Texas Administrative Code
Title 1 - ADMINISTRATION
Part 4 - OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Chapter 81 - ELECTIONS
Subchapter B - EARLY VOTING
Section 81.37 - Counting Late Ballots
Universal Citation: 1 TX Admin Code ยง 81.37
Current through Reg. 49, No. 12; March 22, 2024
(a) General provisions
(1) For general elections for
state and county officers, the early voting ballot board shall reconvene on the
6th day after the election to count any late ballots received in accordance
with the Texas Election Code, §
RSA
86.007. For all other elections, the early
voting ballot board may reconvene any time after the 2nd day after the election
and prior to the official canvass.
(2) The presiding judge shall notify the
early voting clerk of the time and place where the board will reconvene. The
notice to the early voting clerk must be made in time so the early voting clerk
may give proper notice of the delivery of the late ballots. The early voting
clerk must post notice of delivery of jacket envelopes and any other
accompanying papers to the ballot board at least twenty-four (24) hours prior
to the delivery. The notice shall be posted at the main early voting polling
place. For purposes of this provision, the Texas Election Code, §
RSA
1.006 does not apply.
(3) The presiding judge shall send notice to
the custodian of the key and the custodian of election records to redeliver the
ballot box containing the counted ballots and the key to the box. After the
late ballots have been counted, the presiding judge shall lock the late counted
ballots in the ballot box. The presiding judge shall deliver the ballot box to
the general custodian of election records and the key to the ballot box to
custodian of the key.
(4) Poll
watchers are entitled to be present for the late counting of ballots.
(5) If all mail ballots were received by the
close of voting on election day or no ballots were received by the appropriate
deadline for the election, the early voting clerk shall certify that fact and
deliver the certification to the canvassing board before it convenes to canvass
the votes.
(b) Provisions For Paper Ballots
(1) Once the
ballots have been qualified, the presiding judge shall use the regular method
of counting ballots by keeping three new tally sheets, counting the ballots by
precinct, and having two members present per tally team. For purposes of this
provision, the Texas Election Code, §
RSA
87.1231(b) does not
apply.
(2) Once the board has
counted all the ballots, an original and three copies of the return sheet shall
be prepared.
(3) The distribution
of the tally sheets and return sheets shall be made in accordance with the
Texas Election Code, Subchapter B, Chapter 66.
(4) The canvassing board shall add the
returns from both early voting return sheets when canvassing the
vote.
(c) Provisions for Electronic Voting Systems
(1) The manager of
the central counting station shall decide whether the ballot board shall
manually count the ballots and be manually added to the computer count for a
canvass total or whether the central counting station shall
reconvene.
(2) The manager shall
send notice to the presiding judge of the ballot board prior to the reconvening
the board as to whether the ballots are to be counted manually by the board or
whether the ballots are merely to be prepared for delivery to the central
counting station.
(3) If the
ballots are to be counted by the central counting station, the manager must
post notice at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to reconvening the central
counting station. For purposes of this provision, Texas Election Code, §
RSA
1.006 does not apply.
(4) A ballot transmittal form must be
completed by the presiding judge of the ballot board. The transmittal form will
accompany the qualified ballots.
(5) The manager must order a second test to
be conducted prior to the count. The test must be successful.
(6) Poll watchers are entitled to be present
at the central counting station.
(7) After the second successful test is
conducted, the unofficial election results, preserved by electronic means,
shall be loaded in the tabulating equipment.
(8) The tabulation supervisor shall print a
status report before the count begins. This status report shall be compared
with the report run on election night. If the two status reports do not match,
the electronic ballots must be counted by hand and manually added to the
returns printed on election night.
(9) If the status report matches the report
run on election night, the tabulation supervisor may order the count to begin.
The precinct returns from these counts may be included with the original
precinct counts. The tabulation supervisor does not need to keep the
precinct-by-precinct results of the late ballots separate from other early
voted ballots.
(10) Once the
ballots have been counted, results shall be prepared in the regular manner. The
manager shall prepare a certification and attach it to the returns, then place
the certification and returns in envelope #1 to be delivered to the presiding
officer of the canvassing board indicating that the result supersedes any
returns printed prior to the reconvening of the central counting station after
election day.
(11) After the
results have been prepared, a successful third test must be
performed.
(12) The results,
ballots, and distribution of ballots and all records shall be made in the
regular manner.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Texas may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.