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Elections office seeks funding for voter-verifiable paper ballots and higher worker pay
Summary
Kerr County elections staff told the Commissioners Court they must adopt voter-verifiable paper ballot equipment under recent legislative changes and requested larger budgets for ballot printing, postage and poll-worker pay, and for a capital purchase of new voting machines to meet an implementation date.
Kerr County election officials told the Commissioners Court that changes in election law require voter-verifiable paper ballot equipment and that the office needs additional budget to cover ballots, postage and worker pay.
The county's elections administrator (assisted in remarks by staff member Nadine) said the new voting system must be in place by Sept. 1, 2026, and described a capital purchase for ballot-marking devices and scanners, higher recurring software-maintenance costs and increased postage and printing expenses.
The nut graf: County election staff asked the court for funding increases to cover a one-time capital outlay for new voting machines that produce a paper record, higher annual software-maintenance contracts, and additional pay for election workers who face long early-voting and election-day shifts.
Officials described three main cost drivers: (1) a substantial capital purchase for ballot-marking devices that print a paper ballot the voter can verify before scanning, (2) rising per-ballot printing and mail costs, and (3) higher pay for judges and clerks because early- and weekend-voting windows require extended shifts. The elections administrator told the court that annual software maintenance had grown by about 44 percent and that ballot-printing and postage costs are rising.
The elections administrator explained the voter flow on the new machines: voters make selections on a screen, confirm the choices, the machine prints the voter's selections as a paper ballot, and the voter places that paper into a scanner. Staff said spoiled ballots will be handled the same as spoiled paper ballots today.
Ending: The court heard the requests during the budget workshop and did not vote on them. Staff said the items are being prepared for the budget and for the county's compliance timetable ahead of the Sept. 2026 implementation deadline.
