Gillespie County election costs balloon after switch to hand count
The bigger bill for the GOP primary in Gillespie County illustrates how election costs could rise if hand counting of ballots is widely adopted. Full Story
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Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with The Texas Tribune. She has covered a range of topics as a community journalist including local government, public safety, immigration and social issues. Natalia previously reported for the Austin American-Statesman, focusing on impacts of government policies on communities of color. Natalia previously worked at the Indianapolis Star, where she helped launch the first Spanish-language newsletter, and at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. She was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas in Mexico and grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is based in Austin.
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![An election worker hand counts ballots inside of The Edge in Fredericksburg on Mar. 5, 2024. Many of the election workers had been counting since seven in the morning on Election Day.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
With lawsuits and recount petitions rising, some Texas elections seem to go on forever
Courts are still working through election challenges brought as far back as 2021. Experts say the protracted fights threaten voter confidence. Full Story
![Harris County Elections Staff members carry in and sort ballot bags at the Elections Technology Center in northwest Houston on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
In one Texas county, elections officials shoulder new costs and burdens to appease skeptics
Brazos County election officials are responding to demands from skeptical residents by expanding hand counts and ordering special paper. Full Story
![Texas voters cast their ballots during Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023 in. Brazos County officials have taken extra measures to allay residents' fears about voting.]()
Credit: Photo illustration by Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Texas counties facing surprise surcharge from voter registration software vendor
Votec, one of only three companies certified to manage voter registration data in Texas, is facing a financial squeeze and asking counties for a 35% surcharge. Full Story
![Voter registration forms at a registration event in Austin, on Sept. 27, 2020.]()
Credit: Amna Ijaz/The Texas Tribune -
They counted primary ballots by hand. Now a Texas county Republican party says they found errors.
After declaring a successful hand count of ballots, Gillespie County Republicans had to fix a series of errors in the results reported from almost every precinct. Full Story
![Gillespie elections staffer Alan Littman, left, and election worker, Joy Smith, review precinct totals at the county’s election office to aggregate election results before submitting them to the Texas Secretary of State’s office on March 14, 2024.]()
Credit: Natalia Contreras / Votebeat -
Republicans in a Texas county ditched technology and counted votes by hand. Here’s what happened.
The Texas Secretary of State and other election experts warned Gillespie County Republicans the process would be expensive, time-consuming and less reliable. Full Story
![Gillespie County Elections Administrator Jim Riley speaks in the hallway of the Elections Office in Fredericksburg in the early morning of Mar. 6, 2024.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
I’m an elections reporter — and I just cast my first vote as a naturalized U.S. citizen
For a long time, I didn’t want to think or talk about elections or politics. That changed four years ago. Full Story
![Votebeat reporter Natalia Contreras after voting for the first time in the United States on Feb. 25, 2024 in Corpus Christi.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Natalia Contreras/Votebeat -
“A hornet’s nest”: How one Texas elections chief is doing his job amid ongoing conspiracy theories
Gillespie County Republicans are moving forward with a plan to count votes by hand during the 2024 primary election. Full Story
![Gillespie County elections administrator, Jim Riley, holds results from the mock election as the ballot scanner releases the information on Feb. 6, 2024. Results were read to county residents following the mock election.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: It took me three tries to register to vote in Texas — and I’m an elections reporter
Moments after I became a naturalized citizen in 2023, I registered to vote. Here’s what happened next. Full Story
![Voter registration forms at a registration event in Austin, on Sept. 27, 2020.]()
Credit: Amna Ijaz/The Texas Tribune -
Why this South Texas county closed half its early voting sites for 2024
A new law requires small counties to increase early voting days and hours — with no new money from the state. Full Story
![The Kiva Hut Community Center in Taft, Texas on Jan 26, 2024. The community center has been the town’s only early voting site for years. It won’t be available for early voters in March or in November following the passage of House Bill 1217. The new law is forcing the San Patricio County elections administrator to shut down four early voting locations.]()
Credit: Natalia Contreras/Votebeat
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