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Sen. Bob Hall urges hand‑marked ballots and precinct verification during Collin County hearing
Summary
State Sen. Bob Hall presented a detailed plan to move toward hand‑marked paper ballots, precinct‑level tabulation and random hand verifications. He urged legislative change and described steps counties could take to increase auditability.
Texas State Senator Bob Hall addressed the commissioners and residents at length about what he described as a need for greater transparency and auditability in elections. Hall proposed shifting to hand‑marked paper ballots, using optical tabulators at the precinct level, preserving machine memory until election day and conducting random hand verifications of 1–3% of precincts to verify machine counts.
"The 1st change...is to go to hand mark paper ballots," Hall said in his presentation, arguing that hand‑marked ballots and simple optical readers reduce dependence on software‑programmable ballot‑marking devices and proprietary memory workflows. He said the approach could produce precinct tapes at poll close and allow precinct judges and bipartisan teams to verify results before central tallying.
Commissioners and staff asked practical questions about equipment certification, cost, and whether vendors already sell tabulators that read hand‑marked marks or printed ballots. Hall said such tabulators exist and urged counties to consider both short‑term steps and legislative changes to allow more post‑election verification. The judge thanked Hall for the presentation and noted the court would consider staff options in response to public input.
