Lubbock County elections office outlines legislative changes, equipment and training needs ahead of 2026 cycle

Roxine Stinson, an elections department staff member, told the Lubbock County Commissioners Court during a June work session that a wave of recent and pending state laws will change ballot forms, curbside voting signage and post‑election audit procedures and will affect the department’s budget and operations for 2026 and beyond.

Stinson said the department expects large-scale changes to mail‑ballot inserts, voter registration forms, provisional ballot affidavits and other printed materials because the new rules require larger font and revised wording. “They told us pretty much every form we have in our building is fixing to change,” Stinson said. She advised the court not to order new stock until the final language is released.

The department also described several bills by the identifiers used in the presentation. The transcript references: “House bill 521” (signage for curbside voting), “Senate bill 827” (post‑election audits), “Senate bill 1540” (staff and poll worker address protections), “House bill 3909” (cell‑phone use near polling places), “Senate bill 2753” (changes to election‑night reporting), and other numeric citations as noted in the department presentation. Stinson said the…