Polling places open to all take the confusion out of voting.

Polling places open to all take the confusion out of voting.

Acknowledging that voting is a right to be encouraged and not a privilege to be discouraged, Fort Bend County officials last week adopted a new system that turned out even better than expected. It turned out so well, in fact, that it should serve as a model for Harris County and the rest of the state.

Instead of casting their ballots in particular precincts, Fort Bend voters were able to cast ballots at any polling place in the county on Election Day. When results were finally tallied last Tuesday night, voter turnout was 13.4 percent. That’s still low, of course, but it beats the 8.7 percent turnout in the county’s November 2013 election, which also included a bond proposal. “We think it played out well,” Elections Administrator John Oldham told the Chronicle.

As Oldham explained, the aim of opening up polling places is not necessarily to increase voter turnout, but to remove the hassle and confusion of voting so that residents don’t give up in frustration. Higher turnout is a welcome side effect, he said.

Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert recalled his own days as a polling official and having to turn away people who arrived at the wrong polling place just before it closed and wouldn’t have time to get to the right one. “It’s something you didn’t want to do,” he said.

Under the countywide plan, there’s no wrong place to vote. Fort Bend Republican Party Chairman Mike Gibson noted that residents living in and around Cinco Ranch and Katy often commute to downtown Houston for work, and if they get caught in Interstate 10 gridlock on the way home, they might not make it back to their precinct by 7 p.m. to vote. Last week they were able to stop at the first polling place they got to after crossing the county line.

Fort Bend County was among six Texas counties with populations of more than 100,000 to use the so-called “Countywide Polling Precinct Program.” Four other counties with populations of less than 100,000 also tried the system. Legislation passed in 2009 allows counties to participate in the new method, although counties must meet certain criteria. After conducting an election under the countywide rules, a county can apply for “successful” status, which means they don’t have to reapply to use the program each election. Fort Bend expects to add more voting centers before the presidential primaries in March.

Oldham told the Chronicle he expects the county will apply for permanent status; 27 counties already have achieved that status. Harris County isn’t one of them but should be. Although voter turnout in Houston’s municipal elections last week was unusually high, 26.9 percent, we can do better. We would urge county officials to give the new system a try.