AUSTIN, Texas — It can sometimes seem a mystery once your ballot is cast. Where does it go? When does it go there? Who counts it? How is it kept secret and safe?
In many counties across Texas, voters casting a ballot in person make their selections on a touchscreen, then feed a printout of their completed ballot into a ballot-scanning machine that reads the votes before dropping the ballot into a locked box. In a handful of counties, votes are recorded by machines digitally, as encrypted code inside of a secure file when voters make their selections, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office.
In many Texas counties, like Travis County, thumb drives containing digital voting information and locked ballot boxes containing paper ballots are delivered to a vote-counting station. In Travis County, the vote counting station is the Nelda Wells Spears Building at 5501 Airport Blvd.
In some counties, where votes are counted at a polling place, ballots and records can be delivered to the county clerk or elections administrator.
Ballot counting process
In counties with a population greater than 100,000 – like Travis, Williamson and Hays – election officials are allowed to begin counting received mail-in ballots after polls close on the last day of early voting, in order to get get a head start on reporting results. Smaller counties can begin the process on the morning of Election Day. Ballot counting is also now livestreamed in counties with populations larger than 100,000.
Mail-in ballots received early can be processed ahead of Election Day, meaning that election workers can open and review envelopes with completed ballots to confirm that voters provided all the proper information, including required ID numbers that must match voter registration records. The 2024 election will be the first presidential election to require the new ID numbers after that was implemented ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
In Travis County, mail ballots must be postmarked by Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, and received by the Travis County Clerk's Office by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Under Texas law, mail ballots may only be hand-delivered on Election Day to the early voting clerk at their main office. Travis County voters who have received a mail-in ballot can hand-deliver their completed mail-in ballots on Nov. 5 to the Nelda Wells Spears Building between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Voters may only hand-deliver their own carrier envelope, present an acceptable form of ID, sign a signature roster and deposit their mail-in ballot in the ballot box. The 2024 election will be different from the November 2020 election in that regard, as hand-delivery for mail ballots was extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Election Night, officials must compare the number of voters who cast a ballot to the number of counted ballots and post the results on county websites. Officials at counting stations can decide to open a locked ballot box and count ballots by hand if there are any discrepancies, such as a misspellings or unverified addresses.
If a ballot has a discrepancy, officials make a determination on whether or not to count it depending on the extent of the issue.
Marking a ballot incorrectly does not invalidate the ballot.
- Striking through the names of candidates or the names of propositions you don't want to vote for doesn't invalidate the ballot
- A vote for a candidate or ballot measure will be counted if the voter's intent is clearly distinguishable unless other law prohibits counting the vote
Voter intent can be determined by:
- A mark next to a candidate's name, political party, or a choice related to a proposition
- A clearly drawn oval, box or similar shape around a candidate's name, political party or a choice related to a proposition
- A line drawn through:
- The names of all candidates, showing a preference for those not marked, as long as the unmarked names do not exceed the number of positions available
- The names of all political parties except one, indicating a preference for the unmarked party.
- A voting choice related to a proposition, indicating a preference for the opposite choice
- Any other evidence that clearly shows the voter's choice for a candidate, political party or proposition
Ballots won't be counted if:
- It is not provided to the voter at the polling place
- Two or more ballots that are folded together in a manner indicating that they were folded together when deposited in the ballot box
- A write-in envelope containing a write-in vote without an attached ballot
- A ballot that has not been deposited in the ballot box
- A provisional ballot that is not accepted
If a ballot is unnumbered, a judge would determine whether or not it should be counted. If a ballot is not counted, an election officer would write on the back of it their reason for not counting it.
The full law regarding Texas' ballot counting practices can be found here.
Federal law mandates that ballots must be securely stored for at least 22 months after the election. Ballots can be thrown away once the 22-month period ends, but many counties typically choose to keep them or preserve them electronically in case voters or other members of the public want to review them later on.
