23/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 24/08/2024 01:56
Austin - Secretary of State Jane Nelson today released election audits for the 2021-22 election cycle conducted in four selected counties.
"Texas' audit process provides accountability and insight into how elections are conducted on a county level to ensure the integrity of our elections," said Secretary Nelson. "While each audit is specific to a county, they include lessons for election officials across the state and offer voters the reassurance that our state's election processes are thoroughly reviewed."
In 2021, Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1 into law, which included a provision requiring the Office of the Secretary of State to conduct audits in four randomly selected counties.
The four counties evaluated for the 2021-2022 election period are:
Although Harris County has since made changes to its election administration, the findings highlighted in this audit and the prior audit show that an enhanced presence by the Secretary's office is necessary for the November 2024 election. The Secretary of State will assign state inspectors to Harris County to perform checks on election records, including tapes and chain-of-custody, and will observe the handling and counting of ballots and electronic media during the November 2024 election period. Additionally, staff from the Secretary's Elections Division will be present to assist Harris County for the duration of the election period from early voting, to Election Day, and through tabulation.
Ahead of the November 2023 Constitutional Amendment Election, the Secretary's office released a preliminary audit of Harris County in order to bring attention to alarming issues with elections administration that needed to be addressed immediately.
In response to widespread election administration failures in Harris County, Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 1750 into law in 2023. The law dissolved the office of the Elections Administrator in Harris County, returned voter registration duties to the Tax Assessor-Collector, and returned election duties to the County Clerk. Though neither of these offices were responsible for the elections that occurred during the audited period, both offices have cooperated with the audit team.
Texas law requires that of the four counties selected for audits, two must be large-population counties (300,000 or more) and two must be small-population (less than 300,000).
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