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Public commenters press Collin County election commission on unreconciled ballots, record fees; commission recesses for administrator evaluation
Summary
At an Election Commission meeting, residents urged better communication about public records requests and raised concerns about more than 100,000 unreconciled unused ballots and steep fees for records. Commissioners recessed into a closed personnel session to conduct the elections administrator's annual evaluation.
Public commenters at a Collin County Election Commission meeting urged the commission to improve communication about public-records requests for ballot images and election data and raised concerns about unreconciled, unused ballots and fees for records access.
Todd Lindstrom, a Collin County resident, told the commission he submitted a public information request for ballot images and election data on May 30, 2024, and described a multi-month timeline of follow-ups before receiving substantive replies. "Holding county departments to a high standard of communication is something that will reap benefits for the entire county," Lindstrom said.
Another commenter, Debbie Lindstrom, said citizens discovered "over 100,000 unreconciled, unused ballots" in Collin County elections from November 2020 through November 2024 based on register-of-ballots forms obtained by public information request. She said the county has, for the first time, decided to charge citizens "nearly $1,000 for these records" and called those fees excessive. "Citizens should not be required to pay excessive fees for election records that are legally required to be maintained by the county," Debbie Lindstrom said. She also said complaints were filed with election-judge training and the Texas Secretary of State, and that the Attorney General is investigating the county's sudden charges.
Members of the meeting acknowledged the redaction issue that prompted delays in producing requested ballot images. The presiding officer said the county has been told it must redact before releasing some records and asked whether requesters had been offered the option to cover the cost of hand redaction. Lindstrom said he had not received clear communication since December and would be willing to wait until machines were ready to auto-redact.
A speaker identified in the record as Mr. Lynch said the commission's budget workshop proposed buying a Severa redaction tool so that redaction could be automated and results posted online without passing the cost to requesters. Lynch said automated tools could make records available more quickly.
After public comment the commission recessed into a closed session under Texas Government Code A7—551.074 to conduct the annual evaluation of the elections administrator. The presiding officer said the court would take any personnel action, if any, in executive session and would not return to open court but would adjourn from the closed meeting.
The meeting record contains no public vote or final action in open session regarding the records requests or the unreconciled-ballots claim. Public commenters said they had filed complaints with the Secretary of State and reported that the Attorney General was investigating the county's fee practice; the commission acknowledged steps to acquire redaction software but did not announce a timeline for releasing the requested ballot images.
