LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – As November elections creep closer, the new Lubbock County Elections Administrator is looking toward the future.<\/p>\n
Troy Havard took over for former administrator Roxzine Stinson<\/a> after her retirement.<\/p>\n The Texas native served more than 28 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and retired in 2019. Just three days after his retirement from service, Havard began working as the Assistant Elections Administrator in Tarrant County. He held that position for eight years before applying for the job here in Lubbock.<\/p>\n He says it was God\u2019s plan for him to work in the election field. He served as the voting officer during service, and said it was chance that he continued the path after retirement.<\/p>\n \u201cI looked at the job description and it was essentially the same thing I was doing in the Marine Corps – just a different name,\u201d Havard said. \u201cSo I said why not?\u201d<\/p>\n Havard said similar to military service, working elections isn\u2019t a job – it\u2019s a calling.<\/p>\n \u201cYou either love it or you don\u2019t. It\u2019s not something you do to earn a paycheck, it requires dedication and devotion,\u201d Havard said.<\/p>\n Running elections isn\u2019t an easy job, but Havard says he has the discipline to lead Lubbock County through the changing landscape.<\/p>\n Havard used 2020 as an example of an unusual year because of COVID-19 and because Governor Greg Abbott gave an extra week of early voting <\/a>for the presidential election that November, which had never happened before. Havard said the Legislature has since passed a law prohibiting that from happening again.<\/p>\n Havard said 2026 has also been unusual because of a series of special elections and runoffs, not just in Lubbock County but across the state, along with some off-cycle redistricting.<\/p>\n Havard explained that state law requires voting precincts in all 254 Texas counties, and those precincts are set up based on rules tied to district lines that cannot overlap. He said, for example, voters cannot vote in two separate independent school districts or for a state representative outside the district where they live. <\/p>\n Havard affirmed that despite changes and unusual elections, his office is bound by law.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the military, everything you do is governed by laws, rules, regulations, and by your commanding officers all the way up to the Commander in Chief,\u201d Havard said. \u201cThe same kind of principles apply here in the elections world. Everything we do is governed by some law or some guidance that is provided.\u201d<\/p>\n Havard said guidance sometimes comes as advisories from the Texas Secretary of State\u2019s office, which interprets law and legislative intent. <\/p>\n He said other decisions, such as voting systems, methods of voting, and polling locations are not mandated by the state and instead require Commissioner\u2019s Court approval. Commissioners also approve presiding and alternate judges for polling locations, ballot board members, and the central count station presiding and alternate judge.<\/p>\n Havard credits Stinson for running a \u201ctight office\u201d during her tenure as the Lubbock County Elections Administrator, saying he doesn\u2019t plan to change much.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nobody that can replace Roxzine, and I\u2019m not trying to. Her shoes are too big to fill. They\u2019re on the side, and I\u2019ve got mine next to them,\u201d Havard said.<\/p>\n When discussing whether he anticipated any changes to election processes in Lubbock County in coming years, Havard said he plans to evolve as the County grows.<\/p>\n He suggested potentially decreasing hours during the first week of early voting. State law requires polling locations to be open for 12 hours a day during the second week of early voting, not the first, but Lubbock County\u2019s polls are currently open for 12 hours both weeks. Havard said it could be beneficial to decrease that first week\u2019s hours to nine. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is a cost savings [aspect] in terms of both money and humans. Most of our poll volunteers are retirees who end up working close to 14 hours a day for two straight weeks,\u201d Havard said. \u201cThat wears you out.\u201d<\/p>\n Havard said Lubbock County is also planning to renumber its voting precincts. Precincts currently run sequentially starting at one, up to more than 200. Under the planned change, every voting precincts would get a four-digit number, with the first digit representing the commissioner precinct in which that voting precinct is located. Havard said this would not affect what races or districts a voter falls within \u2014 it is intended only to make it easier to identify which commissioner precinct a voting precinct resides in.<\/p>\n Neither of these potential changes would go into effect ahead of November\u2019s midterm election.<\/p>\n Havard said Lubbock County is aware of a recent executive order signed by President Trump regarding voting by mail and the U.S. Postal Service<\/a>, and that a judge has since removed restrictions to allow it to be implemented. <\/p>\n He said Texas has already implemented some related measures, such as intelligent mail barcodes and serialized ballots on envelopes, and that he anticipates the ruling will affect other states instead of ours.<\/p>\n Havard has attended several trainings in recent weeks to discuss such measures. He says one of the biggest points made involved absentee voting, advising voters who vote by mail to return their ballots early rather than waiting, in order to avoid problems tied to postal delivery timing. He said it matters when a ballot is postmarked and when it\u2019s received by his office.<\/p>\n In all, Havard says he and his team work year-round – whether that\u2019s assisting with voter registration, training volunteer deputy registrars from civic groups and political parties, or voter list maintenance.<\/p>\n He says one of the biggest ways people can help is by volunteering to work the polls. He encouraged people to visit votelubbock.gov<\/a> to sign up.<\/p>\n Havard said word of mouth is the office\u2019s best method for recruiting poll workers, particularly among retirees, encouraging people to talk to friends and neighbors about the process. He said poll workers are paid an hourly rate and can simply work at a polling location to learn how it operates.<\/p>\n Havard says volunteers and civic engagement hold the utmost importance, and he wishes to see an increase in voters this year.<\/p>\n \u201cI spent over 28 years, almost three decades of my life defending the rights of people in the United States to express themselves by casting a ballot,\u201d Havard said. \u201cAnd it is a little disheartening to see that the numbers have been declining. I don\u2019t care what your political leaning is. I just want you to vote. Vote your conscience. Vote for whatever\u2019s on the ballot that you can vote for. That\u2019s my goal, to get people to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n