Party TO Hand Count Mail Ballots for First Time Ever
Chairman Matt Mackowiak announced today that the Travis County Republican Party secured the strongest election integrity provisions in county history in time for the 2024 Primary. Below is the press release sent today (Dec. 19). To volunteer click here.
AUSTIN — Travis County Republican Party (TCRP) Chairman Matt Mackowiak announced today that he has secured the strongest election integrity provisions in county history for the 2024 GOP primary. This is the product of 2+ months of work and negotiations from a special committee that was formed and direct negotiations with the Travis County Clerk’s office, Travis County Elections, and the Secretary of State’s office.
Instead of executing a standard primary contract as we have the past three election cycles, TCRP sought to increase voter confidence in elections by significantly improving transparency and ensuring specific provisions were included to allow for auditability and accuracy, with little to no impact to the voter experience. With these provisions included, TCRP agreed to a joint primary with countywide voting for the upcoming election. Democrats chose not to avail themselves of these same provisions although they were offered.
The specific provisions in the contract that we successfully negotiated include:
TCRP will oversee hand counting of all mail ballots in the 2024 GOP primary
Travis County Elections will provide configuration reports with a summary of ballots cast for each vote center for both early vote and election day
This increases transparency of the early vote tabulation and enables auditability of all election results
Travis County Elections will provide Cast Vote Record (CVR) results report by polling location (previously they were only provided by precinct and countywide)
This also increases transparency of the early vote tabulation and enables auditability of all election results (without individual vote location results in countywide voting, a true audit was previously impossible)
Travis County Elections will provide ballot style reports to verify that Travis County does not have the same issues that Williamson County had with voters being given the wrong ballot
This increases our ability to monitor accuracy of the election process
Pending a Secretary of State office decision, Travis County Elections will add a redundant process for voter check in with a paper roster as backup, in case the e-poll books have problems as they did previously in Dallas County
Additionally, TCRP worked with the Secretary of State’s office to develop an improved hand counting method that will increase the speed and accuracy of hand counting (which will now occur for mail ballots)
“A majority of Republican voters have serious concerns about how recent elections have been conducted both in Texas and nationally, so we decided to respond by demanding provisions that enable election audits and improve transparency and accuracy,” said Mackowiak. “These important victories will increase confidence in local elections. We expect it will lead to increased volunteer enthusiasm for election workers and increased voter participation. This victory would not have been possible without our outstanding team, including Primary Deputy Administrators Erin Pardeiro and Elizabeth Baron and TCRP general counsel Donna Davidson, as well as our committee members Greg Murphy, Lindsey Gremont, Cindi Davidson, Greg Field, Don Brown, John Adrusiak and so many others. I want to also personally thank Travis County Clerk Dyana Limon-Mercado, outgoing Travis County Elections administrator Bridgette Escobedo and her team, and several truly helpful individuals in the Texas Secretary of State’s office, including Christina Adkins and Chuck Pinney, among many others. TCRP will conduct the primary with Travis County Elections bound by the primary contract. We now continue recruiting election workers, and we will build on these provisions in future elections, a commitment that our County Clerk made to us, especially as it relates to early voting. This is a good development for anyone who wants election improvements. I am proud of this collective effort.”
TCRP is committed to improving election integrity and has had two committees working on these issues for more than two years.
“There is no county in Texas that has a primary contract as strong as this one,” said Mackowiak. “We hope this can become a model for other counties in the future and will inform future decisions for the Secretary of State’s office, County Election offices across the state, and the Texas Legislature.”
To learn more about the Travis County GOP, please visit http://www.TravisGOP.com.
