Council certifies election, discusses ballots

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Farmers Branch City Council members discussed reports that hundreds of Dallas County mail-in ballots from the May 2 election were not counted before certifying election results and ordering a June 13 mayoral runoff.

During discussion of the election canvass on Tuesday, May 12, Mayor Terry Lynne told the council that Dallas County Commissioner Andy Sommerman had said about 500 of roughly 600 mail-in ballots countywide were rejected because they arrived after election day, though some had been postmarked on time.

Lynne said he heard approximately 10% of the rejected ballots may have belonged to Farmers Branch voters.

“I think it’s very important that people know that if you voted by mail, there is a very good likelihood that your vote did not count,” Lynne said.

Lynne said he plans to continue discussions with county officials.

“That gives me very little confidence in the numbers that are being reported to us by the elections department at this time because so many votes were not counted,” he said.

The council later unanimously approved Ordinance 4002 canvassing the election results, declaring Tina Bennett-Burton the winning candidate in the District 2 race and ordering a runoff election for mayor between the two top finishers, Terry Lynne and Jaime Rivas.

Earlier in the meeting, council members discussed whether to add a polling location on the west side of the city for the June 13 runoff election.

Stacy Henderson, the city’s director of administrative services, said adding another polling location would cost about $16,000. She said the Keenan Service Center on Davis Road was the most viable public facility option because the Senlac Service Center remains under construction.

Councilmember Lupe Gonzalez asked whether turnout in the area would justify the additional expense. Henderson said 714 voters used the Envision polling location during the March primary election, including both early voting and election day turnout.

Henderson said Manske Library, the city’s primary polling location, drew 2,298 early voters and 781 election day voters during the May 2 election.

Councilmember David Reid questioned whether the additional location would significantly affect turnout.

“That works out to about $22 per voter,” Reid said while discussing the estimated cost. “I don’t think that the number of voters that participated was impacted negatively by not having a site on the west side.”

Councilmember Roger Neal said he was concerned about adding a new polling location shortly before the runoff election, citing the number of elections already scheduled this spring.

“To me, that would indicate the possibility of some voter fatigue in general,” Neal said.

Neal also questioned whether the additional cost was warranted given historically lower turnout in runoff elections.

“I just don’t think that at this time given the lower turnout and the extra costs involved that it would be all that greatly helpful to have another location,” he said.

Councilmember Elizabeth Villafranca proposed revisiting polling locations for future elections. She suggested eliminating several lower-turnout election day sites, including Janie Stark Elementary School, Vivian Field Middle School and Chapel Hill Preparatory School, and consolidating voting around Manske Library, Brookhaven College and Envision.

“If we start using these locations at the primary and then these locations at the municipal, we’re going to create confusion with our voters,” Villafranca said. “What we are trying to encourage is people to come out to vote.”

City Attorney David Berman said public facilities provide stronger oversight and security protections for elections than private facilities.

“From a legal perspective, they’re the most secure,” Berman said.

Mayor Terry Lynne said future discussions about polling locations should focus on the city’s central and western areas. He said he would prefer a fire administration building over a service center if the city adds a west-side polling location in future elections.

No action was taken to add a west-side polling location for the June runoff election.

Early voting begins June 1. Election day is June 13.

Branch Herald candidate questionnaires for Terry Lynne and Jaime Rivas can be found on the Branch Herald Elections Page.

_{Local News Matters.}