Emergency Operations Plan
Central Counting Station Plan
Security of Voted Ballots
Here are some key facts that you, as a Texas voter, should know when it comes to the Security of our voting systems:
(1) Voting machines in Texas are never connected to the internet
(2) Only the software that the state certifies can be loaded on voting equipment; and
(3) All voting machines in Texas are tested for logic and accuracy three times – twice before the election, and once immediately after the election
To learn more about election administration in Texas, view Texas Secretary of State's SOS 101 videos
Confidential Voter Roll Information
***There are programs and statutes that allow protection of public access to the physical address of certain individuals. To exclude public access to the address of a registered voter, the protected individual must submit one of the following forms with the supporting documentation to the Voter Registrar:
Judicial exemptions:
JUDICIAL CONFIDENTIALITY FOR ELECTIONS FORM
Texas Government Code Section 552.1175 exemptions:
NON-JUDICIAL CONFIDENTIALITY FOR ELECTIONS FORM
Victims of family violence:
CONFIDENTIALITY FOR VICTIMS FORM
These forms must be submitted to the Liberty County Clerk Elections Office before the information may be excluded from the statutorily required notices and postings. If you have questions, or need further information, call the Liberty County Election Office at 936-253-8050.
Public Test of Logic and Accuracy of Voting Machines
Texas Election Code Sec. 129.023
- The first test must be held publicly more than 48 hours before voting begins, and public notice of the test must be posted at least 48 hours in advance.
- The county testing board - which includes representatives of political parties and members of the public - must agree on a test deck of ballots for which the results are already verified through a hand count.
- The ballots included in the test deck must include votes for each candidate and proposition on the ballot, overvotes and undervotes, write-in votes and provisional votes.
- The testing board votes the ballots on the electronic voting machines, recreating the choices from the original test deck.
- The voted ballots are then tabulated, and the testing board meets to verify the results from the hand count and machine count are identical.
- Voting machines can only be deployed in a Texas election after the test shows 100% accuracy.
4. Chain of Custody and Reconciliation Procedures
- Poll workers must maintain a detailed chain of custody log of each voting system (PDF).
- Before polls open for Early Voting (October 24th this year) poll workers must confirm there are zero votes cast on each machine and print a tape verifying zero votes cast.
- Once all votes are counted on Election Night, each county must complete and publicly post a Preliminary Election Reconciliation for Unofficial Totals (PDF) that shows: how many ballots were cast, how many people signed in at the polling place, how many mail-in ballots are accepted or pending.
- Mail ballots arriving from military members overseas may be received up to the 6th day after Election Day this year (November 14th), which is the same deadline for voters casting mail-in ballots to correct a defect such as a missing ID number or signature.
- Within 72 hours of the polls closing on Election Day (November 8th this year), each election office must conduct a partial manual count to ensure the votes were tabulated accurately, using votes from 1% of precincts or 3 precincts, whichever is greater.
- Once the county has completed its official canvass of votes, county election officials must complete and publicly post their final Election Reconciliation for Official Totals (PDF), which includes the number of:
- Early Voting check-ins and counted ballots
- Election Day check-ins and counted ballots
- Voters who cast a ballot by mail, and how many were accepted and rejected
- Provisional ballots submitted, counted and rejected
- Mail ballots not returned or surrendered