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City of Beaumont
City of Beaumont
The Beaumont City Council set the city’s mayoral runoff election date for Saturday, June 19 after a unanimous vote at a special meeting Monday, May 17.
Citing community chatter suggesting the date was selected to suppress votes of black residents, with Juneteenth being a celebration of African American emancipation, Councilman Mike Getz asked City Clerk Tina Broussard to explain how the selected date came to be.
“When we have a runoff, it’s starting the whole process over again,” she said before telling council members the runoff has to be held 45 days after the canvassing date – June 19 falls 46 after city council canvassed the votes on May 4.
The city also has to manage and prepare around 200 poll workers for the election between former City Councilwoman Robin Mouton and Roy West, and Broussard said that takes time to put in place.
“We can’t just snap our fingers and everything’s in place,” she said.
The final day to register for Beaumont's June 19 mayoral runoff is Thursday, May 20, announced the Jefferson County Registrar. Jefferson County residents may register in person at the Jefferson County Courthouse at 1149 Pearl St., the Mid-County Tax Office at 4605 Jerry Ware Dr. in Nederland or at the Jefferson County Sub-Courthouse at 525 Lakeshore Drive in Port Arthur. Several deputy voter registrars are also working throughout the community to register individuals.
For those who have a name or address change or are unsure of their status, call (409) 835-8683 or (409) 985-8683. All new voter registration applications and changes to names and addresses must have the date indicated by the post office cancelation mark on or before May 20.