Hand Counting Ballots
The problems we saw in the Texas primary could be a preview of November if Trump succeeds in changing voting procedures.
Texas law requires election results be submitted within 24 hours of polls closinge, and election officials said Calhoun missed the deadline.
More than 12 hours after polls closed, workers were still tallying ballots in a continuous count.
Republicans in the Texas Hill Country are divided after hand-counting primary ballots and reconciling tallies until 3 a.m.
Republicans’ decision to count ballots by hand in two Texas counties could delay unofficial primary election results.
The decision could make it harder for some to vote, and has left county officials scrambling.
Party leaders say too few volunteers signed up. They still plan to hand count ballots cast on Election Day.
Republicans in Dallas and Williamson counties force a change that will affect voters in both parties.
Citing cost and logistics, Republicans will contract with the county to use voting equipment.
Dallas Republicans say they’ve raised more than $400,000 to pay for the hand count. It’s not yet clear if the party has secured the hundreds of polling locations needed and the supplies.
The move would be costly and could upend voting for Democrats, too, by forcing a shift away from countywide polling sites.
Supervisors in rural Cochise want to test the limits of state laws that are meant to ensure accurate, secure, and timely election results.
The proposal would require counties who choose to hand count to use ballots that can be scanned and tabulated by a voting machine.
Election officials throughout the country rely on a voter-verified paper trail. But the president’s supporters are pushing for eliminating machines, which could undermine election security and efficiency.
For Trudy Hancock and her staff in Brazos County, the questions from right-wing skeptics keep coming. And the answers don’t seem to matter.
Denny Hoskins, running for secretary of state, wants to ban voting machines and switch to hand-counting ballots. One county official says it just won’t work.
Newly released text messages show a private pressure campaign to get the issue on the agenda.
Gillespie County documents show election worker expenses for the primary more than doubled from 2020. And they’re likely to grow.
The price tag could reach $300 million, says a top state election official. The legislature has allocated $0 — and set a two-year deadline.
An expanded post-election hand count and an added $14,000 cost for special ballot paper won’t make voting more secure, but they may appease skeptics — for now.