Election Administrator Tschirhart addresses Bandera Democratic Club
The Bandera County Democratic Club met on October 9, 2021, at the BEC Community Room.
The well-attended gathering kicked off with a Potluck Meet and Greet which was followed by theguest speaker and business meeting. Club members welcomed guest speaker Gwenda Tschirhart, who has served as the Bandera County Election Administrator since 2017. Gwenda presented information on the upcoming November election, the progress with local redistricting plans and the Texas voting bill (SB-1) recently signed into law by Governor Abbott.
Regarding the county redistricting process, Tschirhart explained that precinct maps will be redefined in some areas to accommodate results from latest 2020 census. Redistricting changes will take effect in January 2022 and will not affect the November 2021 election.
Because SB-1 is lengthy and due to limited time, only portions of SB-1 were covered by Tschirhart. Areas discussed included Voter ID verification, procedures surrounding ballot tally and storage security, poll watcher training and guidelines and changes to the mail-in ballot process. Throughout her presentation, she fielded questions and comments from club members. Sample ballots for the upcoming November election were distributed to members.
The business meeting commenced under the direction of President Eloise Clayton. Reports from committees included updates on 2022 Headquarters search (Suzanne Jackson), Membership recruitment status (Essie Stewart), County Chair report (Lynn Oliver), Cork & Fork Democratic sponsors/attendees (Janus Olive). A Nominating Committee was designated to prepare a slate of candidates for election of 2022 Club officers.
The next scheduled Club meeting will be Saturday, November 13, 2021. The guest speaker will be Bob Brischetto, who will talk about his recently published book “Mexican American Civil Rights in Texas (1968- 2018).”
There will be an hourlong Potluck Meet and Greet starting at 11 a.m. followed by the guest speaker segment and finalizing with the business meeting. The Bandera County Democratic Club monthly meeting is always open to the public. For information about joining the Bandera County Democratic Club, connect with them on Facebook or email bandemoclub@gmail.com.