LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor, And so, another election ends. Not with a bang, not with a whimper. But with validation, not speculation. With facts, not supposition. And with a solid demonstration that voting-machine tallies, when compared to hand-count tallies, matched precisely.
While some may be pleased and others displeased with the November 4 election results, the simple fact is that democracy and a fair election process were the clear winners.
This vote comparison, conducted in a controlled environment and in strict compliance with the provisions of the Texas Election Code, is a normal part of the postelection process. It’s intended to ensure that machine tallies are validated by checking against paper ballot tallies. This is called the Post Election Hand Count Audit.
While Hays County election equipment is electronic, it creates a paper trail that, while strictly anonymous, supports this process. This was an important voting integrity improvement implemented by Hays County officials more than six years ago. And the good news is that it’s effective.
Earlier this week, four teams, each consisting of five individuals, conducted the hand-count audit based on variables identified by the Office of the Texas Secretary of State. The teams sampled thousands of mail ballots, early-voter ballots, and election-day ballots. Other variables included specific election contests, voting locations, and precincts.
The procedure itself was painstaking and lengthy, lasting a full eight hours, with each team member having a specific task, including clear oversight to make certain that tallies of the vote sample were correctly recorded. Sometimes, this required multiple counting, but precision was paramount. None of the teams were satisfied until they were sure that their results of their efforts were accurate.
Their devotion to precision paid off. The results of the hand-count mirrored the machine count. While there has been an effort by some in Hays County to discredit the accuracy of state and federally certified election equipment, this hand-count audit demonstrated— as it has in election after election after election—that our voting machines are up to the task. The laborious efforts of the four teams found no discrepancies, demonstrating, yet again, that the election results recorded by our voting equipment can be relied upon to correctly record the will of our voters.
It’s easy to say “Let’s turn the clock back” to a time before voting machines. But there is no reason to do that. In a fast-growing county with more than 190,000 voters, quick and accurate election returns are critical to maintaining faith in democratic institutions and the electoral process itself.
While the image of the horse and buggy may still evoke an appealing nostalgia, let’s leave the past where it belongs— in the past. And let’s accept the fact that modern election technology, building on generations of technological expertise and dependability, can and should continue to be relied upon.
Sincerely, Jon Leonard San Marcos
