Denton County residents, election workers debate countywide voting centers during public comment

Dozens of Denton County residents and longtime election workers used the court’s public-comment period on July 18 to press opposing views about whether the county should allow countywide voting centers (allowing voters to cast in-person ballots at any county polling location on election day) or continue precinct-only election-day voting.

Speakers said the issue matters because redirecting voters from one polling place to another on election day can lead to long lines, provisional ballots and, in some cases, voters who do not complete voting. Several speakers urged the commissioners to compile an official, precinct-by-precinct count of redirected voters rather than relying on unofficial estimates.

The debate focused on two competing claims: some election workers and precinct chairs said a significant share of voters are redirected on election day and that countywide voting centers would reduce that confusion; others, including precinct chairs and judges, said redirects are rare in their experience and argued precinct voting preserves local oversight and voter-contact opportunities.

Dan Burnham, who said he served as an election judge at North Branch Library in the last general election, described his observations in numbers: "We processed 596 people. We redirected 191 people to other sites to vote." He added, "That's approximately a quarter," and urged the court to obtain hard, official counts rather than rely on unofficial tallies.

Christie Wood, who identified herself as a small-business owner and as an election judge, described repeated redirecting at a downtown Denton location that affected many university students, saying the redirects sometimes produced long provisional-ballot work for judges and clerks. "Please adopt voting centers because it will help stop this confusion on the voters," she said.

By contrast, Joel McGregor, Gail Solomon and David Wiley — all of whom said they serve as election judges or precinct chairs — said their experience is that redirects are uncommon. "In my experience, that is the exception rather than the norm," Wiley said, noting local variations among precincts. Several speakers suggested the county’s voter lookup tools and poll-book instructions already guide most voters to the correct location.

Other commenters pressed different concerns. Jane Scholes criticized countywide voting centers on the grounds of potential corruption, telling the court, "Voting centers open the door to corruption. Period." Deborah Avalano, a Republican precinct chair, said, "Convenience doesn't equal security or saved money," and warned that vote centers would increase complexity and cost for local elections.

Speakers on both sides asked the court for better data. Multiple speakers proposed that election administration capture redirect counts automatically in the poll-book system and provide precinct-level metrics after each election so the commissioners could see where redirects occur and whether they materially reduce or increase barriers to voting.

The court made no policy decision during the public-comment period; these remarks were delivered under the item for public input and will be considered if the matter becomes a future agenda item. The county’s election administration was repeatedly identified by speakers as the appropriate office to provide precinct-level redirect data and explain safeguards for ballot secrecy and election security.

Context and next steps: Several speakers said that early voting already allows voting at any county location and that the policy difference concerns only election-day voting. A petition circulating to permit countywide election-day voting was mentioned; Robert Holt told the court, "Denton is the seventh most populous county in Texas, and it is the largest county without county wide voting," and said petitioners seek to change that. The court did not take formal action on the petition at this meeting.

The commissioners’ clerk or elections office can be asked later to provide the official counts speakers requested if the court places the topic on a future agenda.