Gregg County commissioners say Legislature shouldn't end countywide polling program

Gregg County elected officials say they oppose measures to end the countywide polling place program, which has been targeted by conservative state lawmakers in recent years. Gregg County commissioners unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday opposing attempts by the Legislature to end the program, which the county has participated in since 2017. Countywide polling allows residents to cast their ballots at any approved polling location in their county on Election Day.

Previously, voters had to visit their precinct polling location to do so. The program is designed to improve accessibility for voters. Gregg County has 21 voting precincts and 18 polling locations.



Election officials say the program has increased voter turnout and made voting easier. However, it has been unpopular among some conservative lawmakers since the 2020 election, which President Donald Trump and others claimed was stolen. A flurry of election integrity-related legislation across the nation was approved in the years following.

In 2023, state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, filed a bill to eliminate countywide voting locations, saying they make accurate vote counting “impossible” and that precinct voting locations would simplify the vote-tallying process, the Texas Tribune reported. More than 80% of Texas voters live in a county that uses countywide polling.

Hall has filed legislation for the ongoing legislative session, Senate Bill 77, that would have the same effect. The bill would ban the use of electronic poll books, which contain voters’ information and allow election officials to verify that the voter hasn’t cast a ballot at another polling location. The only alternative is to return to precinct-based voting, meaning voters must cast a ballot within their precinct.

The bill would require counties to provide paper ballots to any voter who requests one. Also, commonly used ballot-marking devices — which allow voters to make their selections on a screen — would be banned. If countywide polling were ended, the county wouldn’t be able to use its existing election equipment, which was purchased in 2019 for about $1 million, Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt said.

Stoudt said Gregg County’s election system has never had a security breach, and proposed legislation to end countywide polling is another attempt by the Legislature to fix a problem that doesn’t exist — at least, not everywhere in Texas. Problems are generally confined to the state’s largest counties. "The problem's not in the entire state,” Stoudt said.

“But yet they want to change the entire process. It's vintage Legislature. When they all show up down there [at the state Capitol] in January and February, they all start passing bills.

Do they ask the local officials about it? No. They never consult with us. They start throwing these bills out here that make absolutely no sense.

” According to the resolution approved this week by commissioners, countywide polling has contributed to an increase in voter turnout. Returning to a system using paper ballots, paper poll books and different equipment would be costly. The countywide polling place program and existing election equipment also allow disabled voters the opportunity to cast a ballot in accessible locations using handicap-accessible equipment.

Any measure that reduces handicap accessibility could result in legal action from the National Disability Rights Network, according to the resolution. Gregg County Elections Administrator Jennifer Briggs said lawmakers who support using paper ballots haven’t shown evidence that paper ballots are more secure than electronic ballots. Returning to precinct-based voting and paper ballots would slow down the vote-counting process, meaning the public would have to wait longer to know the results of the election.

Briggs said. Longer hours would be taxing on election workers, many of whom are senior citizens. Briggs said she doesn’t understand why some believe countywide polling and the use of electronic equipment is less secure given the number of laws, procedures, checks and balances election officials use to ensure accuracy and transparency.

"I think there's just a lot of confusion, a lot of misinformation," Briggs said. Commissioners in Marion and Harrison counties also have passed similar resolutions opposing the end of countywide polling..