Bexar County’s new backlog of unprocessed voter registration purposes has grown to six,600 whereas employees wrestle with a lagging system offered by the state, county Elections Administrator Michele Carew mentioned Tuesday.
Very like the backlog forward of final fall’s election, Bexar County Elections employees are scrambling to course of a rising mound of knowledge in time for the March major.
Hoping to depart a lagging statewide voter-registration system behind, the county is ready to finalize a contract for a brand new third-party vendor’s system. Nevertheless, that contract has been delayed because it continues to bear revisions, based on county officers.
In the meantime, employees within the Bexar County Elections Division are left contending with the system offered by the Texas Secretary of State’s Workplace, which has slowed knowledge enter occasions from 24 voters per hour to solely eight, Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert informed the Present.
This new backlog comes mere months after a backlog of voter registrations at Bexar County Elections Division ballooned to greater than 70,000 within the fall, requiring the county rent on dozens of non permanent staffers working in shifts to course of the backlog in time for the November election.
Nonetheless, within the mad sprint to enter knowledge, some voters — Calvert was one among them — fell by means of the cracks and confirmed as much as vote solely to understand that they weren’t within the system.
Very like final time, County officers attribute the present bottleneck to the Texas Secretary of State’s voter registration system TEAM (now upgraded to TEAM 2.0) and its lack of ability to course of the quantity of knowledge required for big counties reminiscent of Bexar.
Final week, Commissioner Calvert informed the Present that Bexar County Elections Division employees weren’t simply coping with lagging enter occasions but in addition sure screens that weren’t showing for them in TEAM.
Elections Administrator Carew informed the Present at a Tuesday assembly that her division is as soon as once more hiring non permanent employees to course of the brand new backlog in time for the upcoming major. She mentioned with the assistance of 12 or extra temp employees added to employees, she expects the backlog to be addressed inside one to 2 weeks — which may imply slicing it near the Feb. 17 begin of early voting.
Talking with the Present after the identical Tuesday assembly of the Commissioners Court docket, County Choose Peter Sakai echoed Carew’s confidence that the backlog might be addressed in time.
“We as soon as once more have a backlog, however it’s a lot smaller. I perceive that elections employees has taken remedial motion, and they’re plowing by means of the backlog,” Sakai mentioned. “And I do know that the Elections Division is ready to have a secure and truthful election.”
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