(Texas Scorecard) – In anticipation of the November General Election, Tarrant County has made changes to tighten election security and increase transparency in the process.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare posted a list of the new security measures his county is taking for the general election.
They are as follows:
- All in-person voting will utilize pre-printed, serialized, sequentially numbered ballots.
- Rally site procedures now ensure ballot bags will be properly sealed by Election Judges.
- Election night results will be transmitted in-person rather than via internet.
- Implemented public search and viewing capability for ballot images.
- Enhanced and improved chain of custody for ballot bags, Election Judge paperwork, ballot storage box keys, and provisional ballots.
- Improved Election Judge paperwork for greater clarity and transparency.
- Enhanced training for Election Judges and Clerks, ensuring statutory compliance and increased ballot security.
- Ballots will be stored by polling location in dedicated boxes.
- E-Pollbooks have been updated to require stricter access controls.
- A live-stream camera has been placed in the Ballot Board storage room.
- Implemented an updated, more secure Voter Registration system.
- Conducted a physical security assessment of the Election Offices.
- Performed a cybersecurity assessment of the Election Offices.
- Updated multiple security protocols to ensure best practices and safeguard against election systems compromise.
- Other security measures that were implemented after a comprehensive third-party analysis.
- Formed an Election Integrity Task Force to investigate any potential election-related crimes, with a dedicated hotline for reporting.
In addition, last week Secretary of State Jane Nelson reversed her office’s previous election security guidance to ensure non-citizen licenses may not be used as valid voter identification.
“Enhancements to security and transparency were made to make our elections more secure, make it harder to cheat, and to build public trust in the election results,” Ruth Ray, communications and policy director in the Office of the Tarrant County Judge, told Texas Scorecard.
With greater confidence, comes greater participation. The updates were a combined effort of the Elections Administrator, Election Board, and the Commissioners Court based on a wide range of input, best practices, and the direction from County leadership. All the changes noted were implemented over the course of the last 18 months.
To report any fraudulent election activity, contact the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office Election Integrity Unit at (817) 884-1213.