Wood County conducted its November state constitutional amendment election according to state law, Elections Administrator Laura Wise told the county election commission last Thursday.

That word came from an attorney with the Texas Secretary of State’s office whom Wise spoke to during a recent conference.

She referenced recent suggestions that the county had not complied with the law.

Republican County Chairman Kathy Wakeman questioned whether the county was violating Section 123.005 of the election code which forbids using two types of voting systems.

She said paper ballots cannot be used with other types of systems.

The new system put into place in Wood County allowed voters to use paper ballots that could be either hand-marked or marked by machine. Then both would be put into a scanner for counting.

“I’m just asking questions, for clarification,” she said.

County Judge Kevin White asked Wise to request that clarification from the Secretary of State’s office concerning that section of the code.

The SOS website addresses that issue, seeming to indicate that the county is using one system and not two.

From the Texas Secretary of State’s website: “When using a paper ballot, voters will either hand-mark their paper ballot or use an electronic ballot marking device that allows them to make their selections electronically and then prints a paper ballot containing those selections. The paper ballot will then be hand-counted or will be counted using an optical scan system. When using a DRE (direct recording device), the voter will make their selections electronically on the system and the system will record those selections electronically on the system.”

Among the points of contention was whether there was an attempt to steer some voters away from the machine-marked ballots.

In a letter to the editor in the Monitor, election judge Terrell AronSpeer said that a claim that one of the machines was tucked into a corner was not true.

But Jeremy Phillips with the county elections office said he had words with AronSpeer at the polling site and observed the machine pushed into a corner.

The machine marking system is a requirement of federal law that it be made available to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

But any voter can request to use the machine.

Tax Assessor-Collector Carol Taylor asked for clarification, that it is not specifically an ADA machine but is made available to comply with the law.

Voters cannot be asked whether they are handicapped.

One question was whether the machines were being “pushed” on voters.

Election workers were given a sample script to explain the new voting system.

Wise estimated 80% of voters were not aware the county had a new system, doing away with the electronic system that had been in place for several years when it was no longer serviceable.

Phillips said that because a machine (scanner) counts the ballots, Wood County’s is considered a machine system. For it to be considered a paper ballot system, the ballots would be counted by hand, he said.

Wise noted that several counties are using the same system as Wood County.

Some of the discussion centered on the upcoming March party primaries, as the Republican and Democratic primaries will be separate, unlike past elections when they were held jointly.

They will be held in the same facilities.

One question concerned whether Quitman City Hall had enough space for two primaries, and some alternate locations were suggested.

Moving the Mineola City Hall location was also discussed as a safety issue for voters parking along Hwy. 69.

It was noted that the early voting will be conducted by the county, per state law, and that part of the voting will be held jointly at the elections office in Quitman.

There will be no other early voting sites, primarily due to the difficulty of getting enough poll workers.

Early voting official Phyllis Nichols praised the efforts of the elections administration office in getting ready for the constitutional amendment election in such a short time after receiving the new system.

Also addressed was how to handle election workers who go over 40 hours per week during early voting, putting them on overtime pay.