“Across the country, the people who run our elections are professionals,” said Benjamin Hovland, chair of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. “They follow the laws set by their state legislatures, and there's transparency built into the process. Whether you're voting by mail, early in-person or on Election Day, there are safeguards in place to ensure the accuracy and integrity of our elections.”
Under state and federal laws, voting machines are publicly tested, voter lists are frequently updated and whom people vote for is private.
Here are five details about Texas’ efforts to hold free and fair elections. For more local election coverage from Community Impact, visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide.
1. Local officials are in charge of elections.
Elections are administered at the county level, with support from the Texas Secretary of State. Counties hire temporary poll workers, who may set up voting equipment, check in voters, count ballots and more. Partisan poll watchers are appointed to observe elections and report potential issues on behalf of a candidate, political party or political action committee.
Background checks are required for anyone who prepares, tests or services voting equipment, according to the secretary of state. People with access to the statewide voter registration database must use multi-factor authentication and complete annual cybersecurity training.
2. Voting machines are publicly tested.
Before voting machines can be used in an election, they must be tested at events open to the public. During voting hours, counties with at least 100,000 residents must record and livestream all areas where completed ballots are kept, according to the secretary of state.
All voting machines are sealed and locked at the end of each day.
3. Texans must have identification to vote.
When voting in person, Texans must present one of seven forms of photo identification:
- A Texas driver’s license (issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety)
- A Texas personal ID card (issued by the DPS)
- A Texas election ID certificate (issued by the DPS)
- A Texas handgun license (issued by the DPS)
- A U.S. military ID with photo
- A U.S. citizenship certificate with photo
- A U.S. passport
Texans who vote by mail must provide their state ID number or social security number on their application and ballot, according to the secretary of state.
“The photo ID laws at the polls are all about voter identity,” said Alicia Pierce, the assistant secretary of state for communications. “What's important is that it's creating a record... of their vote.”
4. Voter rolls are updated often.
State and county officials are required to frequently review lists of registered voters and make updates when people move, die or are deemed ineligible to vote. Convicted felons and people who are not U.S. citizens are not allowed to vote.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Aug. 26 that over one million ineligible people have been removed from Texas’ voter rolls since he signed Senate Bill 1 in 2021. The law created new rules for mail-in voting, banned overnight early voting, gave partisan poll watchers more autonomy in polling places and enacted criminal penalties for voter assistance.
“Illegal voting in Texas will never be tolerated,” Abbott said in an Aug. 26 statement. “We will continue to actively safeguard Texans’ sacred right to vote while also aggressively protecting our elections from illegal voting.”
In most cases, federal law prohibits people from being removed from the voter rolls within 90 days before an election.
Hovland said maintaining voter lists is an ongoing challenge and an important part of the election process.
“Every day, Americans turn 18. Americans move all the time, and unfortunately, Americans die every day,” Hovland said. “So even if your voter roll was perfect today, it isn't tomorrow. And so it is a constant effort for election officials.”
In 2023, Texas opted out of the Electronic Registration Information Center, a nonpartisan, multi-state voter registration database. The tool, known as ERIC, provides member states with voter registration and motor vehicle information from other members; death data from the U.S. Social Security Administration and change-of-address data from the U.S. Postal Service.
“Even some people who aren't necessarily fans of [ERIC] acknowledge that it is the best tool that anyone has created for list maintenance,” Hovland said. “The consequences of doing it wrong are disenfranchising Americans, potentially taking away the right of an American to vote. ...That's why it's critical that we do it right.”
Pierce said Texas is working to develop “multiple systems and multiple checks” to replace ERIC.
The new tools “would be controlled by the state directly, as opposed to Texas joining a separate crosscheck system like ERIC, which has its own set of rules and regulations and standards,” Pierce said. “We would be in control of the information that we're sending and receiving.”
5. A person’s votes are private.
The fact that an individual voted is public record, but whom they voted for is not.
“Once that ballot is processed and cast, then it is anonymous, and that is... fundamental to the way we vote,” Hovland said. “There’s a lot of reasons for that, like to prevent things like vote buying or intimidation.”
Texans can view voting records after an election is canvassed, but all personal identifiers must be redacted.
In June, the secretary of state’s office issued an emergency advisory directing election officials to redact the date the votes were cast and information that could be used to identify the voting location, such as ballot serial numbers, precinct numbers or an election judge’s signature.
“Texas protects the right of Texans to cast their ballots anonymously,” Secretary of State Jane Nelson said in a May 22 news release. “Lawmakers have balanced this right of voters to maintain ballot privacy with the need for election transparency. ... Counties should neither compromise election transparency nor violate the privacy of individual voters.”
Final takeaways
If Texans are concerned that election laws have been violated, they can submit a complaint to the secretary of state. Texans can email the completed complaint form to [email protected]; fax it to 512-475-2811; or mail it to the Texas Secretary of State Elections Division, c/o Legal Dept., P.O. Box 12060, Austin, TX 78711.
Hovland encouraged Texans to ensure they are informed before voting and respect the electoral process.
“Giving our election officials the time to go through the process, to work through those safeguards and safety measures in place to certify those final results, is a big deal, and then ultimately to respect the will of the American people,” Hovland said. “That's what our democracy comes down to.”
