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A voter leaves the Bexar County Elections Department office. Credit: Sanford Nowlin<\/p>\nA voter leaves the Bexar County Elections Department office. Credit: Sanford Nowlin<\/p>\n
This article was originally published by Votebeat<\/a>, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Texas\u2019 free newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n Groups representing election officials across Texas are asking the state to halt the rollout of its updated voter registration system and address issues that they say \u201cdirectly impact key parts of the election and jury process.\u201d<\/p>\n The groups outlined their complaints in a letter sent Friday to Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson.<\/p>\n County election officials across the state have for months reported problems that they say began when the state overhauled its voter registration system, known as TEAM, in July. Those issues contributed to a backlog of tens of thousands of voter registration applications, Votebeat reported<\/a>, though that now has nearly been cleared. Election officials also said issues with TEAM were affecting their preparations for the upcoming constitutional amendment election.<\/p>\n Alicia Pierce, the Texas Secretary of State\u2019s Office spokesperson, told Votebeat the office has received the letter and is reviewing it. \u201cOur focus right now is making sure every county is ready for the Nov. 4 election.\u201d<\/p>\n Groups cite TEAM\u2019s inconsistent performance<\/p>\n The letter to Nelson was sent by four associations representing Texas county election administrators, county and district clerks, county judges and commissioners, and tax assessor-collectors, all of whom have roles in administering elections.<\/p>\n In the letter to Nelson<\/a>, as well as in interviews with at least a dozen election officials, they said that while using the new system and inputting voter registration applications, voters\u2019 previous addresses override their new ones, their voting precincts don\u2019t populate correctly, and sometimes the registration information doesn\u2019t save. Officials also said the system is inconsistent, working properly one day but slowly the next.<\/p>\n \u201cCounties have seen substantial delays in processing voter registration applications and updating registration status,\u201d the letter to Nelson said. \u201cMany election officials have observed TEAM incorrectly generating the voter registration list, which compromises election security by complicating the update of poll books and the identification of voters who have received a mail ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, with early voting set to start Monday, election officials across the state want Nelson\u2019s office to resolve existing problems before rolling out any new system features.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout these changes, the current state of the TEAM rollout creates undue risk to voters and the integrity of election officials,\u201d the letter says.<\/p>\n The officials also said in the letter that the issues are affecting several smaller Texas counties that rely on TEAM to pull their jury list. \u201cDistrict clerks have documented the new system solely pulling registered voters as jurors instead of those qualified to serve on a jury,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n Calling for solutions and a clearer timeline<\/p>\n Chris McGinn, the executive director of the Texas Association of County Election Officials, said the associations sent the letter after weeks of meeting with the state, presenting the problems, and waiting for solutions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s now the week before early voting and we were still dealing with significant issues,\u201d McGinn said. \u201cWe felt it was important to put all of this on the record for the secretary of state.\u201d<\/p>\n In their letter, election officials asked the Texas Secretary of State\u2019s Office to provide a clear timeline for TEAM bug fixes and publish weekly status updates detailing resolved and outstanding issues. Specifically, officials are seeking \u201cclear communication about the problems that have been solved,\u201d the letter says.<\/p>\n During early voting and the canvass, election officials want the state to establish \u201ca dedicated incident response team,\u201d staffed with technicians who can implement emergency fixes.<\/p>\n Democratic lawmakers apply pressure <\/p>\n Some lawmakers are also asking Nelson to take action.<\/p>\n On Thursday, six state representatives from the Austin area sent a letter to Nelson<\/a> that says the issues with the system aren\u2019t the fault of the county election officials, who she says have been \u201cworking tirelessly within the limits of the tools provided.\u201d<\/p>\n The responsibility, the letter says, \u201crests with the Secretary of State\u2019s Office to ensure that the system functions as promised, that training on the TEAM software is accessible and thorough, and that voters are not denied their constitutional right to participate in their democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter was authored by state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, and signed by state Reps. Donna Howard, Sheryl Cole, Gina Hinojosa, James Talerico, and Lulu Flores, all Democrats.<\/p>\n Nelson responded<\/a> that her office had anticipated technical problems with the rollout of such a big update, which involved \u201cthe migration of over 20 million records and extensive training with our county partners.\u201d<\/p>\n Nelson also said the financial instability of a voter registration vendor<\/a> used by multiple counties unexpectedly complicated the rollout, prompting several counties to abruptly switch to TEAM.<\/p>\n \u201cOur staff has completed onboarding 11 of those counties, including Bexar County, onto our TEAM system,\u201d Nelson wrote, according to a copy of her response provided by Alicia Pierce, a spokesperson for her office. \u201cWe did this in a matter of weeks for a process that usually takes months.\u201d<\/p>\n To check the status of your voter registration application, go to VoteTexas.gov<\/a> or call your local voter registrar<\/a>.<\/p>\n Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. She\u2019s based in Corpus Christi. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@votebeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>| Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tSeven Elections Department staffers \u2014 or 20% of its workforce \u2014 have resigned since Michele Carew took leadership in March.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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