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County clerk says offices are ready for November after $26M equipment buy; warns on ongoing election costs
Summary
County Clerk Tunisia Hudspeth told Commissioners Court her office has acquired roughly $26 million in voting equipment and a new elections facility lease estimated at about $10 million, received 44 FTEs for elections operations, and flagged ongoing costs tied to state mandates and pay parity concerns for non-election staff.
County Clerk Tunisia Hudspeth told Harris County Commissioners Court that her office is prepared for the upcoming November election, having acquired the majority of additional voting equipment and moved to consolidate operations in a new election command facility.
Hudspeth said the clerk's office has received about 80% of a new equipment order and estimated the additional equipment cost at a little over $26,000,000. She also cited facility-related lease and build-out costs in the ballpark of $10,000,000 for a new elections operations center (the Morales facility). The clerk said equipment deliveries will continue through October but that she is confident the county has enough equipment for November.
The clerk credited prior court funding and ARPA assistance for voter-education and outreach efforts but warned the $2,500,000 ARPA allocation for civic engagement is largely spent; about $1,000,000 remains and future outreach funding may require a supplemental budget request. Hudspeth also flagged state policy-driven costs such as requirements in Senate Bill 1 for camera footage during early voting and other security mandates that increase county expenses without attendant state funding.
On staffing, Hudspeth said 44 positions were added this budget cycle for election technology, recruitment and training; she called that a "game changer" for building institutional capacity and converting experienced temps into stable staff. She raised concerns about pay parity: many non-election deputy clerks now perform election work but historically received lower pay, creating retention pressure. Hudspeth said she will ask the court to consider a 10% salary increase for all full-time clerks to improve retention and sustainability.
Hudspeth also described digitization progress for county records (over 70,000 rolls of film and 16,000 books digitized, estimated at over 200,000,000 images) and said the new elections facility will centralize operations, provide storage and allow more resilient election command operations during storms and back-to-back election cycles.
Commissioners pressed the clerk on facility readiness, equipment testing and contingency planning; Hudspeth noted ongoing weekly coordination with OMB and Purchasing and said staffing and generator needs remain items that could prompt future budget requests.
The court reserved follow-ups on costs and staffing as the FY25 budget process continues.
