Texas counties putting money where their mouth is for election security

To improve transparency, Harris County officials earlier this year decided to spend $54 million for machines from Hart InterCivic that provide a paper trail for voters to verify their selections before they are submitted to a secure ballot box, according to Houston Public Media. 

Neighboring Montgomery County recently followed suit, according to the Houston Chronicle, with commissioners agreeing to pay $10 million to replace their old voting machines.

“I’m always one who hates to spend a lot of money, but I don’t see a choice,” Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack told the Chronicle.

The newspaper noted that Montgomery County last purchased voting machines in 2005. Elections Administrator Suzie Harvey told the Chronicle that poll workers would be able to assist voters.

“It will add some time,” Harvey told the Chronicle.

According to Houston Public Media, the new machines in Harris County also feature touch screens and multiple languages. When paired with the paper audit trail, it fulfills a promise county officials made to voters, said Peter Lichtenheld, senior vice president of customer service at Hart InterCivic.

“Voters get a paper in hand, they can verify their vote before it’s cast, and put it in the scanner, see the waving American flag, and see that their vote is counted,’ he told Houston Public Media.

Harris County was the largest county in the country to use electronic machines that didn’t provide a paper trail, according to Houston Public Media.

According to the report, Harris County expects more than 12,000 machines to operate by next month’s election.

 Another neighboring county also is going with new voting machines. According to the Chronicle, officials in Fort Bend County agreed to purchase 1,700 voting machines from Elections Systems and Software (ESS) for $7.8 million earlier this year. According to the report, the ESS machines also create a paper trail for voter confidence.