The Texas Secretary of State’s office announced on Thursday, Sept.23. that it has begun a full and comprehensive forensic audit of last year’s election result in Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, and Collin Counties.
Dallas County and others who were earmarked for a forensic audit of their 2020 election results said they were not given any notice when the Texas Secretary of State’s office announced the plan late Thursday, Sept. 23.
The Texas Secretary of State’s office announced on Thursday, Sept.23. that it has begun a full and comprehensive forensic audit of last year’s election result in Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, and Collin Counties.
Clay Jenkins, Dallas County Judge, said he’s confident in the quality, fairness, and transparency of the County’s elections while questioning the motivations behind the election.
“Obviously, we are going to comply with the law on this, but this is just another example of our weak governor openly and shamelessly caving in and taking orders from our disgraced former president,” he said.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo labeled the audit a sham. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Hidalgo said the County is looking at legal options to fight the audit.
“I will not be treating this as a serious audit because it’s not,” Hidalgo said during the press conference. “It is an irresponsible political trick. It is a sham. It is a cavalier and a dangerous assault on voters and on Democracy.”
Since the Texas Secretary of State’s office’s Thursday announcement, it has not released any details on what is being audited and who will be doing the audit. This has left authorities of affected counties in the dark.
Bruce Sherbet, Collin County Elections Administrator, said he doesn’t have any details about the audit yet. He said he expects the audit to begin with the Nov. 2 election.
“We will certainly assist the state in any way possible in the process,” he said in a statement.
Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria also admitted to being in the dark about the election audit. Longoria, on Friday, said she had not received any instructions from the Texas Secretary of State’s office on the details of the audit.
Longoria said she hopes people will be put at ease “[…] when the results come out and show that there is nothing to be concerned about.” She added, “We’re doing all our checks and audits.”