Riley: Election integrity should matter to everyone – not just Republicans

By Lacey Riley, Denton County Republican Party Chair

Many people, whether Republican or Democrat, will agree with me that Denton County is a wonderful place to live. We have low crime rates, good schools and still have a bit of a small town, rural lifestyle even though our county is one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation.

I will make the argument that one of the things that has contributed to Denton County’s quality of life is that this is a majority Republican county and our representation at the local, county, and federal levels reflect that.

The Denton County Democratic Party has been advocating for no voter ID and they would like to change to Countywide Polling Center voting, more commonly known as the Voter Center model, and Republicans see both as election integrity issues, so we oppose them.

First, if we don’t have free and fair elections and let just anyone whether citizen or not vote in our elections, then what are we? A Democracy? A Constitutional Republic? Or a Banana Republic?

Before anyone accuses me of trying to suppress voters’ rights, please know that I believe it is every American citizen’s responsibility to do their own research and vote for the candidate that most aligns with their personal values. I would prefer you vote Republican, but that is up to you, not me. People died for your right to vote, and we are lucky enough to live in a country where WE THE PEOPLE choose how we will be governed and by who.

There are many forms of identification that can be used as voter ID besides a Texas Driver’s License, including a current utility bill or bank statement showing the address where the voter registered. You can find a list of items that can be used for voter ID at the Denton County Elections website www.votedenton.gov.

Denton County still votes in precinct on Election Day, but during early voting we have voter centers throughout the county. What this means is that during early voting, you can vote anywhere in the County, it doesn’t matter where you live, but on Election Day, you have to go to the polling location that your precinct is assigned to. Why does this matter and why is it a partisan issue?

It is a partisan issue, because Denton County voted majority Republican in the last governor’s race and that puts us in control of ALL the early voting locations during the two weeks of early voting. We appoint all the Election Judges and the Democrats appoint the alternates. On Election Day, the Democrats appoint the Election Judges in the majority Democrat precincts and we appoint the Election Judges in the majority Republican precincts. Republicans appoint the Alternate Judges in the Democrat polling locations and vice versa. We impose a Republican poll worker at each of the Democrat polling locations and the Democrats do the same. With the full voter center model including Election Day, the Democrats would appoint Election Judges at the early voting locations based on the percentage of the vote in our county. If the shoe was on the other foot, we would probably want the Countywide Polling Places model as well.

Also, the Election Judges assigned on Election Day must live in precinct and they sign each ballot. Voting on Election Day is something many Republicans really prioritize and I have heard from our County Judge that he gets quite a few complaints from Republicans that have difficulty finding their voting locations on Election Day. I hope that all Republicans now understand why this is a partisan issue and they will take advantage of voter centers during early voting if they want to be able to vote at any county polling location.

Early voting begins on Monday, October 21^st and ends Friday, November 1^st. I normally vote early to make sure that I don’t leave it up to chance on Election Day in case something happens that day that prevents me from exercising my right to vote, and I encourage you to do the same.