BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas — With early voting already under way and only a few weeks left until the primaries, Brazos County is still struggling to comply with the new Senate Bill 924.
To meet this law’s requirements, Brazos County would have to almost double the number of their polling locations from 28 to 55.
So far, the county has bought equipment to add up to eight polling locations, but the places for residents to vote isn’t the only issue, as finding workers to staff these locations is also proving to be difficult. However, with no additional funding provided by the senate bill, the county's path to be in compliance is not as clear as many would like.
In fact, they've already spent over $100,000 in equipment costs, but that isn't the only thing they'll need to budget for as well. An additional 108 poll workers would need to be trained to staff these new locations.
Trudy Hancock, Elections Administrator explained the toll, “When you look at payroll $12 an hour for four to six people per location for payroll alone, its close to $30,000 for equipment. The equipment cost overall to add all the locations would be $1.1 million dollars.”
The four new locations that will be available for the March 5 primaries are:
- Rellis Campus Chapel & Assembly Hall 1555 Avenue D, Bryan, TX
- Christ Church 4201 Texas 6 Frontage Rd, College Station, TX
- Castlegate II 4205 Norwich Dr. College Station, TX
- Crestview at Arbor Oaks 2505 E Villa Maria Rd, Bryan, TX
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