Drive-Through Voting? Texas Gets Creative In Its Scramble For Polling Places

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Pedestrians pass signs near a polling site in San Antonio in February.





Eric Gay/AP



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Eric Gay/AP



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Ali Lozano, the voting rights outreach coordinator for the Texas Civil Rights Project, says local officials have to plan for a lot more ahead of this particular election.

«It’s of the utmost importance that election administrators and county officials start preparing now, she says, «to make sure that we have enough polling locations, enough poll workers and that everybody knows what they need to be doing in order to make everyone feel safe.

In Austin, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir is among the 254 local officials searching for safe in-person voting sites. She said she plans to have about 35 early voting centers and 200 Election Day voting sites.

So far, DeBeauvoir says, finding locations for those sites has been a challenge.

«A lot of the owners of the facilities we want won’t give us an answer for sure one way or another that we can or cannot use the facility, she says.

Some locations are completely off the table. The state has advised against the use of nursing homes and senior centers and suggests moving to larger venues when possible.

For example, polling sites at grocery stores were super-popular in Austin because they were so convenient. But now, DeBeauvoir says, the pandemic has made grocery stores a terrible idea.

«There’s no way to socially distance the voters, especially from the shoppers, she says. «And it was just too close, too crowded. It was never going to work.

During this last election, DeBeauvoir says, she relied heavily on schools. Now that schools may be reopening at some point in the fall, though, it’s up in the air.

Chris Davis, the elections administrator for Williamson County, in Central Texas, says polling places that primarily serve older voters are also a bad idea these days.

«We are relatively certain we are going to take off the table nursing homes and assisted living that we have used and enjoyed — and the residents had enjoyed in the past — as Election Day polling places, he says.

To replace these former sites, election officials are going to have to get creative, Davis says.

«It’s not going to be uniform from one county to another, he says.

For example, Davis is looking for open-air options in an effort to keep the possible spread of the coronavirus down.

«We are considering sites that we can have kind of a robust drive-through voting, he says, «[maybe] a defunct or closed bank with several teller lanes … perhaps parking garages. Something that can give one-stop service.

DeBeauvoir says she’s looking at setting up polling stations in lobbies, hotel ballrooms and amenity centers at apartment complexes.

Where these new polling sites are located matters too.

Pérez says election officials also have to be mindful of how voting locations are distributed within their counties.

«They need to make sure that there’s enough polling places in the communities that need them, she says, «especially in communities that are underserved or have low rates of vote-by-mail usage.

Voting rights groups worry that not having enough polling sites could lead to longer lines during the upcoming election.

Texas has roughly 750 fewer polling sites than it did about a decade ago, so Lozano says many counties are already at risk.

Plus, voting during the pandemic is going to take longer than it did in 2016 because of added safety measures.

«And that’s if people keep the same amount of polling locations, Lozano says. «If we have even less polling locations with these added steps, it’s just a perfect storm for problems that is absolutely going to lead to longer lines if we do not substantively prepare now.