Paper ballots from March 2020 primary being recounted at Tarrant County Elections Center
TARRANT COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - More than a dozen people have spent weeks inside the Tarrant County Elections Center, going through boxes of paper ballots from the March 2020 primary election.
Working in pairs, with laptops, they won't say exactly what they're looking for or what they believe they might find. The effort though appears to be connected to suggestions over the last year that votes cast may not match votes counted and eventually reported.
The review, first reported by Votebeat, has been going on for two weeks. The group has already asked for another two-week extension to its arrangement to conduct the review inside the elections office.
The ballots are public record, and County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia said his office made images of the voted ballots available for viewing online, but the group wanted to go through the paper ballots by hand.
Security cameras and elections staff are watching as they open up sealed boxes of ballots one by one. They are not allowed to have any pencils, pens or marking materials with them as they work.
Garcia said his office's own post-election review didn't raise any red flags, but he welcomed anyone with interest taking a look at the results.
"All you have to do is count the paper trial," he said. "We said that repeatedly. And so I love that they're doing this, cause eventually they have to come back and say, 'we counted the paper trail and it works'."
During a forum on voting processes at a county commissioners meeting in April, speakers associated with the group Citizens for Election Integrity Texas suggested voting machines and reports could be susceptible to being manipulated digitally.
Last year, a website called "Verify My Voting," which lists many of the same supporters online, was promoted through postcards sent to voters, asking them to enter their names and addresses in an effort to see if there were any discrepancies related to their voting record.
None of the people going through ballots Monday at the office wanted to speak about the effort. Emails to others associated with the group, were not immediately returned Monday.
Garcia said his office will keep working with anyone who wants to review the records, as long as it doesn't interrupt preparations for the next election. Staff is already getting ready for the midterm vote in November.
