Election Advisory No. 2024-35

To:	All Election Officials
From:	Christina Worrell Adkins, Director of Elections
Date:	November 6, 2024
RE:	Partial Manual Count after the November 5, 2024 Election Date (Counties)

Pursuant to Section 127.201(a) of the Texas Election Code (the “Code”), the general custodian of election records in an election in which an electronic voting system is used must conduct a partial manual count. The partial manual count is a post-election hand count of ballots cast in the election that were electronically tabulated. It is conducted to ensure the accuracy of the tabulation of the electronic voting system results.

The partial manual count applies to election day, early voting in-person and early voting by mail ballots.This also includes applicable limited ballots (Chapter 112), provisional ballots (Chapter 63), presidential ballots (Chapter 113), emergency ballots due to death in the family (Chapter 103), and emergency ballots due to sickness or physical disability (Chapter 102).

The partial manual count is required for all counties that automatically tabulate their ballots using an optical/digital scanner. Optical/digital scanners are either precinct ballot counters or central scanners. Therefore, entities that hand counted their ballots are not required to conduct the partial manual count. Tex. Elec. Code § 127.201(a), (g).

New Procedures for the November 5, 2024 General Election for State and County Officers

The partial manual count for the November 5, 2024 General Election for State and County Officers will be much larger and more expansive than previous post-election audits. To provide greater transparency and accountability to the Texas election process, the Secretary of State’s office has made the decision to include multiple offices and additional polling places for this election’s post-election audit. This advisory will detail the changes and provide information regarding the notification of selected precincts, and the submission of results of the hand count. Please be advised the SOS will not be using the online portal for county notification and submission. Counties will be contacted via email regarding their county specific procedures.

The partial manual count cannot change the outcome of races, but could alert candidates to issues in the tabulation that could lead to a full recount or an election contest.

Selection of Offices for the November 5, 2024 General Election for State and County Officers

Pursuant to Section 127.201(b) of the Texas Election Code, the Secretary of State is required to select the precincts (or polling locations, if applicable) and designate no more than three offices to be manually counted.

Selection of Offices

The Secretary of State’s office has selected the following offices for the partial manual count:

President;
United States Senate; and
A local countywide race randomly selected by the county.

Selection of County Level Race by County

All counties will be required to select a county level race for hand counting as part of the required partial manual count. It is recommended that each county select a countywide race such as the office of county attorney or sheriff. However, if all countywide races are uncontested, the county may select a contested county level office such as the office of county constable or justice of the peace.

The county must randomly select the local race. To ensure transparency and accountability, it is our recommendation that this random selection be done in a public forum in the presence of the party chairs of each political party.

Selection of Precincts or Polling Places for the November 5, 2024 General Election for State and County Officers

In accordance with Section 127.201(a), the general custodian of election records shall conduct a manual count of all the races in at least one percent of the election precincts or in three precincts, whichever is greater, in which the electronic voting system was used. Pursuant to Section 127.201(b) of the Texas Election Code, the Secretary of State is required to select the precincts (or polling locations, if applicable) for counting. All counties will receive an email from the Secretary of State’s office that contains their randomly selected precincts or locations.

Additional Locations Selected by the General Custodian for the Partial Manual Count

The Texas Election Code authorizes the Secretary of State’s office to perform a manual count of electronic voting system ballots in order to ensure the accuracy of the tabulation of electronic voting system results. As outlined in Section 127.202 of the Texas Election Code, the Secretary of State is designating the county’s general custodian of election records to perform the partial manual count in three additional precincts or polling places that have been randomly selected by the general custodian. To ensure transparency and accountability, it is our recommendation that this random selection be done in a public forum in the presence of the party chairs of each political party at the same time as the selection of the additional countywide race.

For counties with smaller populations, this may result in the county conducting a hand-count of all the ballots cast for the selected offices in their remaining early voting and election day polling places. This will be addressed in the individualized correspondence sent to each county.

Procedure for Counties Using the Countywide Polling Place Program

For counties that are part of the Countywide Polling Place Program, please see below for specific instructions related to your partial manual count.

Election Day: Your individual county email will contain selected polling locations you can use for your partial manual count. You may use these alternative locations instead of your election day precincts. Please be advised that you are required to count all ballots at the selected locations, not the just the precincts selected for early voting.

Early Voting in-Person: You are still required to conduct your partial manual count by precinct. Please use the selected precincts for your partial manual count to determine which precincts should be counted for your early voting in person and early voting by mail ballots.

Opening Ballot Box

You are not required to petition a district judge for permission to retrieve the ballots, since this is a procedure that is required by law. At the time you have designated to begin the manual count, you should arrange access to the ballots for the selected precincts. Following the manual count, all election material shall be re-secured and returned to the appropriate authority.

Counties Using Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) Voting Systems

If you are a DRE county, you are required to conduct the partial manual count for your early voting by mail ballots. When entering this information into the results, place zeros in the columns for election day and early voting in-person.

Optional Modified Procedure for Mail Ballots

The partial manual count ONLY requires that ballots in selected precincts be counted. Tex. Elec. Code § 127.201(b). However, due to concerns related to ballot secrecy in smaller counties and in sorting and storing ballots in larger counties, the SOS approves the following optional modified procedure expanding the scope of mail ballots that can be reviewed in the partial manual count.

Instead of only counting the selected precincts for early voting by mail ballots, entities can opt to conduct the partial manual count on ALL of their early voting by mail ballots. This will help ensure that ballot secrecy is protected for smaller counties with fewer ballots. This may also be an easier process for larger counties that do not separate and store their mail ballots by precinct. THIS VARIATION IS OPTIONAL. The determination as to whether to count all early voting by mail ballots or only selected precincts is made by the General Custodian of Election Records. If you opt to count all of your early voting ballots, please indicate this in the “discrepancies” box in the partial manual count results.

Please contact the Secretary of State’s Office at elections@sos.texas.gov or 1-800-252-8683 if you have any questions in conducting your partial manual count or if you experience any problems entering your data.