Commissioner Speaks Out On Election Day Problems

Outgoing county commissioner Kelles Miller warned his colleagues on the commissioners’ court of what he called "ongoing problems" with local elections.

Wednesday morning in the Van Zandt County Courtroom, the court was set to canvass the election results presented by county clerk Charlotte Bledsoe.

Before the vote was taken, Miller claimed he saw or was told about several issues during the Nov. 4 General Election and during the early voting period in October.

"There were poll violations and people unable to get a correct ballot," Miller said. "During early voting, I had one person say they were not given all three strikes (regarding voter eligibility). They got one strike and was out."

He went on to talk about charges of campaigning going on as close as 25 feet of the polling site. State law mandates campaigning of any kind not take place within 100 feet of a posted sign indicating a polling site.

"When 2010 comes around, this county is going to still have a problem with these things unless you do something about it now…It puts a black eye on Van Zandt County," Miller said.

Miller, a Democrat, lost his bid for re-election to the Precinct 3 Commissioner seat to Republican candidate Duanne Harvey. He said the issues he brought up Wednesday pertained to or was reported to him by both Democrat and Republican candidates.

Bledsoe responded by saying polling site violations are the "responsibility of the judge of that precinct."

"It is up to that person to tell the violator to move or to call law enforcement to correct the situation," she said.

She added she was told of one instance of a candidate — she did not name the candidate — who was allegedly shaking hands with voters in line for early voting, but the candidate was gone when she arrived.

"I was not downstairs (in the courthouse) during early voting all of the time, but I was there a great deal of the time," Bledsoe said.

She told the commissioners’ court there were instances of voters being given the wrong precinct ballot, but those were corrected.

If the voter did not realize the error until after filling out the ballot, Bledsoe said, the matter was resolved by election judges, a correct ballot handed to the voter and the wrong ballot was then "spoiled," or cancelled out.

Bledsoe defended the election results and its operation, but added the issues brought up by Miller might underscore the need for a full-time election administrator position.

"I can assure this court that to the best of my ability, this election was fair across the board…I can’t be everywhere at the same time with two jobs, though," she said.

"At some point, the county may need to look at an election administrator, even if you don’t really want to do that," Bledsoe said, adding a moment later, "Elections are not what they were in the past."

Bledsoe said she had a goal next year to recruit new election judges and election clerks. She also expressed a hope to recruit more of those in the "late 30s to 55 age range."

Miller closed his comments before the vote with compliments for his fellow court members.

"I’m proud of the way we got a lot of work and a lot of important things done," he said. "Two of the biggest things was, one, getting the county out of debt…and the other was finding help for the road and bridge funds."

He added, "We got this far along because we all worked together."