Something new happened for the March 3 Democratic and Republican primary elections in Scurry County. For the first time, county residents could cast their ballots at any of the official voting sites around the county, regardless of the precinct where they live.
County Clerk Melody Appleton said the initial foray into vote-center-based elections went smoothly.
“I thought it was a very good success,” Appleton said. “I was very pleased with it and thought it went very well, and the people that I have talked to thought it was a really good thing.”
Appleton said there were no problems with the county’s first attempt with the process.
“We kept wifi access at it at all locations throughout the day, and it all worked. It did real well,” she said.
The success during the March primaries opens the door for the county to apply to make the system permanent, she said.
“We have to apply again in order to do this again,” she said. “We have to request what they call ‘successful status’ with the state. I am submitting that application so hopefully we can be approved for successful status and continue it for all future elections. It should come through in time for the run-off.”
Run-off elections, originally scheduled May 26, have been pushed back to July 14 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and uncertainty created by the virus means the run-off date could be pushed back further as conditions require.
Although all local races were decided without need run-offs, primary voters will have the opportunity to cast run-off ballots in state and federal elections.
According to the website of Texas Secretary of State Ruth R. Hughs, a voter cannot vote in a primary for a given party if that voter is affiliated with the other party. A voter becomes affiliated with a party when they vote in that party’s primary or swears an oath at that party’s convention. Party affiliation expires at the end of each calendar year. Effectively, if a person voted in the March 3 primary, he or she can only vote in that party’s primary runoff election. If a person did not vote in the March 3 primary, he or she can vote in either party’s runoff election.
At the federal level, Democrats Mary “M.J.” Hegar and Royce West will vie to face incumbent Republican John Cornyn for the post of U.S. senator.
On the state level, Democrats are also vying for the state’s railroad commissioner nomination.
Chrysta Castaneda and Roberto R. “Beto” Alonzo will compete to face Republican candidate James “Jim” Wright, who defeated incumbent Ryan Sitton in the primary. Two State Board of Education (SBOE) candidacies — one for each party — are up for grabs in the run-off.
In the SBOE District 5 run-off, Republicans Robert Morrow and Lani Popp will vie to face Democratic candidate Rebecca Bell-Metereau in November while in the SBOE District 6 race, Democrats Michelle Palmer and Kimberly McLeod will compete to face Republican Will Hickman, who ran unopposed in the primary.
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