CCISD asks for extended voting hours, additional voting location for special election

By LYNETTE SOWELL 
Cove Leader-Press 

With the City of Copperas Cove holding a special election on Saturday, May 4, for filling the city council Place 5 vacancy, and the Copperas Cove Independent School District holding its own special election on May 4, voters will have more than one option for voting.
On Tuesday evening, the Copperas Cove city council approved an amendment so that the city’s early voting and election day hours and locations will be coordinated with the CCISD’s special election. 
CCISD has requested an extra polling location for early voting and election day, as well as additional hours for early voting. 
Early voting in Copperas Cove will be held at the Copperas Cove Voting Center, located at 508-B Cove Terrace Shopping Center, and also at a portable building that will be set up behind the gas station at H-E-B Plus! in Copperas Cove.
Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 22-26; 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. April 27; Noon – 3 p.m. April 28, and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on April 29-30.
As per the Coryell County Elections Administrator, Justin Carothers, CCISD will pay for the entire extra cost of the additional site and hours to have the additional polling location.
In Copperas Cove polling locations are usually the Early Voting Center, the Copperas Cove Civic Center, as well as Eastside Baptist Church and Holy Family Catholic Church. 
Uinsg a portable building as a polling location at a shopping center is out of the norm, but Carothers said there is no prohibition in the Election Code that he is aware of that would preclude them from using a portable building. 
“There are no ‘requirements’ spelled out in the Election Code for building security. We will take the same steps that we take for any other polling place to ensure the safety and security of the equipment and ballots at that location,” said Carothers. 
In February, the CCISD board of trustees called for a May 4 special election, the regular election day held each spring for Texas voting entities and municipalities. 
The special election is for a proposed $175 million bond that would add 55 classrooms and labs to Copperas Cove High School, renovate existing classrooms and restroom facilities, flip the layout of the campus so the main entrance is on Avenue D, expand the cafeteria, expand the band hall and add student dressing rooms for programs lacking appropriate space. 
A new cafeteria could seat an additional 1,000 students indoors and add 1,000 seats for outdoor dining and expand to 10 serving lines. 
The bond funds would also address security and safety districtwide, such as enclosing outdoor walkways at Williams-Ledger Elementary, Fairview-Jewell Elementary, and Clements-Parsons Elementary. 
Other upgrades would include ensuring ADA accommodation for all students and staff, as there are several campuses with ADA issues. 
Other campuses seeing renovations will include the Miss Jewell wing of Fairview-Jewell Elementary, and also expanding the Copperas Cove Junior High School cafeteria and adding bathrooms.