Saturday city, school elections have new voting sites

For the first time in history, voters throughout Orange County on Saturday will be able to go to any of the five open polling sites instead of being required to go to a neighborhood voting box.

The elections will be for city council and school board races. Some entities were able to cancel elections because of no contested races.

This year, the only elections are for city councils in Orange, Bridge City, Vidor, and Rose City. School board elections will be for West Orange-Cove CISD and Vidor ISD. n

State officials and the Orange County Commissioners Court approved the new system after the County Elections Administration worked to get the electronic system and measures in place. The electronic system includes voting on a computer screen with all voters getting a paper ballot copy to check and deposit at the poll.

May 6 voting will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Orange Public Library, St. Francis Catholic Church in Orange, the Salvation Army in Orange, the Bridge City Knights of Columbus Hall, and the Raymond Gould Community Center in Vidor. The Little Cypress-Mauriceville area and the Orangefield area do not have polling sites because those communities do not have elections Saturday.

The races on Saturday will be for Bridge City City Council Place 3 with Bryant Champagne facing Kenneth Prosperie. The incumbent did not run again.

Orange City Councilor Paul Burch is seeking re-election for his Position 6 at-large seat as Henry Junior Leger is challenging him. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in the race.

The West Orange-Cove school board has two incumbents and one challenger running for the two at-large position openings. Voters in the district may vote for one or two of the three candidates. The two candidates receiving the most votes will be seated. The incumbents are Ruth Hancock and Tommy Wayne Wilson Jr., with Donny Teate Jr. challenging them.

The Vidor City Council has one open challenged position with Ward 6 candidates Victoria M. Jones, Kathryn Weldon, and Lisa M. Harris.

The Vidor ISD board has three positions with challengers. Position 4 candidates are Billy Jordan and Natalie Martinez Long. Brooke Hoosier Gilthorpe and Rodney White are running or Position 5. The Position 7 candidates are Michael Helms, Ben Howard, and Jeremiah Harrington.

Early voting ended Tuesday evening. The Orange County Elections Administration reported Monday night that the six-day early voting total was 1,420, with 1,385 in person and 35 by mail-in. The Orange Public Library box had 720 votes as of Monday, with the Raymond Gould Community Center in Vidor with 465 votes and the Orange County Airport box with 200 votes.