Montgomery County officials continue efforts to increase overall voter participation by pushing corporate initiatives as well as exploring new polling options.


Voter participation in Montgomery County has never been high but is on par with the state’s overall lackluster turnout. For comparison, in the November 2014 election, 37.7 percent of registered voters in Montgomery County participated in the election while 34.6 percent of Texas voters cast a ballot. The national average was 41.9 percent.


Voter Awareness Council, a Montgomery County-based nonprofit agency, aims to increase voter turnout. President Steve Leakey said the challenge this year will be to bring people to the primaries.


“[People] think the only election that matters is the presidential election every four years,” he said. “Even when you have a governor [up] for election, a substantial [number] of people don’t vote, and then you get down to [local] elections and people are disengaged.”


Leakey said the group is looking to area employers, both small and large, to begin implementing internal campaigns encouraging their employees to participate in every local election. VAC also provides nonpartisan information on candidates and issues on its website to help inform voters.


County Elections Administrator Suzie Harvey said while the county does not conduct campaigns aimed at increasing turnout, it does offer a wealth of information, such as polling locations and sample ballots.




Montgomery County Voter Turnout Turnout at Montgomery County elections is traditionally low, which means the fates of elected officials and bond referendums are decided by a small percentage of local residents, according to the Voter Awareness Council. Primary elections, like the one in March, receive significantly lower voter participation.[/caption]

County considers voting centers


In September, Montgomery County Commissioners Court approved the creation of a committee to study the feasibility of using voting centers in future elections­ as opposed to the current precinct-based system.


“We anticipate that vote centers will make election day voting more convenient, and that will encourage more participation,” VAC Vice President Amy Lecocq said.


Lecocq also serves as chairwoman of the new committee, which consists of six individuals, including Harvey, Republican Party chairman Walter Wilkerson and Democratic Party Chairman Bruce Barnes. The committee is finalizing a partnership with Lone Star College-Montgomery to involve students in the election process as well, she said.


If implemented, residents could vote at any polling location within Montgomery County, regardless of which voting precinct they live in. The current system requires voters to visit their designated polling places, which is usually close to their homes and not necessarily near their jobs or in a convenient location, Harvey said.


“Not everyone knows they can’t just vote anywhere,” she said. “But under the voting center program, they can vote anywhere in the county.”


There is no set deadline for the committee to present its findings to the court. Harvey said committee findings might not be presented until 2017.


“[Voting centers] are a good idea because voters would be no longer tied to a precinct,” Leakey said. “We have been voting by precincts for hundreds of years, so the concept of voting centers means instead of 90 precincts we may go down to 35 or so locations.”