Tag Archives: electronic voting machines

Meanwhile, in Gillespie County…

Posted on May 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Bless their hearts. The hand count of thousands of Republican primary election ballots in Gillespie County is on track to cost taxpayers more than double the wage costs of the 2020 Republican primary, according to records obtained by Votebeat. Public … Continue reading →

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Our one page ballot

Posted on February 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. Harris County voters and election workers can look forward to one major improvement in the upcoming March primaries: the county’s lengthy ballot now fits on one piece of paper, rather than two. The change is due to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More on why we need a split primary

Posted on January 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Votebeat fills in some blanks. Some Texas election officials are running out of time before the March 5 primary to find sufficient polling locations, equipment, and election workers mandated by a new Republican-backed election law, and may not be able … Continue reading →

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We will have a joint primary this year

Posted on January 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This solves a problem we had only begun to realize we had. Harris County Republicans and Democrats plan to hold a joint election during the upcoming March primaries after years of the parties conducting separate contests, County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth … Continue reading →

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Apparently that challenge to the 2023 Constitutional amendment elections just went away

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’d been wondering about this. Legal challenges that threatened to upend Texas voter-approved property tax cuts and increases to retired teachers’ pensions appear to have been squashed by a coordinated effort between the governor, the attorney general and the secretary … Continue reading →

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One weird trick to make those election lawsuits go away

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Worth a shot. Maybe it’ll work. State officials have apparently found a legal tactic to prevent a slew of election contest lawsuits from derailing the constitutional amendments that voters overwhelmingly approved in November. The state argued in court filings Tuesday … Continue reading →

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Apparently there’s a lawsuit challenging the 2023 constitutional amendment elections

Posted on December 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I feel like I’m running out of synonyms for “deranged” and “absurd”. Lawsuits based on false claims about voting equipment could delay millions of dollars in cost of living increases for retired teachers expected to arrive in January. The lawsuits … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2023, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The looming Kerr County election disaster

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I have five things to say about this. Responsibility for running elections in Kerr County has shifted among three different people in the past two months. The first two officials bailed on the job after a months-long effort by one … Continue reading →

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A tale of two elections bills

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The good news. Texas lawmakers have voted to reverse an expensive state law requiring election officials to replace all their current vote-counting equipment with technology that doesn’t exist. An unprecedented mandate the Legislature passed in 2021, without fully realizing its … Continue reading →

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Lege may fix one particularly dumb aspect of its omnibus voter suppression law

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A small bit of progress. Texas lawmakers are trying to undo an expensive election problem they didn’t realize they had created in the first place. In 2021, they passed a law that is set to require counties to purchase vote-counting … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The big voter suppression law is even worse than you thought

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Such a lovely little surprise tucked in there. When state lawmakers passed a sweeping and controversial new election law in 2021, they quietly included a provision that drew little notice or debate. But election administration experts say the measure is … Continue reading →

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There were still ballots being counted yesterday

Posted on November 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I think they’re done now? It’s hard to say for sure from the story. With more than 1.1 million ballots cast, Harris County on Thursday still was counting ballots from Tuesday’s election. The county filed a request for an extension … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

How voting machines work

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A bit of public service from TPR that almost certainly won’t be read or believed by the people who need to see it. So how do the voting machines used in Texas elections actually work? First off, only two voting … Continue reading →

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The counting process

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t think I had seen this explained before. Harris County residents likely will have a long night waiting for election returns Nov. 8, according to county Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum. It takes around one minute for the county’s equipment to read a digital … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

I think you know the root cause of the problem, John

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I was fascinated by this Texas Monthly feature on Secretary of State John Scott, who is being pushed to reckon with the insane and dangerous levels of election denial and anti-democratic activism. I’m pretty sure he gets it, he just … Continue reading →

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The professional vote-deniers are out there

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

They’re probing the systems for weaknesses, a line that reminds me of the velociraptors in the original Jurassic Park. Except that the ‘raptors were sleek and efficient predators, while these guys are basically Pennywise with canned scripts and a huge … Continue reading →

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I wish I knew how to turn the heat down

Posted on September 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

But I do know that I’m not the responsible party for this crap. About a dozen activists demanding responses to conspiracy theories about election integrity this week disrupted what is typically an uneventful public testing of voting machines ahead of … Continue reading →

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Some ideas for improving elections in Harris County

