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POLLING LOCATION REPORT <br /> INTRODUCTION <br /> The City of La Porte currently has seven (7) polling locations throughout the City. Citizens vote in <br /> their district for City Elections. The City Secretary was approached by two Councilmembers to <br /> research the possibility of reducing the number of polling places due to voter confusion, and the <br /> City Manager requested the City Secretary to look into this matter. Outlined in this report is an <br /> analysis of the research and the costs associated with polling locations. <br /> RESEARCH ANALYSIS, CURRENT PRACTICES AND CONCERNS <br /> In researching this matter, several phone calls were made to other Cities. It was determined other <br /> City's have been faced with similar problems. An example of two cities making polling location <br /> changes is the City of Baytown and the City of Friendswood. Baytown reduced its number of <br /> polling locations from over twenty-five to thirteen. The City of Friendswood reduced its number of <br /> polling locations from six to two. Both cities indicated it improved the election process and the <br /> only disadvantage was the voter might be required to stand in line during busy periods. <br /> Since coming to work for the City of La Porte, the current City Secretary Martha Gillett has <br /> managed five (5) elections. During all five elections, citizens have experienced the same problems <br /> regarding confusion on where citizens are required to vote. The confusion arises due to the City <br /> districts having different boundaries than Harris County Precincts and County precincts frequently <br /> change. When citizens vote in non -city elections, they vote at various locations according to their <br /> Harris County Precinct number as indicated on their voter registration card. When citizens vote in <br /> City elections, they are required to vote in their City district. Too further add to the confusion, the <br /> locations are often different and several Harris County Precincts fall within different City districts <br /> (see Exhibit A). As a result, voters become extremely frustrated and sometimes leave the polls <br /> without casting a vote. <br /> This past election, we placed signs at each polling location prior to and on Election Day. This was <br /> a tremendous help, but if the voter does not know their City district they still are not sure where to <br /> vote. The Bayshore Sun also ran articles addressing this problem and encouraging voters to call <br /> City Hall if they were not certain where to vote. However, not everyone reads the paper so you <br /> still have a large percentage of confused voters. <br /> POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS <br /> After researching this matter, a recommended solution could be to reduce the number of polling <br /> locations to one (1), two (2) or three (3). One (1) polling location would totally eliminate any <br /> confusion to the voters. Voters would know they always go to the same location to vote. <br /> However, this may cause waiting lines and no single location would be convenient to all voters <br /> throughout the City of La Porte due to the geographic size. Two (2) locations would reduce the <br /> confusion to a minimal level and maintain a more balanced travel distance for the voter. Three (3) <br /> locations would be better than seven (7) and may still cause some confusion in the beginning. <br /> 3 �a- <br />