About the Office

Creation

The Commissioner's Court or Victoria County created the Elections Administrator's Office in February of 1992. The Court appointed George Matthews as the first Elections Administrator and officially opened  the office on July 1, 1992. Kathy Higgins and Clementina Ybarra were the first employees of the office.

The position of county elections administrator is authorized by the Texas Election Code under section 31.031. The commissioners' court of a county may create the position for any county.

The first major election was the 1992 Presidential General Election in which the challenger Bill Clinton opposed the incumbent President George Bush. Besides being an important election, this was also the first time branch early voting sites were used in Victoria County. 

Duties

The Elections Administrator's Office is authorized by the Texas Election Code. It allows for the creation of the position of elections administrator and assigns the duties of voter registrar, the duties of the election code placed upon the county clerk and other duties of the election code placed upon the administrator.

Voter Registration

One of the primary duties of an Elections Administrator's Office is to act as the voter registrar for the county. 

Additional information about registering to vote may be found at: Registration

Conducting Elections

The most important responsibility for the office of elections administration is the preparation, coordination and supervision of the election process. This involves 

• assigning election responsibilities and duties
• preparing submissions for US Department of Justice
• arranging polling locations
• preparing ballot layouts and ordering ballots
• hiring election personnel
• tracking early voting by mail and in person
• organizing voting supplies
• delivering election supplies to judges
• conducting election schools for precinct election judges

Campaign Finance Filings

All candidates for public office are required to report campaign finance revenues and expenditures. Those candidates who run for county political office file campaign finance reports with the Elections Administrator. 

Information about campaign finance filings can be obtained at the Elections Office or through the Texas Ethics Commission.

Staff

The county elections commission appoints the Elections Administrator. Comprising the Victoria County Elections Commission are:

Donald R. Pozzi County Judge
Val D. Huvar, County Clerk
Rena Scherer, County Tax Assessor-Collector
Mary Anne Wyatt, County Chairman, Victoria County Republican Party
Stephen Jabbour, County Chairman, Victoria County Democratic Party

        George Matthews is the current Elections Administrator. He began working as the Victoria County Elections Administrator on July 1, 1992. He first started working for Victoria County on January 1, 1986 in the County Clerk's office. Prior to that he worked for the State of Texas in the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services as a Child Placement Worker, Specialist III.

There are two full time employees in the Elections Administrator's Office, the Assistant Elections Administrator and a Deputy Elections Administrator.

Josie Salas is Assistant Elections Administrator. She has worked for the Elections Office since July of 1999. Prior to that she worked at the Victoria County Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 3 office. 

Margetta Hill is Deputy Elections Administrator. She has worked at the Elections Office since September of 2004. Prior to that she worked as the school secretary at Juan Linn Magnet School for the Victoria Independent School District. Margetta and has worked part-time for the Elections Office in the past and is also a former employee of the County Clerk's Office. 

In addition the Elections Office has a part-time clerical position filed by Sally Rubio.

During Early Voting in Person and on Election Day the staff of the Elections Office grows to nearly 150 individuals who work in the early voting and election day polling locations.

The Elections Office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except for County holidays.