County Magazine

As the November election draws closer and public scrutiny of the process magnifies, some county officials are training poll workers in de-escalation techniques and developing plans to help ensure a safe, secure experience for voters.

In Hays County, elections department staff members recently participated in a tabletop exercise with the emergency management department and law enforcement officers to develop plans in case a suspicious package is found at a polling place. Williamson County Elections Department staffers took part in an active shooter training course in June offered through the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“We know that there’s a lot of passion about the election,” Hays County Elections Administrator Jennifer Doinoff said. “People tend during the presidential election years to be a little heightened in their passion, so the focus is just learning to deal with those kinds of personalities during the election and also to keep them from disrupting everyone else.”

The biggest takeaway from the tabletop exercise for Doinoff, who also serves as president of the Texas Association of Elections Administrators, was how to maintain valid chain of custody of the ballots if her staff had to evacuate a polling place. They decided to put a ballot box and scanner on wheels to roll it out if they had to evacuate, and they attached a log with carbon copies on the box to document the contact information of voters who didn’t finish voting.

Emergencies have interrupted elections before, Doinoff said. The recent wildfires in the Panhandle disrupted the March primary, and the Uvalde school shooting occurred at a polling place. Hays County also has seen incidents around school polling locations that have resulted in people having to shelter in place.

“These things happen,” she said. “They’re not new, so the more that we can prepare our poll workers, the more they’re going to be able to stay safe during these incidents, and they’re going to be able to keep voters safe. We’re going to be able to put practices in place that we hope will maintain the integrity of the election.”

In addition to the active shooter training, Williamson County Elections Administrator Bridgette Escobedo is working with various local, state and federal partners to provide de-escalation and conflict resolution training to her staff. Training began this summer.

Escobedo and her staff also worked this summer on recruiting poll workers and staff to run an in-house call center to support poll workers. She said it’s been more challenging in recent years to recruit poll workers because of new laws and criminal penalties that mandate “absolute attention to detail.” The COVID-19 pandemic also deterred some from helping with elections.

“In a presidential election, you do have people that feel that call to civic duty, that want to lend a hand and want to be involved,” Escobedo said. “We are hoping here in Williamson County that that will increase participation with the election workers.”

Doinoff agreed that participation as a poll worker tends to pick up in presidential election years, but she still has concerns.

“I do have fears that it may not be as abundant as it has been in past presidential election years just because of the heightened concern of misinformation and threats to election officials,” she said.

Both elections administrators said they recruit from various local organizations, including the League of Women Voters, the Lions Club and Rotary Club, as well as political parties. Escobedo is working with the local Department of Veterans Affairs office and college campuses to attract a wider demographic of volunteers.

“We’re just encouraging people to participate in the process,” she said.