Collin County elections office reports sharp turnout rise, details hand-count audit and fixes

Caleb Roe, Collin County elections administrator, briefed the Commissioner’s Court on the recent primary election, reporting substantial turnout increases, operational improvements and progress on the state-required post‑election hand‑count audit. Roe said the county increased precincts from 252 to 273 after redistricting and that about 760,111 voters are registered in Collin County. He told the court 200,338 ballots were cast in the primary and that early in‑person voting made up roughly two‑thirds of ballots.

Roe said recent legislative changes now call the review a “post election hand count audit.” He said the state selected several polling locations for the hand count and that Collin County’s ballot board will hand‑count a combined total of 20,678 ballots — about 10.32% of the ballots cast in the election — across the state‑selected mail, early‑voting and election‑day locations. “As of coming over here to court…we are 80 to 90% complete with that process,” Roe said, and added that the count had revealed “0 discrepancies, thus far.”

Roe explained operational fixes after the election: fewer ballot‑printing problems were recorded than in prior cycles, the county is working with its vendor to preprint a box for the judge’s initials to avoid placement skew that can cause DS200 scanners to reject ballots, and he said staff training will emphasize how to treat undervoted ballots without announcing which contest the voter skipped. He also described staffing pressures created by the increased number of polling locations and suggested the parties consider a joint primary experience in some locations to reduce duplicative staffing.

Commissioners asked about mismatches between county totals and the state’s published numbers; Roe said the state’s new Team 2 reporting system and vendor communication issues can temporarily produce out‑of‑sync figures and that late‑arriving, cured or provisional ballots added after election night can account for differences. He also told the court the hand count began March 11, with the ballot board working standard daytime shifts and that the county can provide additional detail on time‑and‑staffing metrics if requested.

Roe closed by outlining upcoming elections, including a May 2 joint municipal election involving 23 jurisdictions and a May 26 runoff for primary contests. “We are planning for some future elections as we speak,” he said. The elections administrator said his office will follow up with the court once the hand count is complete and with more detail on misprints and staffing metrics.

Next steps: the county will complete the hand‑count audit, provide a final report on any printing misreads and share staffing/time data for the hand count if the court requests those details.