Texas

Texas 2020 General Election Audit: Procedural Issues in Dallas

The Texas Secretary of State’s Office has ordered a full forensic audit of the elections in Collin, Dallas, Harris and Tarrant counties.

DALLAS — The Texas Secretary of State’s Office has released its final report on its audit of the 2020 General Election, highlighting several procedural issues in North Texas.

The office has ordered a full forensic audit of Colin’s election. DallasHarris County, and Tarrant County called for “to ensure that every voter in Texas has confidence in the state’s electoral system.”

According to the Office of the Secretary of State, Colin and Tarrant represent the “largest Republican-controlled” county government in Texas, while Dallas and Harris represent the “largest Democratic-controlled” county government.

Monday’s release was the second stage of the final examination of the 2020 presidential election. Phase 1 of the audit was completed last year and no substantive issues or minor discrepancies were found.

of Collin Countythe audit reported that it “proved to be a model for how elections are conducted in Texas.”

“Although not perfect, the county’s recordkeeping, record quality, and procedures have been unmatched,” the audit said.

The only unusual finding from the audit that the report shared was that “21 voters received their ballots in the mail and were ineligible to vote by mail.”

of Dallas Countyan audit found that there was a problem with the electronic ballot book, losing several “experienced” staff members who had contributed to other issues in the general election.

Key audit findings include:

  • Dallas County ballot book problems have created a “phantom voter.” The Secretary of State said that when a voter checks in, the electronic ballot book checks in another voter, affecting 188 voters.
  • The audit also found that the county misplaced 318 provisional ballots discovered in February 2021 after the election was approved. The office said 63 of the 318 cases found “would have been counted if handled correctly.”
  • Voting history records showed that 21 voters had received credit for voting by mail, but had their unopened ballots in “sealed carrier envelopes,” according to the audit.
  • Dallas County provided four data sources showing mail-in voting statistics that differed from the canvas.

of Harris County, The audit reported that “there are very serious problems with the handling of electronic media.”

Key findings from the audit include:

  • Mobile ballot boxes containing 184,999 vote records included in the tally at least 14 polling stations lacked proper chain of custody
  • Harris County did not have an inventory of warehoused records for the 2020 General Election.

of Tarrant Countythe audit reported, administered “high-quality and transparent elections.”

Here are the audit results:

  • Inconsistent Names on Tarrant County Electronic Media Containing Mail-in Ballots
  • Election officials were inconsistent in “printing zero tapes before voting began.”

“The 2020 general election, held amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has presented the county with extraordinary challenges that are likely to lead to procedural errors,” the audit said. “These challenges, combined with staffing shortages, have strained local election officials.”

The audit said the problems found in the 2020 election are unlikely to reoccur in the future due to subsequent legislation, including Senate Bill 1, which strengthened state election laws.

Audit methodology

According to the Secretariat, the audit consisted of analyzing data on several aspects of the election, including:

  • Perform basic reconciliation of the data at as many levels as possible, from ballot check-in to the canvas process and all points in between, to ensure that the number of accepted voters matches the number of votes cast voting location and tally data to confirm
  • Physical Security of Election Supplies
  • Adequacy of county training materials
  • Details of the Vote by Mail process to ensure ballots were properly issued and returned
  • Provisional voting process
  • Certain aspects of voter registration (such as whether the voter was registered at a non-resident address)
  • 2020 General Election Complaints Received by Four Counties and Texas Secretary of State

According to the audit, the forensic audit department was able to see a lot of data, but it was limited by the data held by counties because not all counties hold the same data or in the same way as other counties. There were cases.

The audit comes after the state’s top election administrator announced he was stepping down earlier this month.

Scott announced on December 5 that he would be stepping down as Secretary of State and returning to his private practice of law. Scott was appointed to that position on October 21, 2021.

Governor Greg Abbott has announced his intention to nominate Senator Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) as the next Secretary of State.

To view the report, Visit this website.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/elections/texas-releases-2020-election-audit-dallas-tarrant-collin/287-41829087-cece-4b01-898e-90283bad03ac Texas 2020 General Election Audit: Procedural Issues in Dallas

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