TRAVIS COUNTY REPUBLICANS DISSEMINATE INACCURATE AND MISLEADING INFORMATION
Austin, TX -- The Chair of the Travis County Democratic Party, Chris Elliott, has called upon the Travis County Republican Party to correct and/or withdraw inaccurate and misleading information that it provided to election judges in Travis County. At issue is a document entitled “Ballot Integrity Task Force Guide” that the Travis County Republican Party, in cooperation with the Republican Party of Texas, disseminated in an election judge training session that it conducted on its own last week, separate and apart from the County’s official training sessions for election judges.



“I have serious concerns about this document, and I have brought them to the attention of our County Clerk, Dana DeBeauvoir, who oversees elections in this county,” said Elliott. “Ms. DeBeauvoir shares my concerns that this inaccurate and misleading information could lead to problems on Election Day if the judges to whom the information was provided follow its directives.” Elliott has also brought his concerns to the attention of Travis County Republican Party Chair Alan Sager and has asked that the errors be corrected. “This is a very serious matter as it could result in folks not being allowed to vote on Election Day even though they are qualified in every respect to cast their vote. I call on the Travis County Republicans to take immediate action,” Elliott continued.



The Travis County Democratic Party will be sending letters to all election judges and alternate judges in the county to clear up any confusion that may have been created by the Republicans’ document. In addition, Ms. DeBeauvoir has referred this matter to Roger Williams, Texas Secretary of State, the state’s highest election official, for possible further action.



Egregious Errors that Republicans have told election poll workers:



1. On the third page, under the bold heading “Provisional Voting (TAC 81.172)”

This section purports to deal with situations where a voter “must” cast a provisional ballot. The fourth bullet point states that if a registered voter shows up at a precinct different from the one where they are registered, they must vote a provisional ballot. This is not true. Election judges are supposed to make an effort to direct such a voter to the proper precinct. It may be that the voter decides not to go to a different precinct and would prefer to vote a provisional ballot where he or she is, but the voter is not required to vote a provisional ballot, as the language herein suggests, just by virtue of appearing at the wrong precinct.

2. On the fifth page, under the bold heading “Quick Summary of the Provisional Voter Process”

The second bullet point under that heading states that if a voter does not (sic) personal identification or refuses to produce it, the voter “is permitted to vote, but the vote is not counted.”

This is factually inaccurate. If this scenario arises, the voter is allowed to vote a provisional ballot. Whether or not the vote is counted is up to the ballot board. If an election judge were to follow your advice here and tell a potential voter that his or her vote “will not be counted,” this may very well discourage the potential voter from casting a provisional ballot.

3. On the seventh page, under the bold heading “Voting Irregularities to look for”

The sixth paragraph down suggests that a voter appearing at a polling location “without photographic identification” constitutes a voting irregularity. This is, once again, factually inaccurate. Many voters appear at the voting location without photographic identification and are not required to produce photographic identification if they have another accepted form of I.D. or if they have their voter registration card.

4. On the flow chart, which is the next to the last page in the materials that I have:

If a voter does as you suggest at the top of the left hand column of your chart and he or she presents a voter registration card with a date that is not current, your flow chart, by following it to the right, suggests that the voter must then present a different form of “valid ID” in order to vote. Again, factually inaccurate. A voter registration card with an expired date is considered by the County to be a valid form of ID in and of itself so that if that voter’s name appears on the voter list, he or she is allowed to vote, period. No provisional ballot required.