ESD 11 commissioners approve the appointment of May 7 election poll workers

Harris County Emergency Services District 11 commissioners at a March 3 meeting approved the appointment of a full slate of election workers to run the district’s upcoming May 7 election.

The election will decide two at-large positions on the ESD 11 board currently held by commissioners Kevin Brost and Fred Grundmeyer. Grundmeyer is not seeking re-election.

In the order they will appear on the ballot, candidates for ESD 11’s May 7 election will include Joel Ocasio, Kevin Brost, Christopher David, Dorothy Dalton and Zach Dunlap. The two candidates who receive the most votes will be elected to the two at-large positions.

The district previously had the option to join Harris County to conduct a joint election, though commissioners ultimately decided to hold the election on their own because they believed it would be cheaper than joining the county.

Brost noted at the March 3 meeting that the district was following suit with other emergency services districts in the area.

"Every single ESD in Harris County that is having elections is doing their own election," Brost said. "They're not going with [Harris County] because of the absolute debacle Harris County voter turnout was, as we saw ... Tuesday."

Brost also noted that the district had purchased $150,000 of new voting equipment prior to deciding to opt out of joining Harris County's election, which he said helped spur his decision to vote for the district to hold the election on its own.

Although ESD 11 legal counselors had previously expressed concern over the district’s ability to attract enough poll workers to effectively run its own election, ESD 11 General Counsel Regina Adams said at the March 3 meeting that the district had secured enough election employees.

“We do have a full slate of election workers to handle your early voting ballot board, your signature verification committee, all of your polling places with five early voting and five election day polling places,” Adams said, noting the workers were procured through connections with Harris County.

According to Adams, the next step in the process will be finalizing early voting and election day voting centers throughout the district, which covers approximately 177 square miles in Harris County, including areas in Cypress, Tomball, Spring and Humble.

“We just want to make sure that all of the district is covered,” Adams said. “It is a very large district, and so we have to make sure everything is spaced out the way it needs to be spaced out to cover the largest area possible.”

Early voting for the May 7 election is slated to begin April 25, with the last day to register to vote set for April 7.