New Harris County clerk plans to replace voting machines

The Harris County Clerk’s Office estimates that replacing the county’s 8,189 eSlate machines would cost about $75 million. The Harris County Clerk’s Office estimates that replacing the county’s 8,189 eSlate machines would cost about $75 million. Photo: John Everett, Staff / Houston Chronicle Photo: John Everett, Staff / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close New Harris County clerk plans to replace voting machines 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

The newly elected Harris County clerk plans to phase out the county’s eSlate voting machines, which have occasionally caused problems for voters.

Diane Trautman, who beat the incumbent in the countywide sweep of Democrats, also wants to improve the county’s elections technology so voters can cast ballots in any precinct on Election Day. Currently, residents are allowed to vote at any polling place during early voting, but must use a designated location on Election Day.

“We must replace the current electronic machines with an electronic machine that produces a verifiable paper trail,” Trautman said. “The problem, of course, is the funding.”

During early voting for in the midterm election, some straight-ticket voters complained their votes in the U.S. Senate race between Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz had been switched. Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart, whom Trautman defeated on Tuesday, insisted the machines were working properly, but said in rare cases, voters can select candidates they do not intend by pressing buttons on the eSlate machines too quickly.

That particular machine, manufactured by Hart InterCivic in Austin, also has been troublesome in other counties and in previous elections. Adrian Garcia, who this week was elected Precinct 2 commissioner, said replacing the machines should be a priority.

“You can never have an election with any degree of concern to the public that their vote is not being cast as they expect it to be,” he said. “Especially when these problems had been previously reported and complained about.”

Stanart said he also had planned to phase out the eSlate voting machines if re-elected.

On average, the devices are eight years old. Most were purchased after a 2010 fire destroyed the warehouse where Harris County stored its voting machines.

Stanart’s spokesman, Hector de Leon, said the clerk’s office estimates that replacing the county’s 8,189 eSlate machines would cost about $75 million. Trautman said she would explore whether the state or federal government could cover part of the cost.

Congress previously funded election equipment upgrades through 2002 legislation, authorizing $3.65 billion to states to replace voting systems. Some $3.5 billion of that was appropriated from 2003 to 2016 to help states comply with new federal requirements. Earlier this year, Congress approved another $380 million in grants, with about $24 million going to Texas.

However, officials have said the grant should largely go toward securing the state’s voter registration database, NPR reported, and the total falls far short of Stanart’s cost estimate.

To shore up the security of its elections, Harris County — and all other counties — would likely have to replace its machines en masse, said Douglas Jones, a computer science professor at the University of Iowa who studies elections security.

“It’s really hard to apply security to a system as an afterthought,” he said. “Security is something you either design in, or abandon all hope on.”

As for Stanart’s $75 million cost estimate, Jones said he developed a metric that pegs the cost of buying new voting equipment at less than $4 per voter. By that metric, replacing Harris County’s machines would cost far less than Stanart’s estimate, though Jones developed the method by studying a much smaller county in Iowa.

Meanwhile, Commissioners Court would need to approve the purchase of new machines, and members are supportive of the idea. Incoming Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said improving the voting experience for residents must be a priority.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle urged Trautman to prepare a detailed proposal for replacing the eSlate machines and present it to the court. He said new machines must be a technological upgrade and have a long-term life span.

“Let’s not throw out good machines just to get fancy new ones,” Cagle said. “What we buy next, let’s make sure it lasts a while, as well.”

Cagle also said he agrees with Trautman that residents should be able to vote at any polling location, which he said could save money by closing sites with few voters. The change is possible because Stanart, the outgoing clerk, developed an e-poll book system so polling locations can communicate with each other electronically to prevent voters from casting ballots at multiple locations.

Staff writer Jasper Scherer contributed to this report.

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