Hundreds of Bexar County poll workers met at the Expo Center Tuesday morning for an elections emergency preparedness training session. The training focused on how to handle emergencies that could arise at polling sites.
Election leaders said the training was not a response to a past incident, but a precautionary measure ahead of the midterms.
Christopher Herrera, emergency management specialist for training and exercise with the Bexar County Office of Emergency Management, said it is the first time the county has offered the training.
“When I talk to other partners around our region, or even across the state, they’re not necessarily preparing in the efforts or taking the steps that we’ve taken here,” Herrera said.
Herrera led the training and taught workers how to identify physical and cybersecurity threats, along with de-escalation techniques.
“We’ve recently adopted, this year, the election security playbook,” he said. “This is offering our first real opportunity to share with our poll workers, provide them some information regarding the different threats and risks that they may run into.”
Michele Carew, the county’s elections administrator, said she does not expect any issues and wants voters to know their ballots are secure.
“We have seals and logs and chain of custody that we follow very strict. It is nobody plays around with that. So when it comes to their ballot security, every eligible ballot that is cast will be counted,” Carew said.
Tomas Vargas, a first-time poll worker, said he came to be ready to learn.
“Something can happen. The weather, thunderstorms, riots, whatever. You have to be ready,” Vargas said.
Vargas said he wanted to take part in the election. “I just want to be involved. I think this is a special time,” he said.
Amanda Marie, another first-time poll worker, said she wanted to do her civic duty. She said that as someone in her 30s, she wants others her age to join her.
“It’s not going to be entertaining, but I think it’s just something that needs to be done,” she said. “I hope to see more people my generation and younger contributing like this just because it affects us now, later, and it’s important.”
Poll workers will be stationed at 57 early voting sites and 301 polling locations on Election Day.
Early voting begins Oct. 19 through Oct. 30, and Election Day is Nov. 3.
