Bipartisan agreement in Harris County: The vote should be secure

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- There isn't much that Republicans and Democrats agree on in the run-up to an election, but local officials in both parties said they believe the vote in Harris County should be secure.

An audit of Harris County elections in 2021 and 2022 revealed several issues. Since then, Republicans have passed election security laws they say will protect the vote. The county's top election official, a Democrat, said she's spent the past eight to 12 months ensuring her office will return accurate results.

"We're the largest county in the state of Texas. No one is doing it like we are," Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said.

The way Harris County is doing elections has changed since the last presidential contest.

In 2021, Republicans passed laws that they said were designed to enhance election integrity and update the voter registration process. The laws also restricted mail-in, 24/7, and drive-through voting and removed the elections administrator's office in Harris County, specifically.

"I think that the election security in Harris County is dramatically improved from 2022. We brought back the elected county clerk and also the elected tax assessor to run elections with Secretary of State oversight, and that's made a huge difference already," Republican state Senator Paul Bettencourt said.

Bettencourt touted these legislative changes as a reason why voters should feel more confident about the process in Harris County while still questioning the integrity of voter rolls state-wide.

"The problem we have is there's no citizenship list in the country for a voter registrar to check with and find out if that person is a citizen or not," Bettencourt said.

Allison Clapman with the Brennan Center's Democracy Program said their studies consistently show that voter fraud to the level that could impact election results is a myth.

However, repeated and false claims can make it harder to vote, especially in Texas, where, according to the Secretary of State's office, less than 46% of registered voters cast a ballot in 2022.

About 20% of the voting-age population was unregistered.

"The solution to that is more resources, more training, fewer last-minute rules and flurries of legislation between elections that change the rules and make it harder for administrators to do their jobs," Clapman said.

Part of the job in Harris County is to combat voter misinformation and inspire trust in the electoral process.

"Voters should feel confident that when they come to cast their ballot in this election, all the citizens, like their neighbors, their family members, and their church members who are signing up to be election workers, are people just like them. Those individuals are working hard, and elections don't work without them," Hudspeth said.

Bettencourt said he also has confidence in the county clerk and her office, which goes hand in hand with the measures Republicans have taken to secure the vote.

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