Before coming into the radio station, I took the time to stop by the NEW place to early vote on the Texas side of town. That’s Southwest Center, on West 7th Street. Not only did I want to go ahead and vote…but I wanted to check out the new situation.
As I pulled into the parking lot, the first thing I noticed was that there are ample parking spaces. That is a plus. It’s hard to find a parking spot in downtown Texarkana, in, near, or around the Bi-State. So I pulled in, not very far from the center’s front doors, and went in out of the rain.
Going into the door, I met Pat McCoy, Bowie County Elections Administrator, coming out. He reminded me that the latest voter registration cards are orange, so make sure that you have yours, and your driver’s license on you, too. Ready to go, I went inside the voting room.
Inside, I presented my credentials to the table. A very nice election judge came over with me to my polling booth. Instead of the old-fashioned, you-pencil-them-in ballot, I sat down to a voting machine. This gentleman was gracious enough to give me a brief, but thorough tutorial on how to vote on the touch-screen machine. So I began the actual voting process.
I’m told that these machines are being tested for further use, by those of us who early vote. Don’t let this put you off. If you have ever self-checked your groceries at Wally World, you too, can place your vote on one of these machines. It only took about five minutes to read the ballot and make my marks. Really, it’s fairly simple. And if you get stuck? Well, those nice election judges will assist you.
Early voting is going on now through February 28th. My experience was a good one. So go vote! You’ll be glad that you did. It’s easy-peasy.