Texas Association of County Election Officials
(Formerly Known as the Texas Association of Election Administrators)
Recommendations to modify an election security bill from an Non-Governmental Organization made up of Public Employees and Officials, sponsored by voting system vendors HART, ES&S and more.
txaceo.org elections-taea.org
This NGO is lobbied for these provisions Texas’s 86th Legislature, SB9 (2015) Election Security Bill
SECTION 2.08. Section 33.057, Election Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 33.057. OBSERVING PREPARATION OF VOTER'S BALLOT. (a) In this section, "family member" means a person related to the voter within the second degree by affinity or third degree by consanguinity, as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code.
TAEA’s Recommendation:
Remove Section 2.08 (OBSERVING PREPARATION OF VOTER’S BALLOT). The existing statute in section 33.057 is sufficient in that it does not impose the burden on to poll workers of verifying consanguinity or affinity of varying degrees. This section expands the instances where a voter’s ballot privacy can be violated. It also gives unnecessary discretion to poll workers who would carry out this new responsibility haphazardly; leading to equal protection concerns.
SECTION 2.10. Section 61.014(b), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) A person, other than a watcher solely recording the counting of ballots, may not use any mechanical or electronic means of recording images or sound within 100 feet of a voting station.
TAEA’s Recommendation:
Remove Section 2.10 This section in SB 9 grants an exception to recording of counting of ballots in a voting station for poll watchers. We contend that NO ONE should have the authority to record images & sound in a voting station. And it should remain so for the preservation of peace and privacy in a voting station (polling place).
SECTION 2.15. Section 213.013(i), Election Code, is amended to read as follows:
(i) No device capable of recording images or sound is allowed inside the room in which the recount is conducted, or in any hallway or corridor in the building in which the recount is conducted within 30 feet of the entrance to the room, while the recount is in progress unless the person entitled to be present at the recount is a watcher or agrees to disable or deactivate the device. However, on request of a person entitled to appoint watchers to serve at the recount, the recount committee chair shall permit the person to photocopy under the chair's supervision any ballot, including any supporting materials, challenged by the person or person's watcher. The person must pay a reasonable charge for making the copies and, if no photocopying equipment is available, may supply that equipment at the person's expense. The person shall provide a copy on request to another person entitled to appoint watchers to serve at the recount.
TAEA’s Recommendation:
Remove Section 2.15 NO ONE should have the authority to record images & sound in a room where a recount is being conducted. This section grants that authority to a watcher. Their existing ability to take notes should suffice.
SECTION 5.02. Subchapter A, Chapter 129, Election Code, is amended by adding Section 129.003 to read as follows:
Sec. 129.003. PAPER AUDIT TRAIL REQUIRED. (a) In this section, "auditable voting system" means a voting system that:
(1) uses a paper record; or
(2) produces a paper receipt by which a voter can verify that the voter's ballot will be counted accurately.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a voting system that consists of direct recording electronic voting machines may not be used in an election unless the system is an auditable voting system.
(c) Except for a recount under Title 13, or if an audit conducted under Section 65.102 fails to produce strong evidence that the reported outcome of the election matches the result that a full counting of the paper records or receipts would reveal, the electronic vote is the official record of the ballot. For a recount of ballots cast on a system involving direct recording electronic voting machines, or if an audit conducted under Section 65.102 fails to produce strong evidence that the reported outcome of the election matches the result that a full counting of the paper records or receipts would reveal, the paper record or receipt copy is the official record of the vote cast.
(d) An authority that purchased a voting system other than an auditable voting system after September 1, 2014, and before September 1, 2019, may use available federal funding and, if federal funding is not available, available state funding to retrofit the purchased voting system as an auditable voting system in accordance with the following schedule:
(1) if the voting system was retrofitted as an auditable voting system not later than the election taking place November 3, 2020, the authority is eligible to have 100 percent of the cost of retrofitting reimbursed under this section; and
(2) if the authority is not eligible for a 100 percent reimbursement of cost under Subdivision (1) and the voting system was retrofitted as an auditable voting system not later than the election taking place November 5, 2024, the authority is eligible to have 50 percent of the cost of retrofitting reimbursed under this section.
(e) Subsections (a)-(c) do not apply to an election held before September 1, 2024.
TAEA’s Recommendation:
Extend deadline in Section 5.02 We’d like to see the effective deadline for counties to replace their paperless DRE’s extended to September 1, 2028.
Texans must be able to identify the provisions in state and federal statute mandating an auditable paper trail. Auditability comes before everything, including the secrecy of the ballot if necessary. Adhering to Texas Election Law which secures Elections from undue influence and improper practice affords Texas Voters both an Auditable Paper Trail and Ballot Secrecy.
Ballot Secrecy does NOT mean that even a voter cannot reveal their ballot. Texas Election Code 52.062 offers a voter, and only the voter, to know their unique ballot number as long as Election Workers are also following Texas Election Code 62.009.
The TAEA is now known as The Texas Association of County Election Officials and has taken a strong position in favor of Countywide Voting, which has destroyed ballot secrecy and auditability, and seems to be on the verge of pushing legislation doing away with precinct level reporting of election results. See which public employees are involved in lobbying for these legislative changes seeking to remove the auditability of Texas elections.