Lubbock County adds paper backup to voting system

Lubbock elections, potentially starting in November, will have a paper trail, as county commissioners adopted in a 4-1 vote on Monday a resolution to move to a voting system featuring both electronic and paper counting, complying with a state law that passed last year.

The new voting system will still have an electronic count but will also provide a paper backup, Lubbock County Elections Administrator Roxzine Stinson told the court during Monday's commissioners court.

The new system will cost the county about $4 million, which commissioners accounted for in the this year's budget, said County judge Curtis Parrish.

However, the county could recover possibly half of that money through a grant, which required the commissioners court to approve the resolution.

"We're pulling the money, basically out of our savings account," Parrish said after Monday's commissioners court. "We gotta pay for it up front. So after we pay for it up front, then we're applying to the state for a grant and so, whatever money they reimburse us for, we're hopeful it's the total amount, but you know, I told the commissioner's today, I'm not going to hold my breath."

The lone dissenter, Precinct 3 commissioner, Gilbert Flores, called the state mandate unfair, saying it was a political move spurred by supporters of "The Big Lie," a term used to described the debunked allegations of voter fraud that cost former President Donald Trump the 2020 elections.

"I just don't appreciate our state reps, asking us to spend $4 million out of Lubbock taxpayer's (money) to accommodate their orders, what they were ordered to do," he said.

He said voter fraud, which the bill was aimed to combat, isn't an issue in Lubbock County.

Stinson told the court she said there have been five or six cases of suspected fraud in Lubbock that have been reported to the Texas Attorney General. However, she didn't know if those cases were confirmed.

"I know one of them was an elderly couple and it was done because they had dementia," she said. "And so, other than that, I have no idea what the AG has done with any of the cases, because they do not tell us."

Parrish said though he agreed with Flores that the state mandate is unfairly costing the county millions of dollars, the reason behind the new law was to address unconventional voting procedures bigger counties used in the 2020 elections.

He said some counties opened polling places earlier and extended mail-in ballots.

"I'll specifically tell you, commissioner, that these were folks in our more larger urban areas," he said. "When the Texas Legislature sees a problem in these big counties, they do a law that affects everybody."

Precinct 2 Commissioner Jason Corley described the move as a "step in the right direction." He said the new voting system will fulfill the efforts the commissioners court made more than two decades ago when they moved to an electronic voting system in an effort to secure "voter-verified ballots" after elections issues arose from the 2000 presidential election.

He said previous voting machines did not offer the feature.

"Now we have a paper trail that we can go back and we can audit," he said. "I'm happy to see us moving forward with these machines. "

Stinson said after the commissioners vote on Monday, the Secretary of State will also have to approve the new voting machines for Lubbock.

She said once the approvals are finalized, she anticipates the new machines to arrive in August and train people in time for the November general election.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock County adds paper backup to voting system