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Senate committee hears opposition from hand‑count counties to bill requiring scannable ballots
Summary
Witnesses from Gillespie and other small Texas counties told the Senate Committee on State Affairs they oppose House Bill 3113, saying the mandate that hand‑count counties use ballots scannable by optical scanners would add cost, vendor dependence and could impede locally run hand counts.
Senator Flores told the Committee on State Affairs that House Bill 3113 would require counties that choose to hand count ballots to use ballots that “are capable of being scanned and tabulated by voting machines using optical scanning technology.”
The measure, Flores said, does not prohibit hand counting or require an audit of hand‑count results but would allow quick, accurate verification of election results.
The bill drew sustained public opposition from hand‑count advocates. Cindy Castilla, testifying for Texas Eagle Forum, said, “we are opposed to…
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