Preparations continue less than 24 hours before polling places open

ABILENE, Texas — There are less than 24 hours to Election Day and the polls are almost ready, but there is still some work to be done and preparations to be made for this election that began many months ago.

"We actually start preparing for this election three to four months out," said Freda Ragan, the Elections Administrator for Taylor County.

Ragan said that it can take anywhere from 100 to 150 people to get things ready for an election.

"Securing our locations, and then of course, we have to get our workers in place, and then of course, we have to build the ballot,” Ragan said. “We program everything we do, we do it here in-house."

There are nearly 300 voting machines in Taylor County, but not all of them are used at once.

The number of voting machines used on Election Day is based on potential voter turnout.

Once the voting machines are closed and sealed, they will not be open until the voting process begins.

Ragan, who has been involved in elections for close to 15 years, said that the election volunteers work a lot of hours during the preparations for the elections and they can work over 12 hours on Election Day itself.

"Today, the day before the election, all of our judges take their equipment and their supplies and they go to their polling locations and they set up and get prepared for tomorrow morning," Ragan said.

After all of the hard work that goes into preparing for the elections, Ragan said that the preparations are worth it.

"it's exciting because, you know, the day is over and it's kinda all coming to a head and it's exciting to see the results," Ragan said.

According to Ragan. the election volunteers are actually paid $10 an hour and they are always looking for more help in making sure that the election process goes smoothly.