Go right ahead.
Good morning, commissioners.
My name is Stephanie Draper, and I'm a proud resident
of Denton County.
I'm here today to urge the court to support and
move towards implementing countywide voting on election day because our
voters deserve fair, flexible, and accessible on elections.
Right now, Denton County voters are required to cast their
ballots only at their assigned precinct polling places on election
day.
That system has made have worked years ago, but our
population is getting bigger.
But today, because real challenges for working families, seniors, students,
and everyday residents who are juggling busy lives,
they need to be able to have voting locations all
over the place.
As an election judge, I have personally seen how the
system hurts our voters.
I have turned away people who arrived in ride shares,
people who took time off of work, paid for transportation,
showed up eager to vote only to find that they
were at the wrong location.
I've even also seen college students who didn't have transportation
and didn't even know what precinct they were supposed to
go to, and they had to hurry up and go
to class, and they missed out on voting.
Every election stories like this repeat themselves across our county.
The result is lost votes, lost trust, grown frustration.
We can do better.
It allows voters to cast their ballots at any polling
location in the county on election day, just like they
can during early voting.
Counties across Texas, including Terrant County, Collins, Travis, and Dallas,
have already adopted countywide voting, and the result speaks for
themselves.
Higher voter participation, shorter lines, and smoother election.
But we must also learn from our neighbors.
Terrant County has recently lost a hundred locations.
And it makes it very hard for the people to
find a place where they're supposed to go vote.
This isn't a partisan issue, it's a people issue.
It's about protecting the rights to vote and to ensure
fairness and keeping Denton County democracy strong.
So today I respectfully urge this court to begin the
process of adopting countywide voting.
Let's marginalize our election system and expand access and make
sure that no voter in Denton County is ever turned
away again.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for your comments.
I appreciate you.