County creates Elections Integrity Task Force
This November, voters from across the nation will cast their ballots for the next president of the United States. In a proactive approach to the election, Hays County has created the Elections Integrity Task Force comprised of the Hays County Elections Office, District Attorney’s Office and local law enforcement agencies in an effort to streamline the process for investigating allegations and maximize county resources.
“Democracy thrives on transparency and accountability, especially during elections. As the nation gears up for the presidential vote, Hays County leads by example with its Elections Integrity Task Force — a partnership among the Elections Office, District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement,” Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra said. “This initiative underscores our deep commitment to ensuring every vote is counted accurately safeguarding the election’s integrity for all. It’s a clear message: in Hays County, democracy’s pillars are both respected and protected.”
The impetus for the Elections Integrity Task Force’s creation was to address any complaints in the upcoming election. According to Elections Administrator Jennifer Doinoff, allegations or complaints regarding elections are rare in Hays County. It is even more unusual for such complaints to rise to the level of criminality.
“We don’t have many complaints; however, when they do come through, our main objective is to streamline the process so everybody has eyes on it and can collaboratively work together to address it in an efficient manner and to maximize county resources,” Doinoff said.
An email address has been created in an effort to make the initiative collaborative between the stakeholders. Any complaints or allegations may be sent to electionintegrity@ co.hays.tx.us.
“We know that a lot of complaints will come directly through our office,” she noted. “The reason we created the email was to ensure that the complainant isn’t trying to call our office and is not able to get through because we have a high volume of calls, or that they don’t send an email that gets buried under hundreds of other emails.”
From there, the allegation will head to the task force, which will determine if the complaint is of a criminal nature and needs to be addressed as such.
“When this is really a matured process, which it will be by November, we will have an appointee at all of the law enforcement agencies, because it depends on where the alleged criminal activity is taking place and which law enforcement agency will handle it,” Doinoff said. “The overall objective is to have specific people working these crimes who can be educated and knowledgeable about election code.”
Overall, the elections administrator believes that the most important aspects of the Elections Integrity Task Force are transparency and voter confidence.
“It’s important that residents who have these concerns have them addressed and resolved. We want to increase voter confidence and be transparent,” Doinoff said. “We want people to know that we’re doing our best to provide safe, secure and accurate elections.”
