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Observers and residents urge Williamson County to address ballot‑secrecy risks, question vendor and countywide polling choices
Summary
Two public commenters told Commissioners Court that countywide polling and changes to vendor arrangements risk ballot secrecy and chain‑of‑custody, and they urged the court to provide more detail to the public about vendor changes and countywide polling policy.
Two attendees at the Feb. 25 Williamson County Commissioner’s Court raised election‑integrity concerns and urged more public detail about vendor changes affecting polling sites.
Rocky Stone, who identified himself as an elections judge and poll watcher, cited Texas Election Code section 127.066 and said poll workers and watchers should be permitted to initial security tags on both sides of equipment before items are shipped back to the Elections Administration Building to strengthen chain of custody. “Every the judge, clerk, and or poll work watcher can initial the special, security tags on both sides before it gets shipped back to the Elections Administration Building,” Stone said.
Dr. Laura Presley of True Texas Elections spoke against agenda item 8, which she described as a vendor/technology change related to countywide polling Wi‑Fi arrangements. Presley said the item lacked an itemized description of sites, contracts and spending and that the court should inform voters that voting outside a voter’s precinct can make some ballots traceable. “Two to five percent of people's ballots are not secret,” Presley said, adding that voters should be publicly warned not to vote outside their precinct if they wish guaranteed ballot secrecy.
County officials did not adopt any procedure on the record during public comment. The court later approved a series of consent agenda items; Presley asked the court to reconsider countywide polling and to engage the county attorney on ballot‑secrecy legal issues.
Why it matters: Commenters said the issues affect ballot secrecy and public confidence in election administration. Stone requested adherence to existing chain‑of‑custody measures; Presley urged greater transparency about vendor contracts and a public information campaign about precinct voting.
No legal finding or change to countywide polling was recorded during the Feb. 25 meeting; Presley said bills addressing the issue exist at the state level.
