The Office of the Texas Secretary of State has released a two-page explanation of how it will conduct a “full forensic audit” of the 2020 general election results in the counties of Harris, Tarrant, Collin and Dallas.
The office released the details five days after announcing that it will perform the audit.
“The purpose of this audit is to ensure all Texas voters can have confidence in the elections systems in our state, and to address any outstanding issues county election officials may face that undermines the integrity of our elections,” the office said in a statement.
The secretary of state position has been vacant since Ruth Ruggero Hughs resigned in May. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has yet to nominate a replacement.
Former President Donald Trump called for an audit of the 2020 election in Texas even though he carried the state by more than 600,000 votes. However, he did lose the vote in Harris, Tarrant and Dallas counties.
The audit will be conducted in two phases, with the first already underway and is expected to run through spring 2022.
Phase One will include testing voting machine accuracy, cybersecurity assessments, and removing ineligible voters who nonetheless vote in 2020
Along the lines, the office said that it had “received reports from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) regarding voters who may have voted twice in state and across state lines.”
The office added that it has received reports of votes being cast in the names of the deceased and non-citizens voting.
Phase Two will include a comprehensive examination of election records.
“After a thorough examination of the above-mentioned records and materials in each county, irregularities or deviations from election administration procedures that may have affected the accuracy of the electronic voting system ballot count could trigger a full manual recount of ballots in the affected precincts or polling locations, pursuant to the secretary of state’s authority to ensure the accuracy of the tabulation of electronic voting system results (Sec. 127.202),” the office said.
No private contractors will be hired to conduct the audit, secretary of state spokesman Sam Taylor told The Hill.
In Arizona, Senate Republicans contracted with Florida-based Cyber Ninjas to conduct a forensics audit of the election results in Maricopa County. The findings of that audit were released Sept. 24 and added votes to President Joe Biden’s 45,000-vote plurality.
