Residents voiced concerns at a Pearland City Council meeting that the current early voting window for the upcoming general election, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., overlaps with business hours, making it difficult for working people and families to vote.
What you need to know
Residents’ concerns at Pearland City Council’s March 16 meeting prompted the city to commit to ask Brazoria County for data on voter turnout from previous elections where the voting window was extended and discuss the possibility of expanding that window for future elections at a December joint election planning meeting.
In their own words
Pearland resident Susan Matthews said she felt the early-voting hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. were “not exactly user-friendly to working families,” and pointed to nearby communities with longer voting hours.
Friendswood, which is in Galveston County, has the following early voting hours, according to the city’s website:
- April 20 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- April 22-24 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- April 25 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- April 26 from 1 to 7 p.m.
- April 27-28 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Quentin Wiltz, who is currently running for Pearland mayor against Tony Carbone, said as a father with kids involved in extracurricular activities, he is aware of the time constraints the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. window could pose for families.
“This very meeting starts at 6:30,” Wiltz said. “There are thousands of Pearland residents like myself, that I represent, that are working families [and] caregivers, and it is nearly impossible to do anything outside of their everyday life, from 8 to 5, especially participating at the ballot box.”
The breakdown
The city contracts with Brazoria County to conduct elections under a joint election services agreement, meaning Pearland cannot unilaterally extend early voting hours at just its own locations, city attorney Lawrence Provins said at the meeting.
Provins said the deadline to set the hours for the election had passed, so the hours for early voting, which are April 20, April 22-25 and April 27-28, have been set by the county.
If Pearland unilaterally expanded voting hours without the rest of the county, the county could decline to run Pearland’s election, forcing the city to self-administer the election at a higher cost, Provins said.
Mayor Kevin Cole said that in previous elections, the window to vote early had been wider, and he supported asking the county for clarity on why the hours changed this year.
“I think certainly, the weekends should be a no-brainer where it can go 7 to 7 and then Monday, Tuesday be 7 to 7,” Cole said at the meeting. “That seems to be the way it has been for many years.”
