Texans voting at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Dallas, Texas. (AP Photo/Emil Lippe)
When Dallas County Republicans announced they would hand count every ballot cast in the upcoming GOP primary election in March, state party chairman Allen West described the effort as a “highly visible initiative to restore confidence in an electoral process.”
“Not only are the eyes of Texas upon us, but the eyes of America,” West said in a social media post earlier this month. The former GOP congressman concluded by quoting Gene Kranz, “a famed Texan” and the NASA flight director who oversaw the moon landing: “failure is not an option.”
On Tuesday, the nation looked on as West admitted that failure was very much an option, announcing that the Dallas County Republican Party (DCRP) will now forgo the hand count.
“This approach reduces the liabilities of DCRP and protects the organization, while affording us an opportunity to maintain better control,” West said. “In this case, discretion is the better part of valor.”
The DCRP voted on a resolution in September to authorize a hand count if they could secure funding and volunteers. But that proved tougher than the party expected.
When he announced the hand count decision three weeks ago, West said the party had raised $400,000 for the count and had 1,000 volunteers at the ready. But on Tuesday, he cited lingering concerns over staffing, funding, and the logistics of finding enough “additional tables and chairs,” to go through with the laborious undertaking.
Under state law, counties are required to report results within 24 hours of the polls closing — an additional hurdle that a hand count would struggle to clear.
West’s new statement says the DCRP will go ahead with “a precinct-based, community, separate Election Day electoral process.”
The DCRP’s decision will still prevent Dallas County voters — including Democrats — from being able to cast their ballots on Election Day at countywide vote centers, a flexibility that typically allows anyone registered in Dallas to vote at any county polling location. Instead, Dallas voters will need to vote at their assigned voting locations, as Texas law requires both parties to use neighborhood precincts if one does.
The DCRP announced it planned to do a hand count shortly after President Donald Trump published a social media post on Dec. 2, in which he mistakenly wrote that “Dallas County, Texas, just went to all PAPER BALLOTS.”
Trump apparently was referring to the DCRP’s vote to authorize a hand count. Like 98% of electoral jurisdictions, Dallas already uses paper ballots.
While election administration experts recommend paper ballots, which allow for count audits and provide an extra layer of protection against tampering, that preference does not extend to hand counts, which are slower, more expensive, and less accurate than machine counts. But hand counts are nonetheless popular among right wing conspiracy theorists who claim, without evidence, that the 2020 election was stolen.
As the DCRP’s decision to stick with a machine count demonstrates, they are difficult to implement.
On X, Stephen Richer, a Republican lawyer who previously served as the top election official in Maricopa County, Arizona, said the DCRP’s failure emphasizes the folly of demanding hand counts in general elections.
“Party can’t even get enough volunteers to hand count it’s [sic] own small, simple ballots. Now imagine trying to hand count more than 50 million ovals, in Dallas County alone, in bipartisan teams,” he wrote. “Sorry guys. It’s not going to happen.”
I am an older gay guy in a long-term wonderful relationship. My spouse and I are in our 36th year together. I love politics and news. I enjoy civil discussions and have no taboo subjects. My pronouns are he / him / his and my email is Scottiestoybox@gmail.com
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2 thoughts on “All Hat, No Cattle: After Big Talk, Dallas GOP Drops Ballot Hand Count Plans”
West and the DCRP did a pretty good TACO imitation.
Hi Michael. Yes they did, promise big, brag how correct you are, retreat from the promise with a bullshit reason why you were correct at all times. Hugs
Scottie's Playtime 
West and the DCRP did a pretty good TACO imitation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Michael. Yes they did, promise big, brag how correct you are, retreat from the promise with a bullshit reason why you were correct at all times. Hugs
LikeLiked by 1 person