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Elections administrator urges county to fund local tools after statewide TEAM 2.0 problems
Summary
Brazos County elections staff described recurring failures in the state TEAM 2.0 system that have increased manual work and risk, and requested $316,000 to implement Voter Focus plus $22,900 for an asset‑tracking system to improve ballot‑by‑mail processing and equipment chain‑of‑custody.
Elections administration told commissioners the secretary of state's TEAM 2.0 rollout has produced persistent data and reporting failures that force staff into time‑consuming manual work and increase the risk of delays in ballot‑by‑mail processing.
"We're required by law to use the TEAM system," the elections administrator said, "but functions that work today may not work tomorrow. Our ballots by mail that were processed through the system just disappear." She asked the court to consider an adjunct system, Voter Focus, to provide automated workflows, a secure server, staff training and an asset management tool to track the county's voting equipment. The request totaled $316,000 for implementation, with an estimated ongoing annual cost of about $49,000, and a separate $22,900 request for equipment tracking software.
The presentation outlined specific operational impacts: nearly 1,500 ballot‑by‑mail records required tracking in both TEAM and an Excel workaround after the state update; some batch functions such as batch printing are unavailable, increasing staff overtime and comp time. The elections administrator said Voter Focus would not replace the state's official record but would provide local consistency and automation to reduce delays and manual labor.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about annual fees and contract terms; staff said the initial three‑year contract carries the annual fee and the county would need to budget ongoing costs. The budget officer flagged the items with an asterisk to indicate inclusion in the proposed FY27 budget, and commissioners discussed the long‑term operational tradeoffs of paying ongoing subscription fees versus continued manual processes.
