By Rita Cook
Correspondent
Texas Metro News
AUSTIN, Texas – News came out last week Texas had decertified electronic poll books after there was an abundance of documented Election Day failures.
The Secretary of State decertified the ES&S (Election Systems & Software) electronic pollbooks after an alarm came that Texas counties, including Dallas County, had identified several problems during early voting in the November 2024 General Election.
Originally the former Director of Elections, Keith Ingram, had approved an earlier version of the decertified system in 2020.
Then the current Director of Elections, Christina Adkins approved a new version in 2024.
According to the decertification letter, the ES&S e-pollbook system failed to meet both technical and functional standards.
The City of DeSoto was affected this past November by the issue at Disciple Central Community Church where a voter count inaccuracy occurred when it was discovered 17,800 registered voters had voted, but the total that was reviewed continued to show only 17,600 votes.
DeSoto Councilmember Place 6 Crystal Chism spoke out at the Dallas County Commissioners Court this past December on behalf of her constituents.
“There were originally four polling locations that had discrepancies in the count however after troubleshooting from the Elections office all but DC3 190 votes were counted,” Chism explained at the time.
She said,“Readers should know that the Election Administration is blaming the issue on defective software and that as a result of the polling clerks attempting to reset to resolve the delays and the freezing of the polling books the prior entry was lost… It’s an awareness, and if the Commissioners do not vote to find a new company this could happen again.”
Overall, voter issues do not lend itself to future voter confidence. Some advocates for voter integrity have suggested the only real fix is to return to precinct-based voting.
For now, the state plans to revise its certification standards and evaluate the polling devices for error-free results over an extended period.
It should be noted too, that state officials have said they will offer grants to counties having issues with ES&S to compensate for the cost of finding a new vendor. Some counties do not believe a grant will be enough.
As for ES&S, that company has said they are working on a fix for the problems, but even when that is complete there will still be weeks for the necessary state certification process.
In Dallas, District 3 County Commissioner John Wiley Price said last month, “I hold them (ES&S) responsible, but part of it is Dallas County as well.”
“This is not just a Dallas County issue with Election Systems & Software.”
The state’s response to the problem is clear by the decertification of the electronic poll books. However, with the next election scheduled for May 2025 a solution to the problem is not only time-sensitive, but crucial.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login