Voting Made Convenient with Super Precincts
December 16, 2009 by Kayley Brownlow · Leave a Comment
Citizens of Lubbock were able to vote at their most convenient location on the November 3 election because of Lubbock’s super precincts.
The election was over four bond propositions, all of which affected the city of Lubbock and its inhabitants. The bonds ranged from road improvements and fire stations to water recreation facilities at local parks and new soccer fields.
According to Mike Stevens, campaign polling specialist, super precincts may cost more to provide to voters, but the experience is better. He said the convenience factor cannot be beat and the time spent waiting in lines is greatly reduced.
Students were able to vote on campus for convenience.
“Sometimes they’re in churches, schools, super-markets, high traffic areas that are convenient to the public, so instead of voting in the precinct where you live, you may vote on the way home from work at a grocery store and it doesn’t matter where it’s at.”
Stevens said that Lubbock and Erath are the only counties in Texas that use super precincts at this time. Matt Cobb, a senior journalism major from Houston, said that he voted at the Robert H. Ewalt Student Recreation Center on Texas Tech’s campus because of the convenience of location.
“It just makes things easier to vote on campus,” he said. “I spend three-fourths of my day here already.”
Janis Haney, an employee at Texas Tech, agreed that the convenience of super precincts couldn’t be beat, nor could the flexibility.
“We usually vote at Mackenzie Jr. High,” she said. “It is great to have this many options if you don’t get off of work early. There is always a long line if you don’t.”
The downside to super precincts is the cost, but it isn’t enough to outweigh the positives for Lubbock County.
“The whole reason for super precincts is to promote voter turn-out and to be able to process through larger vote numbers quicker and it has done that.”
