RESOLUTION CALLING FOR PRECINCT VOTING AND TABULATION OF BALLOTS BY HAND COUNT
AT THE PRECINT LEVEL
FOR THE HAYS COUNTY, TEXAS NOVEMBER 2024 GENERAL ELECTION
Whereas We the People of Hays County in partnership with the Executive Committee of the
Republican Party of Hays County desire to ensure ACCURATE, TRANSPARENT and AUDITABLE
elections for the November General Election on November 5, 2024.
Whereas the countywide polling place program fails voters on multiple counts of Chapter 122 of the
Texas Election Code (TEC), Voting System Standards, starting with preserving the secrecy of your
ballot.
Whereas returning to precinct voting:
- Requires the use of paper poll books printed 30 days before the election,
- Removes the need to have an Internet connection for the poll books,
- Allows for easy reconciliation by hand count with tabulator records.
- Allows for manual counting by concerned volunteer citizens who have an interest in the security of the People’s elections.
Whereas at a moment when public trust in elections is crucial and recent polls show that a great
percentage of the population across party lines has lost faith in our elections, we must use the
most secure method of conducting our elections, the people.
Whereas the Gillespie County GOP successfully ran the 2024 Super Tuesday Primary without digital
poll pads, optical scanners or automated tabulators implementing the ECHO 65 Hand Count
Method approved by the Texas Secretary of State, with a 100% hand counting of the primary
ballots; until recently, hand counting has historically been the practice in Texas and Gillespie
County since 1879. Hays County is primed to follow the model.
Whereas the Texas Constitution calls for voting systems to promote the identification and
prosecution of fraud, countywide polling and the use of electronic pollbooks violate our Texas
constitutional rights.
Whereas the Republican National Committee urges a “Return to Excellence” and calls on state
legislatures, county, and municipal governments to pass laws and municipal codes and rules that
allow for full transparent hand-counting procedures that are planned, timely and fully observable
by the public and the registered parties for geographically defined audits and recounts.
Therefore, We the People of Hays County, Texas, and members of the Hays County Republican
Party County Executive Committee, pursuant to the Constitution of Texas, and for the security and
integrity of our elections, assert our right to the following:
- Immediate removal of the countywide polling place program in Hays County.
- Use of paper poll books printed for each precinct, fixed 30 days before the election period.
- A copy of each poll book shall be marked for each voting precinct when each voter comes to vote.
- Upon request by the voter, an optional hand-marked, sequentially numbered paper ballot preprinted on counterfeit-resistant paper, each signed by an election judge.
- Tabulation of ballots by hand count at the precinct level, to verify results produced by programmable electronic counting devices.
- In accordance with the Texas Election Code Chapter 65 or ECHO 65 Hand Count Method procedures.
- Verify election results with random hand counts and robust audits, which will result in an election process that is transparent, accurate, verifiable, and holds officials and voters accountable.
- Restricting ballots by mail to the disabled and out of the county during the election.
A political resolution is an official expression of the opinion of a legislative body.
Passed Hays Countv GOP CEC 8/19/2024 23-5.
