The district had the option to join Harris County to conduct a joint election, though commissioners ultimately decided to hold the election on their own because they believe it would be cheaper than joining the county.
According to Monica Garza, an attorney with Radcliffe, Bobbitt, Adams and Polley PLLC who provides legal counsel to the district, elections officials throughout Texas are scrambling to adapt to Senate Bill 1, the state’s omnibus election reform bill that was passed during the 2021 legislative session.
“The details [of the new processes] and how they’re going to affect the logistics of running elections are being discovered,” Garza said, noting the Texas secretary of state’s office provided recommendations on how to address potential challenges a week prior.
In particular, Garza noted new voting-by-mail requirements could potentially pose problems if the district chose to run its own election.
According to the new law, voters are now required to provide their Texas driver’s license number, Texas ID number, or the last four digits of their social security number when filling out an application to vote by mail. These numbers must then match the number voters use when submitting their actual ballot to be counted.
Garza noted when irregularities are found, election officials must check the information that was provided against official information previously submitted to the voter registrar, in this case Harris County, to determine whether the ballot is valid.
Garza said if the district chose to run its own election, it would not have direct access to the county’s voter registrar information, which would require district officials to either call the county or visit the county elections office to confirm ballots.
“The elections office [in Harris County] doesn’t have a group of people on standby ready to answer these questions, and even if they did, the volume of it is going to be extensive,” Garza said. “That’s going to result in extensive costs.”
ESD 11 Commissioner Kevin Brost said the upcoming March 1 primary election would give Harris County elections officials a chance to iron out any kinks in the process prior to the district’s election in May.
“[Harris County election officials] are going to run into the same problem, too,” Brost said. “Everybody is going to run into the same problem.”
According to a Feb. 10 news release, Harris County election officials have already received 2,549 mail-in ballots for the March 1 primary election. To date, 1,012 have been flagged to be sent back to voters to correct their information.
Garza said the primary election would not give officials a chance to work out problems on this particular issue because the county would be running the March 1 election internally, meaning it would still have quick and immediate access to voter registrar information.
“The elections administration office has hundreds of people on staff for this, and they have access to their computers,” Garza said. “We don’t have that ability if the district runs their own election. We won’t have somebody in your early voting ballot board’s room with quick access to [the county’s internal computer] records.”
Additionally, Garza said counties are now required to implement websites that allow voters to track the status of their mail-in ballots and correct any errors that might have been made online. The district would not be required to implement such a website, but Garza said voters would have access to the county’s website if the district joined the county's election.
“If the district runs its own election, it’s going to be a lot of phone calls from your early voting ballot board to the voters saying there’s a defect,” Garza said. “There’s just an ease really for the voter if the county runs the district’s election.”
ESD 11 general counsel Regina Adams pointed out that approximately 80% of the district’s population voted by mail in the district’s last election, noting she believed that percentage could potentially be higher for the May 7 election.
ESD 11 board Vice President Steve Williams asked for an estimation of how much more the district would have to pay if it ran its own election.
“This is complete shot in the dark,” Adams said. “Many factors [are] unknown, because there are a ton of unknown factors related to this; I’d say at least $50,000.”
At a Nov. 18 board meeting, ESD 11 officials said it would cost approximately $150,000 more for the district to run a joint election as opposed to running the election itself. Brost said even with the added $50,000, the district would still be saving $100,000 by running its own election.
Adams pointed out that those estimates were no longer accurate because they did not take the added burden of new mail-in voting requirements into account.
“Even if we wipe out the $150,000, we’re still even,” Williams responded.
Brost also noted that the county recently spent roughly $150,000 on new voting equipment that was going to be used in the May 7 election, though Garza said that should not be viewed as a potential loss of money because the district would have needed to purchase new equipment either way.
Adams told commissioners that they still had time to think about what would be best for the district, advising them to take action at the end of the meeting after commissioners reconvened from executive session.
Brost responded before Adams finished her thought.
“I make a motion that we call for the election,” Brost said.
After hearing no second to Brost’s motion, Adams continued to caution commissioners about the potential added costs.
“Do expect that we’re going to probably come back and let you know whenever y’all say, ‘Why is this so expensive?’—because you will; it will happen, because it always happens—you will be receiving updates from us on new procedures, new information and new steps that we have to take throughout this process,” Adams said.
Following executive session, commissioners voted 3-0 to approve the district running its own election. Board President Karen Plummer and Commissioner Robert Pinard were not present at the meeting.
Brost and Commissioner Fred Grundmeyer will be up for re-election in May.
