These Fort Worth election workers will check mail-in ballots for improper signatures
Tarrant County election officials are expanding the number of people who might be called upon to verify mail-in ballot signatures, in an effort to ensure the election goes smoothly.
The move illustrates how concerned officials are that this year’s election, which is expected to draw a record turnout, is presenting many potential pitfalls.
Workers are bracing to handle a large volume of absentee votes arriving in the mail, a higher-than-normal amount of people showing up for early voting and the expected difficulty of keeping people socially distanced on election day Nov. 3.
Mail-in ballots are already being returned to the elections office in north Fort Worth. Some are being mailed back by residents who live in the county but qualify for mail-in voting — residents 65 and older, and people with disabilities — and others are being dropped off at a drive-through outside the Tarrant County Election Administration, 2700 Premier St. in Fort Worth.
Most other residents — including college students, residents working abroad and those on an extended out-of-county visit — can apply for an absentee ballot if they know they will be out of the county during the entire voting period.
Monday (Oct. 5) is the last day to register to vote, and early voting begins Oct. 13.
The Tarrant County Election Commission and Election Board, two entities that met jointly to discuss issues related to voting season, last week approved an amended list of names of people who potentially could be called to serve on the signature verification committee. The list includes 31 Republicans, 48 Democrats and 10 Libertarians.
Heider Garcia, Tarrant County election administrator, said he anticipates using 20 people from each of the two largest parties for checking signatures on mailed ballots, but the additional people on the parties’ lists could be needed if ballot signature verification goes on longer than initially planned.
In previous elections, about half that number of people was typically used for signature verification.
Several county officials and party leaders urged Garcia to use as many of the people as possible to verify signatures.
“You’re going to have a lot of very motivated people on every side who want to look at the ballots,” Tarrant County Clerk Mary Louise Nicholson told the group.
But Garcia cautioned that the secured room used for opening mailed ballots in the bowels of the election office doesn’t have enough room for more people to work simultaneously. The room features a fingerprint-activated lock that can only be opened by a handful of election office employees.
“I just hope you have a bigger room as a backup plan,” Nicholson responded.
Garcia said the elections office, which received $2 million in federal CARES Act funding to improve voting during the pandemic, has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional voting machines — as well as a mail sorting machine that cost nearly $400,000. That machinery, he said, will speed up processing and reduce workers’ stress in the election office.
With the new mail sorting machine, “a process that used to take almost four hours now is going to be running 10 or 20 minutes,” Garcia said.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley told the group he probably would not be in favor of moving the signature verification to a different room because he wants the ballots to be unquestionably secure.
“I am very conscious of the need to count those ballots, but when you start talking about moving them out of that room, that gives me pause,” Whitley said.
In the July primary runoff, 51 ballots were rejected because of signature discrepancies.
Those responsible for verifying signatures work in groups of two, with each person from a different political party. They compare the voter’s signature on the ballot with the signature on the voter registration record and, if both agree the signatures match, the ballot is sent on to be tabulated.
If they disagree, the ballot is put away for further review by a larger group, which can then either accept or reject it.
The lists of Tarrant County residents chosen for signature verification were provided to the elections office by the political parties.
They include:
Republican Party: Jan Jenson Sr., Euless; Janet Adams, Fort Worth; Lois Kapp, Fort Worth; Robert McMillian II, Fort Worth; Felix Flores III, Fort Worth; Maria Stone, Arlington; Jamie Hughey, Southlake; Mary Smith, Arlington; Cary Page, Keller; Karen Watts, Grapevine; Rosalyn Blanchette, Fort Worth.
More Republican Party: (Preference Possible Judge 1) Kelley Roberson, Fort Worth; (Preference Possible Judge 2) David Lambertsen, Fort Worth; (Preference Possible Judge 3) Janna Easton, Bedford; Darl Easton, Euless; Dr. Carey Page, Keller; Danna Trowbridge, Fort Worth; Mike Johnson, Fort Worth; Miranda Burdett, Fort Worth; Robert David Smith, Grapevine; Dorrie O’Brien, Grand Prairie; Bruce Krieger, Southlake; Fran Rhodes, Fort Worth; Laura Oakley, Grapevine; Nancy Bethards, Colleyville; Mark Liberto, Arlington; David Espinoza, North Richland Hills; Randy King, Euless; Dawn Horton, Grand Prairie; Kelly Canon, Arlington; Diane Doughty, Euless.
Democratic Party: Keith Annis, Fort Worth; Amjad Bhular, Grand Prairie; Nadia Bhular, Grand Prairie; Paula Boehme, Arlington; Brenda Brime, North Richland Hills; Kathy Candelaria, Grapevine; Kat Cano, Fort Worth; Cary Clark, Fort Worth; Cathy Clark, Fort Worth; Sandra Cooley, Fort Worth; Carol Cordell, Fort Worth; Brienne Daniels, Fort Worth; Donna De La Guardi, Bedford; Prabhat Dixit, Euless; Pamela Durham, Fort Worth; Lisa Efthymiou, Keller; Martina Garcia Garci, Arlington; Roseann Giambr, Fort Worth; Gerri Hall, Lakeside; Evan Hausenfluke, Azle; Carol Henry-Crowel, Fort Worth; Bob Horton, Fort Worth; Joyce Janson-Frankli, Fort Worth; Marilyn Kepner, Fort Worth; Mary Ann Knight, Mansfield; Marilyn Kortum, Arlington; Theresa Luby, Arlington; Cynthia Mancha, Fort Worth.
More Democratic Party: Angelico McKinne, Fort Worth; Myra Mills Tschirhart, Fort Worth; Cassie Mistretta, Southlake; Vicki Moore, North Richland Hills; Charles Neal, Haltom City; Kevin Patrick, Euless; Catheine Patrick, Euless; Sandra Price, Watauga; Stevan Ruiz, Fort Worth; Ashley Sandoval, Mansfield; Kristina Savage, Fort Worth; Martha Sleutel, Haltom City; Doris Smit, Fort Worth; Ed Spence, Crowley; Cynthia Swaim, Fort Worth; Gayland Taylor, Mansfield; Ann Teeter, Hurst; Karen Thompson, North Richland Hills; Martin Youn, Kennedale; Pamela Young, Fort Worth.
Libertarian Party: Rene Perez, Arlington; Elizabeth Miller, Bedford; Wesley (George) Fisher, Fort Worth; Daniel Keough, Bedford; Chris Hibbard, Euless; Trey Holcomb, Fort Worth; Duane Hamman, Crowley; Nelson Range, Burleson; Daniel Bledsoe, North Richland Hills; Michael Garber, Euless.
