Collin County is switching to hand-marked paper ballots for future elections.
Commissioners recently voted unanimously to change the county's voting method from electronic voting machines to hand-marked paper ballots that are machine counted.
Election fraud claims about the 2020 election have repeatedly been discredited. But members of the Collin County chapter of Citizens Defending Freedom, many of whom are also active in the local Republican Party, have spoken about election integrity concerns at Collin County commissioners’ court meetings for years.
The Texas Secretary of State’s Office has said Collin County’s elections are secure in its audit of the 2020 general election. The audit called Collin County “the model of how to run elections in Texas.”
County Judge Chris Hill proposed switching the county’s voting method last year ahead of the 2024 November election. Commissioners heard hours of public testimony urging them to make the change at that meeting, but it failed to pass due to concerns about time and budget. Instead, the commissioners directed staff to look into using paper ballots in the future.
Fletcher said at a meeting last week meeting that waiting until this year to move to paper ballots was the right call.
"I think this direction really is going to be the right direction, looking at a smaller election so we can work out those kinks, anything with this new style of voting and education of the voters as well as those that are administering the election," she said.
Staff estimated last year it would cost the county between $3.3 million to $4.2 million and take at least a year to implement. Kaleb Breaux, the Collin County elections administrator, said the cost to do it this year is lower.
Breaux said voters could see paper ballots at the polls as early as November.
"It's gonna be tight, but I believe that myself and my staff will answer the call to hold a November election," he said.
Staff will share a plan for implementing the new voting method on June 23.
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