Republican push for hand counting leads to uncertainty about Travis County’s 2024 primaries

A divide between Travis County’s local political parties on hand counting and paper ballots is leading to uncertainty about how the county will administer the 2024 primaries.

In a Tuesday letter to Travis County Clerk Dyana Limon-Mercado, Travis County Democratic Party Chair Katie Naranjo expressed the party’s concern about the Travis County Republican Party’s “questions and positions regarding the March 2024 primary election.”

Naranjo wrote that the TCRP has not agreed to enter into a joint primary contract, which is what sets the rules the clerk’s office follows when administering the primary elections. The two parties in Travis County have a decadeslong tradition of entering into these agreements.

Unlike the general election, the parties have oversight of certain parts of the process, including the appointment of election judges. The first statutory deadline to submit official election judge lists is Dec. 11.

“As we are less than 40 days from the first mail ballots being sent to voters, any substantial changes to the primary election will likely result in voter disenfranchisement and confusion,” Naranjo wrote.

The TCRP is indeed considering changes to the primary election. It created an Election Services Primary Contract Committee, which met on Dec. 5 – after Naranjo’s letter was written – and voted on a recommendation that would include a hand counting of early vote totals.

Despite concerns over accuracy and expense, conservative activists nationwide have continued to push for hand counting ballots since the 2020 general election.

For early voting, the recommendation also calls for a separate board to certify the ballots. That would mean Republican precinct chairs would need to recruit a total of 2,000 volunteers by Feb. 1. TCRP has historically struggled to recruit for these positions. They estimate that the move would also cost the party approximately $30,000.

For mail-in ballots, the TCRP committee recommendation calls for a hand count and access to signature verification as part of its ballot board. The financial impact to the party is approximately $2,000.

For Election Day, the recommendation calls for in-precinct voting. That would enable to the party to later audit the results. In terms of financial impact, the recommendation notes that Election Day precinct workers are reimbursed by the Texas secretary of state’s office.

However, that has the potential to change much more than just how TCRP operates. It could require Travis County to end its practice of countywide voting, in which voters can cast a ballot at polling locations across the county.

“TCRP’s stated intent to no longer participate in countywide voting centers, which allow voters from either party to cast a ballot at any such center, will confuse voters who have grown accustomed to this convenience over the past decade,” Naranjo wrote. “This will inevitably reduce turnout.”

She continued: “Hand-marking and hand counting would raise the cost of the primary – likely in excess of the amount the state will reimburse. Making voting harder and less reliable does not just harm voters of just one party: the entire electorate will bear the increased costs, suffer more delay and inconvenience, and experience a low of confidence in the electoral process.”

In a Dec. 6 letter to TCRP Chair Matt Mackowiak, Limon-Mercado said Naranjo has agreed to adding in a paper voting roster to the check-in process if a joint primary agreement with countywide voting is entered into by both parties.

“Regarding precinct level voting, as stated and reiterated in our meeting yesterday, Travis County does not have the adequate quantity of equipment, supplies, or bandwidth to handle a precinct level primary,” Limon-Mercado wrote. “Splitting the existing inventory will yield insufficient coverage and is not something we will consider.”

She concluded, “In sum, Travis County can run a joint primary with countywide voting effectively and efficiently. The SOS has approved separate Early Voting Ballot Boards to allow TCRP to hand-count their Ballots by Mail. Additionally, depending on pending SOS opinion initiated by TCRP, separate voter check-in sheets may be approved.”

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