ERATH COUNTY, Texas — The Erath County Commissioner's Court on Aug. 15 approved moving the county's voter registration to the Texas Secretary of State's TEAM system and authorized a one-time purchase of 22 electronic poll books, officials said.

Commissioner Stevens told the court the move was prompted by problems with the county's current vendor, VOTEC. "This all started Aug. 1 when I received a phone call from Julia, secretary of state, that Votec's president and CEO has walked out," Stevens said, saying the county has continued to receive threatening emails from John Metcalf, identified in the meeting as VOTEC's president. Stevens said the secretary of state already has the county's voter data through July 3 but that the county lost the ability to send files after VOTEC upgraded its system and the county could not reconnect on July 14.

Why it matters: Stevens told the court that switching to TEAM — the statewide voter-registration system administered by the Texas Secretary of State — would remove dependency on VOTEC and that the county's elections vendor, ES&S, will provide poll books. The court approved a one-time expense described in the meeting as $52,953 to purchase 22 poll books; Stevens said contract funds and possible HAVA (Help America Vote Act) grants could be used to cover the cost. Stevens said county election maintenance costs with VOTEC had been $64,257.10 per year and that maintenance with TEAM would be $42,537.28 per year, figures she presented to the court.

Discussion and direction: Stevens said Collin, Dallas, Harris and other large Texas counties that had used VOTEC were also moving away from that vendor and that doing so sooner would put Erath County "in line" before larger counties make their decisions. The court discussed the appearance and form factor of new poll books (described during the meeting as similar in size to an iPad) and that the county will reduce the number of express-vote devices to 22 for ADA voters while using ballot-on-demand printing for other voters so a paper ballot is printed at the polling place.

Action taken: Commissioner Stevens moved to approve the switch to the TEAM voter-registration system and to allow the one-time expense to purchase poll books; Commissioner Ray seconded. The court approved the motion by voice vote; no individual roll-call was recorded.

Next steps: After the vote, court members said the paperwork to enroll in the TEAM system would be completed and filed the same day.

Sources: Remarks and motions recorded during the Aug. 15, 2025 special session of the Erath County Commissioner's Court.