Jefferson County Clerk Laurie Leister talks with polling judge Linda Sherman, who stopped to try out one of the demo ESS voting machines, which remained in the office for poll workers to continue training on the new systems before early voting starts Monday. Photo made Thursday, October 20, 2022 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise
Kim Brent

Early voting for the Beaumont City Council and Beaumont ISD School Board elections will begin Monday.

For all registered Beaumont voters, the ballot will include the city mayor, two city council at-large positions and two Beaumont ISD at-large trustee positions. The ballot will also include city council Ward I and Ward III and school board District IV for those who live in the areas.

For the first time since 2017, voters will have the opportunity this year to vote on a Sunday during the municipal election.

The decision to bring back the Sunday voting was voted on by the city council and school board in early February.

Early voting for other Southeast Texas municipal elections

Port Arthur elections early voting is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 24-28 and May 1-2 at:

Port Arthur City Hall, 444 4th St., 5th Floor
Port Arthur Public Library, 4615 9th Ave.

Jasper elections early voting is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 24-28 and May 1-2 at:

Jasper City Hall, 465 S Main St.

Kountze elections early voting is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 24-May 2 at:

Kountze City Hall Council Chambers, 1025 N Pine St.

Silsbee elections early voting is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 24-25, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 26-28 and May 1-2 at:

Silsbee City Hall, 1220 Texas 327

All municipal elections in Orange County have early voting is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 24-28 and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 1-2 at:

Orange Public Library, 220 N 5th St.
Orange County Airport, 2640 Texas 87
Raymond Gould Community Center, 385 Claiborne St.

City Clerk Tina Broussard said Sunday voting was previously canceled due to lack of voter participation, according to previous Enterprise reporting.

Jefferson County Clerk Roxanne Acosta-Hellberg said that the hope is Sunday voting brings in more voters so they can continuing providing that day of service in the future.

"It does take a lot of staffing and it's taxing to our individuals that are working those early days before (election) day," Acosta-Hellberg said. "I'm hoping that individuals will take advantage of the early voting process and, of course, the weekends. If not, we're going to really have to consider continuing that practice."

In addition to re-launching Sunday voting, while conducting Beaumont's election, Jefferson County will be using its new voting machines that debuted during the November 2022 mid-term election.

"I'm hoping that people are a lot more comfortable after the first run," Acosta-Hellberg said. "I understand that new intimidating, it's something to get used to. I'm hoping that the time that we have taken and the opportunities that we have provided to the community were taken advantage of so that individuals are comfortable."

With the machines, when voters go to the polls during early voting and on Election Day, they will be given a paper ballot and use what is essentially an electronic pencil to make their selections.

"The leads at these locations are responsible and need to make sure that no one walks away, getting comfortable with that piece of paper, that you still need to process it through the scanner before you walk out of that facility, it's critical," Acosta-Hellberg said. "People need to know that. Do not walk out of the facility with anything other than your happy 'I voted sticker.'"

As far as voter turnout goes, Acosta-Hellberg said she hopes that after November, people will take advantage of the opportunity to express their interests in the best candidate.

In November, Jefferson County had 42.45% of registered voters vote, which is down from the 50.58% who took part during the 2018 midterm elections, according to the Jefferson County County Clerk Elections Department website.

"We had a decent turnout (in November)," Acosta-Hellberg said. "We still have a lot of room to grow and I'm hoping that encouraged individuals. Our offices has certainly done everything we can to make sure people are comfortable. We've been educating the judges, the clerks that are going to be working the election to make sure that they're doing their job, and those that have the eligibility to process our vote, are allowed to do so."

During the May 2021 Beaumont election, 15,975 out of 101,532 registered voters, or 15.73%, voted during the election. The number of registered voters for the election were up from the May 2019 Beaumont election but the ratio was lower. In 2019, there were 13,839 out of 72,486 registered voters, or 19.09% voted during the election.

Acosta-Hellberg said there are 68,367 registered voters for Beaumont City Council and 70,060 for Beaumont ISD for this year's election.

As of April 19, 466 mail-in ballots were received for the upcoming election.

Beaumont early voting locations include:

Rogers Park Community Center, 6540 Gladys Ave.
Jefferson County Courthouse lobby (main location), 1085 Pearl St.
John Paul Davis Community Center, 3580 E. Lucas Dr.
Theodore Johns Library meeting room, 4255 Fannett Rd.

All locations will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 24-29, 12 to 5 p.m. April 30, and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 1-2.

Election day is on May 6.