By Post Newspaper Staff
Tuesday, August 11th is National Poll Worker Recruitment Day and last Thursday, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in cooperation with Vet-the-Vote held an event at the Houston Space Center for Veterans and interested members of the public.
Speaking at this event were Galveston County Clerk Dwight Sullivan and Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth. In their remarks they noted the hard and tedious work election workers do and how important they are to the process. They are all volunteers. Hundreds of them are needed in order to hold an election and without them, no elections would be held. There is always a shortage of poll workers and Sullivan and Hedspeth encouraged people to step up and volunteer, especially veterans who have already exhibited an ability and willingness to serve their country.
“As the County Clerk in Galveston County,” Sullivan said, “I have learned that elections are built on trust. People trust that when they walk into a polling location, they’ll be treated fairly. They trust that rules will be followed.” Continuing he said, “Voters trust that their ballot will be protected and that their vote will be counted accurately.”
“Trust doesn’t happen by accident,” Sullivan declared. “It happens because of the dedicated poll workers who show up before the daylight, stay until every ballot is secured, and who take their responsibilities seriously.”
“And trust me,” Sullivan said talking about the activities in Central Count, “I said stay until every ballot is counted. There are many nights where we’ve stayed overnight until the next day.”
In essence it seems Sullivan was saying his team and poll workers stay until the job is done. Unlike some jurisdictions in other states that have stopped the counting and then restarted later. Apparently in Galveston County, once the counting process starts, it goes through until the job is done. It takes people who are dedicated to service and election integrity to make this happen and both the County Clerks in Galveston and Harris Counties are looking for these kinds of people to step forward and volunteer.
If you are a registered voter in Galveston County you can call 409-770-5108 and volunteer. They’re waiting for your call!