Posted on July 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Put it on the new guy’s to do list. When Harris County’s new elections administrator starts the job next month, he will have less than three months to get ready before polls open on Oct. 24 for early voting in … Continue reading →

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Maybe suing to stop the vote count isn’t the best way to get the vote counted

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Just a thought. The Harris County Elections Division released the final, unofficial primary elections results early Thursday, following a GOP petition to impound the records which stopped vote counts hours earlier. Citing malfunctions and a lack of testing of election … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Today is primary day

Posted on March 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Today’s the day! . ‼️ Tomorrow is Texas Primary Election Day! 👉 Be sure you are #VoterReady by downloading a sample ballot: http://harrisvotes.com/SampleBallot 📍 Pick from one of over 375 Polling locations at http://harrisvotes.com/PollLocations #YourVoteYourVoice #HarrisVotes — Harris County Elections … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Just be glad you’re not a Republican primary voter in Potter County

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This is, and I cannot stress this enough, batshit crazy. The Potter County Republican Party plans to conduct its own election during the Texas primary on March 1, independent of the county election administration. People voting in Republican races on … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Meet your new voting machines

Posted on March 26, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Long time coming. Harris County’s new voting machine, which county leaders showed off on Wednesday, incorporates old and new technology the county election administrator says will make voting easier and boost public confidence in elections. The Hart InterCivic Verity Duo, … Continue reading →

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Commissioners Court approves funds for new voting machines

Posted on January 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Long awaited. Commissioners Court on Tuesday unanimously approved a $54 million deal to replace the current eSlate machines with ones featuring touch screens, a paper backup and features that make voting more accessible for seniors and residents with disabilities. The … Continue reading →

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A few words about election security

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Gray talks to my friend Dan Wallach about everybody’s favorite subject. If I’m aiming to steal an election, what’s the best way to go about it? Are mail-in ballots the easiest? If your goal is to steal an election, … Continue reading →

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The swan song for eSlate machines

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We’re still using them for this election, as clunky and outdated as they are, but they’re on the way out. Harris County may shatter turnout records with as many as 1.5 million voters in this year’s presidential election, the county … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

County to seek new voting machines

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

About time. Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday unanimously approved County Clerk Diane Trautman’s plan to seek vendor proposals for new voting machines. The clerk’s office plans to issue a request for proposal for a new voting system this month. … Continue reading →

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The 2019 ballot order

Posted on August 26, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Time once again for this risible ceremony. The order of the November Houston ballot was set Friday morning in a random drawing at City Hall, laying out how the candidates for mayor, controller and city council will appear when voters … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

An update on election security

Posted on July 31, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Nothing to see here. Russian hackers probed election systems in all 50 states, a new Senate report confirmed Thursday. The report comes one day after former special counsel Robert Mueller told Congress that the Russian government is working to meddle … Continue reading →

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Harris County goes shopping for new voting machines

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s time. Harris County formally has begun searching for a new voting machine model with the aim of debuting the devices in a 2021 election, County Clerk Diane Trautman announced Tuesday. Speaking at the International Association of Government Officials trade … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Use that mandate in Harris County

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Jay Aiyer pens an agenda for Harris County and its Democratic government. First and foremost, flood mitigation has to be at the top of any list. Harris County has taken good initial steps to improve flood control infrastructure, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Trautman talks new voting machines

Posted on November 11, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

As is usually the case, finding the funding will be the key. The newly elected Harris County clerk plans to phase out the county’s eSlate voting machines, which have occasionally caused problems for voters. Diane Trautman, who beat the incumbent … Continue reading →

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Yeah, we’re still talking about the risk to our elections

Posted on October 21, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

And when we talk about these things, we talk to Dan Wallach. When we think about those who defend the territorial integrity of our nation and state, we tend to imagine well-equipped members of the U.S. armed forces, or perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Using one civil rights law to negate another

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

You have to give them credit for evil creativity, I guess. A majority-black county in rural Georgia announced a plan last week to close seven of its nine polling places ahead of the November election, claiming the polls cannot continue to operate … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

We really need to replace our crappy old voting machines

Posted on August 12, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

This is embarrassing. Local election administrators in Texas are eager to replace voting machines purchased more than a decade ago in time for the 2020 presidential election. Increasingly susceptible to malfunctions, upkeep for the aging machines can exceed $300,000 annually … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments