San Antonio gears up for mayoral elections, with new administrator Michele Carew ensuring a smooth process with upgraded technology and enhanced voter outreach.
SAN ANTONIO — In a little over a week, San Antonio will decide its new mayor for the first time in eight years.
While the focus may be on the candidates, behind the scenes in new elections administrator Michele Carew, who just started the job in March.
“We are 100% prepared,” she said. “We have, of course, contingency plans in place should anything happen. But as of right now, elections are going smooth and all. You know, we have our boots on the ground. The first 45 days were spent finding ways to modernize the office, and so right now we’re just going through the procurement process, trying to get things in place for this election.”
While this is Carew’s first election in Bexar County, she has experience overseeing elections in Hood County, where she was elections administrator until she resigned.
“One of the biggest lessons I learned in Hood County was to have an open mind,” Carew stated. “You know, there’s several people out there with great ideas, and bringing that type of aspect into the office has been very helpful. There’s a huge change from what I’m used to, but my team is great. There’s so many people here that are in place that have made the transition very smooth.”
Already she’s implemented a few changes in time for this election, which include building relationships and making sure people come out to vote.
“What we have done as we have amped up our presence on social media, we’ve really been putting more information out, she said. “We now have someone in place whose focus is to make sure that the word is getting out. As far as the youth go, we’ve been working with the League of Women Voters and Youth to Vote, to build a relationship and partnership to where they would feel not just comfortable coming to vote, but also about, you know, come in and work at our call site.”
One of her priorities since entering the office has been to upgrade the technology. It’ll be a noticeable change on election day.
“We will have a link on our website that has interactive results,” Carew explained. “So it’s an actual portal where, either candidates or even voters alike can go in and find the races. If there’s a race that they want to favorite, they can be able to just focus on that. So everything will be digitized.”
Early voting has already begun, with 46 available locations to cast your ballot.
“My advice to the voters would be, do your homework,” Carew said. “Before you come in, visit our website, find a sample ballot, learn everything you need to know about the candidates, and then make an informed decision.”