Even though the filing deadline has ended for candidates seeking a seat on the Collin College Board of Trustees to get on the Saturday, May 3, general election ballot, there remains the option for write-in candidates to seek election.

Collin County Elections Administrator Kaleb Breaux said the first step would be for a qualified write-in candidate to file with the jurisdiction holding the election. 

“A contest will never have a place for a write-in candidate without this step happening first,” Breaux said.

He said once Collin County Elections has compiled a list of certified write-in candidates, a copy of the list is placed in each ballot marking device used for in-person voting and also in each mail ballot sent out. 

“This list will include the office for which the write-in candidate is certified in, and also the name of the candidate,” Breaux said. “The candidate’s name will not appear on the ballot without the voter putting it there themselves.”

The elections administrator said if the voter wants to vote for the write-in candidate on the ballot marking devices in person, they will select the write-in button on the screen. Next, a keyboard will pop up on screen, and the voter will type the candidate’s name using the keyboard and then select done when finished. 

“The write-in candidate’s name will then appear on screen in the contest on the ballot,” he said. “Once the voter is finished, they will print their ballot and review, ensuring that the write-in candidate appears on the printout. Mail ballot voters will simply fill in the oval next to the write-in candidate option on the ballot, and then write the candidate’s name on the line provided.”

Once the ballots have been tabulated, all write-in selections are reviewed and adjudicated by the Collin County Elections ballot board at the central counting station in McKinney.

The ballot board reviews the write-in selections to make sure that the voter actually voted for a certified write-in candidate. 

“We often see votes for people who are not certified write-ins,” Breaux said. “Our ballot board would then count these selections as undervotes. If the voter wrote in the actual write-in candidate’s name, then the vote for the write-in would remain.”

Justin Adcock is unopposed for Place 6 on the Collin College Board of Trustees, as is Place 5 incumbent Raj Menon, elected in 2019. Place 4 is being sought by Staci L. Weaver and Tamara Thomas. 

Those elected will serve six-year terms on the nine-member board.

Thursday, April 3, is the last day to register to vote and early voting will be held from Tuesday, April 22, to Tuesday, April 29.

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By Bob Wieland | [email protected]