Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
More than 700 Bexar County election volunteers have undergone training this week to prepare for internal and external security risks to polling sites on Nov. 3. And similar training sessions are coming.
An Expo Hall on the East Side rodeo grounds is being used for the large training sessions.
Christopher Herrera of the Bexar County Emergency Management Office, who is conducting the training, said election workers at more than 300 polling sites will be able to respond to a variety of threats.
There will be more than 50 early voting polling sites.
"Whether that's a physical threat or whether that's a cyber security threat or whether that's a human or health and safety threat related to the personnel and volunteers that are actually volunteering for each of these sites," said Herrera.
Deputy County Elections Administrator John Fisher said the training is important, with some predicting a presidential election year-sized turnout. The county earlier this year placed the number of registered voters in the county at around 1.3 million, so even a 50% turnout could add up to 650,000 voters.
"We're anticipating that. That's why we're preparing for, you know, more equipment, more ballots, and more staffing at the polling sites."
The heated races in Texas for U.S. senator, between Democratic State Representative James Talarico and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and governor, between Republican incumbent Greg Abbott and Democratic State Representative Gina Hinojosa are driving a lot of the turnout predictions statewide. Polling statistics show both races very close and within the margins of error.
Even with the blue-versus-red battle seeming more polarized than ever, Herrera said the level of threats is not any higher than it has been in the past. But election volunteers could see a range of issues on Election Day, from unruly voters and medical episodes to organized voter misinformation efforts and cybersecurity threats.
Recent county elections have been largely quiet affairs with maybe a delay or two in the incoming results. But there have been no major catastrophic election equipment failures or major violence, just the occasional voter not following electioneering rules at polling sites or overzealous election observers trying to manage, rather than just observe election workers as required.
Herrera also sought to reassure voters about their safety on Election Day during an interview with Texas Public Radio.
"I don't believe voters should have any concerns about the security at the site," he said. "We have a pretty robust process in place when it comes to supporting these sites and ensuring that, if there is a disturbance, that there's an adequate response regarding our law enforcement agencies or whether there's a medical incident or something like that. We do coordinate with the Emergency Operations Center.
Fisher said they could use more county election volunteers to train as the big day draws closer, just don't wait too long.
"We always need more staff," he said. "They can go to our website. There's an election portal to sign up, and once they sign up, we'll have our workers contact them to sign them up and get them into training."
The Bexar County Elections website can be found here.
To help keep voters cool under the collar, the county has purchased a lot more modernized voting equipment to reduce waiting time in lines and speed them through a polling site.
