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In Travis County, officials are staying busy, thanks to a sophisticated computer system.

The Graphic Interface System, or GIS, is a map-layering program that allows workers to verify what information they can before the districts are finalized, such annexations and voters’ addresses. When the final district maps do come down, they'll just need to make minor adjustments.

Travis County Registrar Tina Morton says once they do get that information, voters can expect a three-week turnaround for their new registration certificates to arrive.

“It’s going to impact where they vote, for one thing. That’s very important to people,” she said. “When we make changes in the places where people vote, based on their precinct, sometimes they’re not very happy because they used to go to the school two streets over and now they have to go to a different place and now they’re not accustomed to it.”

Across the hall in the elections office, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir is looking at a whole other timeline. Right now, her staff is busy pre-testing voting machines.

Once the maps come out, it will be a matter of testing ballots, mailing them out to oversea soldiers at least 45 days prior to Election Day and working out logistics.

“We can’t call around and get all of our polling places all pre-set because we don’t know what the maps look like, so we don’t know what the boundary lines are and of course we don’t know a date to tell our polling places to reserve,” DeBeauvoir said.

DeBeauvoir says no matter when the primary happens, the City of Austin elections will go on as scheduled May 12. The set-in-stone date is thanks to $500,000 the council approved last fall to buy more equipment to accommodate back-to-back elections.