About 40% of Texas election administrators leave their job each presidential election cycle, report finds
Texas’ turnover rate has held steady at 40% since 2014. That’s slightly above the new national average. Full Story
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![Texans cast their votes at the start of early voting at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center near downtown Houston on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Tax cuts, teacher pension increases at stake after misinformation-led challenge to 2023 election
Tax cuts were a major legislative priority for Republican leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott. The governor cannot certify the election results until the challenges are resolved. Full Story
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![Travis County residents wait in line to vote at the County Tax Office polling location on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Pflugerville.]()
Credit: Angela Piazza for The Texas Tribune -
Harris County election shows progress. But challenges remain ahead of 2024.
Officials in the nation’s third-largest county had little time to celebrate their successful election before a judge issued a ruling drudged up many of their past mistakes. The county clerk says her team will ensure a successful 2024 election. Full Story
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![Voters cast their ballots at the West Gray Multiservice Center in Houston on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Judge upholds 2022 Harris County election results, throws out most GOP lawsuits
The judge found that Harris County’s elections office made mistakes and violated the state’s Election Code — but that didn’t affect the outcomes of several 2022 races. He also tossed all but one Republican lawsuit challenging the results. Full Story
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![Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth speaks to the media during a press conference about the upcoming Harris County elections, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Houston.]()
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Harris County’s voter roll errors — if left unexplained — could fuel claims of voter fraud
This isn’t the first time a state audit flagged such discrepancies. Last year, the state found similar inconsistencies when reviewing Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, and Collin counties’ 2020 elections. Full Story
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![A Harris County election worker carries in ballots and voting supplies from a polling location at NRG Arena Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Houston, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Texas reviewed Harris County’s 2022 election. Here’s what state officials found.
The audit does not suggest the outcome of the election would have changed despite “multiple failures.” Full Story
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![Election judges and Harris County employees wait in line to drop off ballots and supplies from polling locations at NRG Arena Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Houston, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Heider Garcia, celebrated elections chief from Tarrant County, set to run elections in Dallas
Garcia will replace Michael Scarpello, who had led the elections department in Dallas since 2020. Full Story
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![Tarrant County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia speaks with ballot board workers inside the Tarrant County's central count station on election night. on May 6, 2023.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
What’s at stake in the long-awaited trial over Texas’s sweeping 2021 elections law
The GOP-backed Senate Bill 1 added voting restrictions that plaintiffs claim unfairly impacts voters of color. Full Story
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![State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, speaks in favor of Senate Bill 1 on Aug. 11, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Certain Texas counties must increase voting locations despite a lack of buildings and workers
Elections officials say finding new buildings and volunteers will be difficult ahead of the 2024 general election. Full Story
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![A man pedals his bike away from the Bexar County Election headquarters in San Antonio casting his ballot. Nov. 3, 2020.]()
Credit: Robin Jerstad for The Texas Tribune -
Smaller Texas counties could face a poll worker shortage due to new state requirements
A law that will give voters more time to vote across the state means election offices have to find more workers. That isn’t an easy task in rural Texas. Full Story
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![Voters walk up to the New Berlin City Hall voting center to cast their vote on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in New Berlin, Texas.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas begins withdrawal from multistate partnership to clean voter rolls
A new GOP-backed state law requires Texas to create its own version of a cross-check program or find a vendor that doesn’t cost more than $100,000. Full Story
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![Voters check in with poll workers behind glass and cast ballots in booths spread apart in the gymnasium at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center for the delayed primary runoff election in Houston, on July 14, 2020.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republican leaders want to improve elections in the state’s largest county. Their solution could backfire.
Unless a judge intervenes, Harris County is expected to dissolve its elections administration office later this year. The duties of running elections will once again be split between the county’s tax assessor and clerk. Full Story
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![Harris County Election Administrator Clifford Tatum speaks to the media on Nov. 8, 2022, at Harris County’s central count center at NRG Arena in Houston.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Voting by mail in Texas will get a little easier with these legislative fixes
Two bipartisan bills passed this session will give voters more time and opportunities to fix mistakes when they request and return ballots by mail. Full Story
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![The Travis County Tax Office at 5501 Airport Blvd is now the only drive-thru location open for hand delivery of mail ballots in the county. The drop-off location photographed here on Oct. 2, 2020, will be open until Nov. 3, 2020.]()
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Texas is set to improve in-person and mail-in voting for people with disabilities
Voters with disabilities have been pushing for more accessibility for years. This legislative session two bills gained bipartisan support. Full Story
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![Chase Bearden, 45, of Harlingen, the deputy executive director of The Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, poses for a portrait in his office in Austin on June 8, 2023. “Disability doesn’t discriminate,” Bearden said. “We want everybody to be able to vote independently.”]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers strike deal to raise the punishment for illegal voting to a felony
The legislation was a priority for Republican leadership. But it does not include a key provision supported by the Senate that would have allowed prosecutors to charge a voter who’d unintentionally cast an illegal ballot. Full Story
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![People cast their ballots at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston on Nov. 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature averts $100 million consequences of 2021 law requiring nonexistent election technology
Lawmakers voted unanimously to reverse the 2021 provision that would have decertified equipment that counties use to count votes. Full Story
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![A bipartisan testing crew uses voting machines and tabulators during a state-mandated logic and accuracy test at the Hays County Government building in San Marcos on Sept. 21, 2022. The goal of the test was to identify errors in the counting process of ballots.]()
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Texas Senate again approves increasing penalty for illegal voting to a felony, regardless of intent
The House and Senate bills had differed on whether someone should be punished for voting by mistake. Now the two chambers must reach an agreement. Full Story
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![College students begin to vote at Texas A&M International University.]()
Credit: Jessica Nicole Rodriguez for The Texas Tribune -
Texas set to exit multistate program that cleans voter rolls
The multistate program, ERIC, is considered by election administration experts across the country to be the best tool for preventing double voting across state lines. It has been the target of conspiracy theories. Full Story
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![Election workers move ballots and equipment gathered at one of the nine rally sites to the Tarrant County Election Administration building in Fort Worth on November 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Harris County must remove its elections chief under new legislation headed to Gov. Greg Abbott
The Republican-led House also approved a bill that would give the secretary of state new authority to investigate complaints in Harris County. The Senate must review changes to that bill before it becomes law. Full Story
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![Ballots and scanning machines arrive at central counting after polls close in Houston, Tuesday Nov 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
After a setback, a GOP effort to get Texas out of a multistate coalition to clean voter rolls could move forward
The legislation — backed by some of the state’s prominent believers in voter fraud — was unexpectedly killed by its House sponsor Tuesday. On Wednesday, he asked for it to be reconsidered. Full Story
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![Voters wait in line to cast their ballots on Election Day at the Northwest Branch Library in Fort Worth on November 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune