NEWS
Texas counties protecting election integrity
AUSTIN — As Texans go to the polls March 3, Texas county election officials want to assure voters they are taking precautions to ensure the integrity of every vote cast.
In Texas, county government conducts most elections, from local to national polling, in their respective counties. County election officials have implemented new, state-mandated procedures to increase election security and transparency. These precautions include enhanced candidate information and election results reporting requirements. Counties also must complete annual training and adhere to a specific process for breach notification and remediation.
“Texas county clerks, elections administrators and voter registrars manage elections from the school board to the U.S. president,” said TAC Executive Director Susan M. Redford. “We’ve all heard the warnings of attacks on our voting systems. Texans can be reassured that our county clerks and other election officials strive to improve voter confidence in the election process, having worked with the state to implement procedures that make their preparation and Election Day work more transparent and secure.”
Last year, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1421, which added cybersecurity requirements to the Election Code (Chapter 279). HB 1421 added best practices for reducing the risk of electronic vote tampering and other cybersecurity measures. The law requires county election officials to take annual cybersecurity training and request a cybersecurity assessment of their county’s election system by the Texas Secretary of State Elections Division.
“This year we implemented tightened safety measures to make sure our elections are more secure,” said Hays County Elections Administrator Jennifer Anderson. “We were one of the first counties to complete the state’s election security assessment. Our focus was on the security of our voting equipment, chain of custody and facilities, particularly on equipment storage when it is not in use.”
For more on Texas counties’ elections role, visit http://www.texascountiesdeliver.org/ or watch https://youtu.be/qL_4pdF3IBI.
Bowie fire and police emergency personnel responded to this structure fire call around 10:30 a.m. Friday morning. No details were available at this time on a possible cause, possibly from trash inside the station or inside a vehicle. (News photo by Barbara Green)
Gregory Bell, 58, Saint Jo, was found guilty of the murder of Tia Hutson, 50, also of Saint Jo after less than an hour of jury deliberation Thursday afternoon.
She was found beaten and raped in her home in August 2022 and six days later never regaining consciousness. The jury also deliberated Bell’s sentence giving him the maximum life in prison and a $10,000 find. It took them less than half an hour to make the decision. A deadly finding also determined a large flashlight was used as a deadly weapon.
As the jury left the courtroom some members were seen hugging Trevor Riley, Tia Hutson’s son. His sister Kami Taylor, read a powerful victim’s statement to the court.
Staff and volunteers at the Bowie Mission continue to be plagued by people who dump their unwanted furniture and other items at their gates and doors. Despite having signs stating this is illegal and that there are surveillance cameras on scene, dumpers don’t seem to be phased.
This past week several large pieces of furniture were dumped right in front of the gate where the trailer used to go pick up food bank items is stored. Cynthia Brewer, director said most of the volunteers are older and it is difficult to get these large items moved out of the way. She is at her wit’s end trying to get people to stop dumping and while she hesitates to file police charges the situation is getting untenable as people continue to violate the policy.
Anyone who observes illegal dumping at the mission is urged to call the police 872-2251.
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