“We must have safe and accurate elections”

Local Commissioners Court meetings are usually fairly low-key, but matters flared up in Collin County as election integrity was on the menu.

When I arrived at Commissioners Court on August 19, shortly before 1:30 p.m., every seat inside the courtroom was taken, and security only allowed people in if someone removed their chair.

Collin County Clerk Michael Gould allowed me to share space with him in the branch computer server room until a spot became available. Before public comments begin, Freedom Defending Citizens of Collin County (CDF) Executive Director Tara Schulte gave up her chair for me.

As I entered the meeting room, I noticed as many citizens were seated inside the courtroom as in the lobby, approximately 150 people. Approximately 50 concerned citizens spoke about election integrity during public comment.

“The overwhelming support we saw at this meeting shows the community's strong desire for transparency and trust in our election process,” said Debbie Lindstrom, CDF's Director of Election Integrity, in an Aug. 23 meeting. press release.

Texas Senator Bob Hall (District 2), which represents a portion of Collin, Dallas and Ellis counties and all of Kaufman, Navarro, Rockwall and Van Zandt counties spoke first on election integrity.

Sen. Hall proposed revisions to increase election security, including switching to hand-marked ballots that are numbered and signed, using paper ballot books, implementing an optical ballot dome tabulator that is not software programmable, and the use of a write-once memory, and area-only voting.

Sen. Hall also recommended moving to a single in-person voting period, which means, “We start on one day and end on Election Day — which allows us to keep the zero bar before the polls open on the first day and allows you to put the results bar in the area as soon as the polls close.”

Susan Fletcher was the most outspoken commissioner, who seemed to be positioning herself from a defensive position.

Fletcher stated to Senator Hall that his suggestions should be implemented at the legislative level to “get the entire state to do this as opposed to imposing it on a district that I believe has had very fair elections. We have a very professional election administrator who has done a great job … quite frankly, he's had enough of his integrity called into question … it's a tragedy.”

Fletcher's comments stirred the audience, but Collin County Judge Chris Hill regained control of the room.

Speakers continued to stress that they would like hand-marked ballots for the upcoming November election, and experts agree that this is the best system.

“Election security experts agree that the most resilient voting systems use paper ballots (marked by hand or with an assistive device for those who must use them) that are verified by the voter before being cast. Any system that does not include a paper registration or a voter verification step should not be used,” VerifiedVoting said.

Additional points of concern regarding election integrity raised by citizens include the following:

• Having three voting processes (early voting, election day, and voting by mail) provides a lot of room for error.
• Electronic survey books are connected to the Internet and can be manipulated
• Multiple electronic vulnerabilities (eg, what happens if we lose power for a few days?)
• Hacking voting machines
• Errors with the software and users of the software
• Lack of consistent, reliable accountability and transparency
• Voters' lack of confidence in the authenticity of their vote (eg, inability to verify their vote via barcode image)

SD12 State Republican Executive Committeewoman Lisa Hendrickson added to the collective voice: “It's amazing to me how cities and communities can find money for trees and parks and all kinds of nice and different things that don't mean a hill of beans. if we don't have fair elections. The cost, lives and blood that have been shed to ensure that we are the land of the free and the home of the brave is priceless.”

“As long as you have electronic machines that are software programmable, you're going to have someone find a way to beat the system,” Senator Hall pointed out.

“We have the support of one of our state senators, who has already joined us for three hours to be here as part of this discussion. I'm grateful for that,” Judge Hill told Sen. Hall. “We have the support of our grassroots who have been here throughout this conversation,” added Judge Hill, speaking of CDF's participation.

Judge Hill listened to the people and responded in kind.

“We must have safe and fair elections,” Judge Hill said. “Today, it is our turn to take our step to continue pursuing the integrity of the elections…”

Judge Hill went on to outline Senator Hall's recommendations, stating the need for “the use of tabulating machines and then turning right after that to the verification of votes by human counting. Now, we can't do that under state law today, but with a champion in our legislature, hopefully we'll have the ability to do that … we're required to certify a small number of votes now, but we do this in a statistical sample that is valuable to us, we need the ability to do more,” Judge Hill reiterated.

Due to feasibility constraints, a shift from hand counting to hand notation has evolved. Judge Hill thanked the base for working with him “to really define what we're looking for and what we need to do.”

“With that in mind, I make a motion that we approve the hand-marked ballots for this November,” Judge Hill concluded.

However, the vote failed to match the voice of the people, as none of the remaining elected officials on the Court came forward to second the motion.

The elected members of the Commissioners Court who voted against the desired settlement of the people were Susan Fletcher (Zone 1), Cheryl Williams (Zone 2), Darrell Hale (Zone 3), and Duncan Web (Zone 4).

Williams tried to fault Judge Hill for not placing the case on the docket earlier to allow time for possible action before the November election, forgetting that she was free to initiate it herself.

“Had we had this on our agenda six, eight, nine months ago, judge, we might have been able to move in this direction,” Williams said.

“I think the commissioner is forgetting that I'm not the only one who can put things on the agenda,” Judge Hill responded.

Hale chimed in, holding herself and the rest of the Court to a level of transparency and accountability: “We all could have put it on (the agenda) at that time period… The ballot marking device, I think we could have decided even earlier.”

Williams' acquittal only fueled lingering public resentment, as numerous speakers, including many in attendance, have petitioned the Court about the integrity of the election over the past two years to no avail, Lindstrom noted.

“Every vote is invaluable,” said Tara Schulte, CDF-Collin's Executive Director, in the press release. “We will continue to advocate for measures that ensure the integrity and transparency of our elections.”