by Texas Senator Bob Hall
Election Security Again Compromised by Texas State Election Office
The Texas Elections Office has placed its authority above that of Governor Greg Abbott by advising local governments to disregard the Governor’s Executive Order GA-29. This unilateral action could seriously impact election security.
As our last line of defense against election fraud, election poll watchers, are an integral component of election security. While we have some procedural measures in place to reduce the opportunities and occurrences for human error and fraud, the poll watchers are essential in maintaining election integrity. Without independent poll watchers from both major parties, there is no real assurance that the original intent of the voters is reflected in the official published results.
Just when you think that an out-of-control agency, like the Texas Elections Office (TEO), could not possibly inflict more damage on the security of our elections than they have over the past several years, with their irrational waivers for things like zero tapes, tally tapes, countywide voting, etc., last week, the TEO once again decided to reduce election security by advising local authorities to override Governor Abbott’s Executive Order GA-29. They showed total disregard for a specifically-stated and purposefully-added Item 8 of Executive Order GA-29, which specifically exempted voters, poll workers, and poll watchers from having to wear masks while doing their job.
Executive Order GA-29, Item 8: any person who is voting, assisting a voter, serving as a poll watcher, or actively administering an election, but wearing a face covering is strongly encouraged;
This action is especially concerning since it is the second time, this election cycle, that the TEO has gone out of its way to keep poll watchers from doing their job. A few weeks ago, when counties wanted to have multiple mail-in ballot drop-off locations spread throughout each county, the TEO took the initiative to prohibit poll watchers from observing the official election activities at these locations. Why would the TEO want to eliminate a key defense against mail-in vote fraud, especially at a time when we are seeing an unprecedented uptick in mail-in vote fraud? Thank goodness Governor Abbott stepped up and limited mail-in ballot drop locations to a single location in each county as provided by law. Fortunately, the single location was upheld by the Texas Supreme Court when the counties wanting to reduce election security sued the government.
On Tuesday, October 13, 2020, at 5:53 a.m., we received an urgent e-mail from an official poll watcher alerting us to the fact that Dallas County was ignoring Governor Abbott’s Executive Order GA-29, Item 8, by requiring all poll watchers to wear masks. They would not even accept a medical exemption.
Recognizing the seriousness of this action, we immediately contacted the Texas Secretary of State’s office (SOS) to get their help in reigning in what, at first, appeared to be a rogue action by Dallas County. However, as we delved into the issue, we found that the TEO had indeed issued face-covering guidelines in complete contradiction to Executive Order GA-29, which encouraged local entities to adopt such procedures. Their guidance, which weakens election security, was as follows:
Face Covering Requirements:
a. Voters: Masks are strongly recommended, but not required, for use in the polling place by a voter. If a local entity has a policy or ordinance requiring masks, voters will still be able to enter the polling place without a mask. Voters should not be turned away. You may want to have extra disposable masks available to offer to those voters who wish to vote, but do not have a mask.
b. Poll Watchers: Masks are strongly recommended, but not required, for use in the polling place by a poll watcher. However, the SOS recommends that you establish guidelines for the use of masks by poll watchers if they will be within 6 feet of voters or workers. If you establish expected-use guidelines, you should inform a poll watcher of those guidelines when the poll watcher presents themselves for service. If a poll watcher refuses to wear a mask and is getting within 6 feet of voters or workers, the presiding judge may address the issue through their authority to preserve order (Section 32.075).
In other words, local entities were expressly advised by the TEO to establish local guidelines to require the wearing of masks and were informed how to enforce such an order in direct contradiction of the Governor’s Executive Order.
This is not a fight about masks. If you survey a group of 100 people, about half are likely to tell you masks are essential, and the other half will tell you they are not. I will leave that debate for another day. The issue today is that we have government officials in the TEO who have placed themselves above the Governor and are advising local entities they can disregard the Governor’s Executive Orders to the detriment of election security.
That is not how this is supposed to work. No state agency should be allowed to issue exemptions, at will, to state law or to orders issued by their governor.
As of yesterday, the Texas Attorney General (AG) has written a letter directing local entities to respect the Governor’s Executive Order. However, at last word, we have been informed that local entities are ignoring the AG order. This scenario begs the question of how far the TEO is willing to go to reduce election security. We will continue to fight to restore the rights of poll watchers and to enhance the public’s confidence in the election process.