Kaufman County elections office seeks new voter portal, training platform and temporary staff amid possible federal ballot changes

The county elections administrator presented proposals to Kaufman County commissioners on the office's 2025–26 budget requests, asking for new technology, temporary staff and vehicles while cautioning that pending federal and state changes could force larger purchases.

The office requested roughly $30,000 to implement a direct voter web portal that would let residents enter an address and view a personalized sample ballot, and another roughly $30,000 up-front to create an online training portal for election workers with a projected $8,000 annual subscription. The administrator also proposed purchasing two 4-wheel-drive response vehicles estimated at about $140,000 for both and adding part-time extra-help staff budgeted at $105,400 to meet expected workload from recent legislative changes.

The request, presented by Tandy and summarized by county budget staff Brandy, included line items for higher pay for election judges (raising judges to $18 and clerks/alternate judges to $16), a cell-phone stipend for the chief deputy, and election-management software priced at $5,750 per year. The office also proposed a $30,000 contingency for computer equipment and ongoing payments on existing ballot-marking devices.

The staff framed the personnel increase as a response to new state legislation — cited in the meeting as “Senate Bill 22 16” — that changes testing, chain-of-custody and post-manual-count procedures and requires more paid ballot-board work rather than simply being done by existing staff.

“There are instances where individuals cannot come to an in-person class,” Tandy said, explaining the training portal proposal and its $8,000 annual maintenance cost. She added that the part‑time staffing is intended to limit workers’ compensation and benefit costs that would accrue if the positions were full time.

Commissioners and staff discussed vehicle options — purchase versus lease — and whether one vehicle could be bought and another rented in high‑use election years to save money. The vehicles were described as four‑wheel‑drive SUVs for safety and access during bad weather, and the presenter said participating entities reimburse mileage for election work.

The office also warned about an unfolding federal technical review: implementation of a presidential executive order would require changes to ballot barcodes and could force many counties to move to ballot‑on‑demand systems. The administrator gave a county estimate of roughly $750,000 to purchase ballot‑on‑demand printers and retire some existing units; she said a vendor option without current barcodes could bring costs closer to $1.5 million. The county is still paying on existing equipment and may have to retitle or roll remaining payments to new devices depending on vendor terms.

Why it matters: the office said voters now expect more interactive online information and easier training access for seasonal workers, but those improvements compete with potentially much larger capital expenses should federal or national technical mandates change voting equipment requirements before November.

The commissioners did not take a vote at the workshop. The chair emphasized no final decisions would be made until official appraisal‑district revenue numbers arrive after the 20th, and the county intends to keep the tax rate steady in the proposals presented.

The office will return with final numbers and any revised requests after the county receives its certified values.