Before the upcoming elections, people are concerned about a local county's supposed election security issues.
Citizens Defending Freedom (CDF) of Collin County held an event on Thursday night to talk about problems they found in the election system during a test before the primary elections last month.
Debbie Lindstrom, who leads the election division for CDF, told The Dallas Express that the last test in Collin County revealed serious issues that could affect the electoral process. She also said that residents need to be aware of the situation.
“There are some problems right here in Collin County that they need to be aware of, and they need to be involved in letting their officials know what is going on,” she said.
Lindstrom emphasized to DX that election integrity affects everyone, no matter what political party they are part of.
“We are a nonpartisan group. We try to make citizens aware of issues and breaches in freedom, bringing local awareness and action to the situation,” she said.
The L&A test makes sure that the equipment and ballots function correctly when displaying, collecting, and tabulating votes, explained Lindstrom.
Lindstrom noted that the machines used for testing were stored until the next test, and the ones used for the test were only in “test” mode instead of “election” mode.
“The passwords for every machine have not been changed in at least four years. The passwords are so old that they are probably the default passwords,” she told DX.
CDF tried to handle the concerns privately by bringing the issues to local officials’ attention, but they did not get a response. So, CDF released its findings and attended the April L&A test.
The organization found some improvements after Collin County’s L&A test earlier in April; however, there were still serious issues, including the passwords, asset tags, and the testing board not casting a ballot.
“They are planning on changing the passwords, but not until the summer,” Lindstrom said. “And we have three more elections between now and then. It needs to be changed. There is no reason why everyone should have access to that code and know what it is — this needs to change.”
Lindstrom mentioned the upcoming elections, which include the municipal election on May 4, the primary runoff on May 28, and the municipal runoff on June 15.
Regarding the asset tags, Lindstrom explained, “In February, we wrote down the inventory asset tags for all the machines that were being tested, and we found out in April that they pulled out the same machines again and retested the same machines. The same five machines. They only test five machines out of all the machines we have in Collin County.”
“They should be testing new machines, which should be random,” Lindstrom suggested, again noting that currently, the same machines were being “taken out for the test, put back in the closet, and then pulled back out again for the next test.”
The testing board is also expected to vote during the L&A test, as required by the law, Lindstrom explained.
She informed Bruce Sherbet, the Collin County elections administrator, that his office was not obeying the law and that the testing board needed to vote. Sherbert reportedly told her that they were all too busy.
Lindstrom urged residents to attend the L&A test in May to support election integrity and accountability.
CDF’s February and April Reports of Collin County L&A test results are open to the public for examination.
Tara Schulte, the Collin County executive director for CDF, said DX, 'Citizens Defending Freedom is a national organization with county watchdogs overseeing elections, education, our freedoms, and our faith. We believe in the Constitution.'
