Tarrant County commissioners were informed on Tuesday about the interaction of the roles and duties of the commissioners court, county election board, county election commission, and the elections administrator in managing elections for the county.
As previously mentioned by The Dallas Express, the Tarrant County Election Board decided on April 2 to implement pre-numbered ballots for the upcoming election in order to safeguard the integrity of the results.
At present, Tarrant County voters receive blank, un-numbered thermal ballots designed to work with the county’s voting equipment. After the vote is cast, the machines generate and mark the ballots with a unique identifying number. The board’s decision means that the ballots given to voters will now have consecutive numbers pre-assigned. Nevertheless, each ballot will still receive a unique number when entered into the machines.
Advantages of this measure, as stated by supporters, include the addition of an additional layer of security, and simplification of the auditing process in cases of voter fraud investigations.
Doubters have cautioned that pre-numbering the ballots creates a greater opportunity for vote buying or voter coercion, as reported reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Others against the measure argued that it would lead to unnecessary expenditure: While the county must purchase enough paper for every registered voter (approximately 1.3 million people) under both its current numbering method and the proposed new one, the latter would mean that unused ballots could not be reused for the next election. According to the Star-Telegram, the county estimated that about 400,000 unused ballots would have to be discarded, costing around $13,000.
Nonetheless, the measure was approved with a 4 to 1 vote. The single vote against the measure was cast by Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair Crystal Gayden, who argued that it would be a waste of taxpayers’ money.
The election board includes Gayden, Tarrant County Judge O’Hare, Sheriff Bill Waybourn, Republican Party Chair Bo French, and appointed Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig. According to KERA News, Ludwig comprises abstained from voting on the issue. recused During the commissioners court meeting on Tuesday, much of the discussion revolved around the power balance between the election board and the elections administrator — specifically, whether the former had exceeded its authority in mandating the use of specific ballots. Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons requested a briefing from the district attorney’s office to clarify the matter.
“I’ve been asked to come and speak to the courthouse in an open session today to help untangle some of the responsibilities of these different entities in regard to how elections are run in the county,” lawyer Mark Kratovil began during the April 16 session.
The main issue at hand is whether the election board truly has the power to compel the elections administrator to adhere to its decision on using pre-numbered ballots.
this query to Kratovil.
Simmons posed “To the extent that you’re asking me to apply this to a specific situation, I would say that that’s a privileged conversation that would best be left for closed session,” Kratovil told Simmons.
Simmons insisted that he respond to the question, but Kratovil said he could only answer if the commissioners court allowed it. The motion to allow it failed by a vote of 3-2, causing tension between Simmons and O’Hare.
Ultimately, Kratovil did not answer the question during the public meeting, but Simmons claimed that in an earlier private meeting in her office, the lawyer had advised that the elections administrator, Ludwig, could choose to use the pre-numbered ballots or continue using blank ones.
Recognizing that the election board approves the procurement of election supplies, Kratovil explained that the elections administrator has some authority in deciding how to carry out the job, as an employee or officer of the county, during elections.
After the briefing, Ludwig said he would respect the board's wishes.
“I can conduct fair, secure elections with or without pre-numbered ballots,” Ludwig stated, according to the Star-Telegram. “I will fulfill my job according to the preferences of the election board, election commission, and the court.”
The election attorney Beth Stevens commented on the discussion, stating that the Election Board combined its power to procure election materials with the election administrator’s power to decide how to number ballots through their vote. saidwith election attorney Beth Stevens in light of the discussion, who said, “The Election Board took its power to procure election materials, and the election administrator’s power to decide how to number ballots, and ‘sort of mushed those two together in their vote,'” as the outlet put it.
KERA News spoke “The decision on how to number ballots is a task for the elections official — in this case, the elections administrator,” Stevens explained.
Referencing a explained via KERA.
2022 opinion issued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton regarding ballot numbering in Hood County, which read, “the elections administrator is the authority responsible for having the official ballot prepared, including selecting the ballot numbering method.” “It’s an interesting situation given that the elections administrator, one, recused himself from the vote of the board, and then two, seemed to sort of concede the authority to the Election Board when it doesn’t seem that the Election Board had the authority to do that,” Stevens remarked, per KERA.
Tarrant County commissioners were briefed on Tuesday about the intersection of the roles and responsibilities of the commissioners court, county election board, county election commission, and the elections administrator regarding election management for the county. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the Tarrant County Election Board voted on April 2 to use pre-numbered ballots […]
