El Paso County Elections ballot-counting livestream explained
EL PASO, Texas -- The El Paso County elections office is livestreaming. According to Lisa Wise, the El Paso County Elections Administrator, this livestream requirement was approved during the last legislative session.
Essentially, a livestream must be running from the office from the time the ballots go in until they reach the signature verification committee or the central court station- where the votes are counted.
The livestream must run live as well as be recorded. The election office keeps that recording as a record of elections until they can dispose of it.
Wise said that the recording is available for public viewing online, and it can also be requested through the Public Information Act, where it can then be put on a media stick. Multiple cameras are running. One of the cameras is at the vault in the courthouse, where the mail-in ballots and paper ballots are stored.
The other cameras are at the central county station, where the ballots are run through optical scanners by staff members and members from both political parties.
Another camera is in the atrium at the County Courthouse - where the signature verification committee and the opening board are located. Wise says cameras have been rolling since last week. The El Paso County Courthouse is the only place with cameras. As for voting numbers, Wise explained some of the numbers from this year’s primary so far.
Compared to other primary races, this year’s primary has resulted in fewer voters in El Paso county making it to the ballot box. Wise predicts that turnout will reach about 10 percent this election. According to Wise, this is a lower number than years past - as usually, they reach 15 percent.
Out of 495,000 registered voters in El Paso County, during this primary election, voter turnout will probably reach nearly 45,000. Wise also said that as of 2 p.m. today, they have seen 11,000 voters, and another 9,000 voters could make it to the ballot box.
