get better judges.
“The Election Academy goes even deeper to the process where it builds the connections of why everything is the way it is,” Garza said.
The Election Academy right now is two days. The morning includes instruction, and the second part would be practical application of what they are doing, Garza said.
Garza said the academy comes with additional expenses to the county but said it will help in preventing the recount and election challenges and the audits that the state is going to be having.
“We are hoping to have the best foot forward with every election,” Garza said. “This is eventually the training that we do.”
This will be “not only for the judges but we also want to make sure that we have the opportunity for the public to attend some of the trainings so that they are aware of what is going on and what is happening at the polling site,” Garza said.
The Elections Commission also voted in favor of having 20 early voting locations for the Nov. 8 General Election.
Their vote for the early voting locations will have to be presented to the Cameron County Commissioners Court for final approval.
“The more locations we give to the voters it is an opportunity for them to come out and vote,” said County Clerk Sylvia Garza-Perez, who is a member of the Elections Commission.
Adding a new voting location cost between $12,000 to $15,000, Garza said.
