City approves motion to move county voting box
San Jacinto News Times - November 2007

POINT BLANK – A recent agenda item and vote from Point Blank City Council has some county officials and residents scratching their heads in wonder.

Last week, during a regular meeting of the Point Blank City Council, members voted to give San Jacinto County authority to move the Point Blank Voting Box 7 from the county annex building to the Point Blank Civic Center.

What prompted the agenda item and who from the county requested that the item be placed on the agenda remains a mystery and Point Blank Mayor Lillian Bratton is not talking.

Bratton said last week, “It will come out when the state approves it.” She made no comment, however, about approval from San Jacinto County Commissioners’ Court or the
U.S. Department of Justice.

According to San Jacinto County Elections Administrator Karen Day, an election clerk in Point Blank called the Justice Department. “They told her what to do,” Day said. Other than that, Day said she has no idea what is going on.

San Jacinto County Pct. 4 Commissioner Mark Nettuno said he is not sure what is going on.

Nettuno, Pct. 4 Justice of the Peace Greg Magee and Pct. 4 Constable Lou Rogers have offices located in the Pct. 4 County Annex Building where Voting Box 7 is located.

Nettuno said he asked Magee and Rogers to shut their office down on Election Day and do their work from another location so that voters could cast votes there without a feeling of intimidation from the elected officials. He said Magee agreed but Rogers informed him that he could not close down his office that day.

“Rogers told me that we need to get the voting box moved over to the city annex,” Nettuno said. “It’s (voting box) where it’s at and that’s where it’s going to be,” Nettuno added.
Magee said when elections started being held in the county building he was the elected constable.

“I never opened my office during Election Day. When I took office as Justice of the Peace, I continued this practice,” Magee said.

“I did this for two important reasons. First, was for the security of the election process.  Having people filing in and out of the building for non-voting purposes only creates confusion and chaos.  It creates more problems for the election judge in providing security and could create fear among the voters regarding their right to a secret ballot.

“Secondly, when an office holder has his office open during Election Day and continues to enter the building, he cannot help to make contact with voters.  This creates the possibility for election violations to occur, especially if the office holder is on the ballot or has openly campaigned for a particular candidate or an issue.   

“During the 2006 election this was a problem that many voters have voiced their concerns.  My office was the only office closed that day and my sign at my door with my name was covered.  The commissioner’s sign with his name was not covered and his office was not closed.  Electioneerers standing across the street watched as the Commissioner, Constable and other people went in and out of that office; many times speaking with voters as they walked down the sidewalk going to vote.  If no voting violations occurred, it definitely left an impression of possible voter intimidation,” Magee said.
Magee doesn’t think moving the voting box will help anything.

“I haven’t been able to find the county official that asked the city about housing the polling place at city hall, but it does not need to be moved there at this time.  With the intersection in front of the building and the post office across the street, I would fear there would be a traffic danger, not to mention the danger to the many supporters that helps candidate with electioneering on Election Day.

“Whether it is a commissioner, constable, justice of the peace, sheriff or tax assessor, if these officials would have their offices closed in the Precinct 4 building on Election Day, there would not be a problem.  As to whether there has ever been any election misconduct I don’t know, however, sometimes perception is more important than reality,” Magee said.