Lawsuits And Loopholes Threaten Voter Secrecy In Texas

Texas election officials are grappling with increasing concerns about voter privacy, as a push for more election transparency risks exposing voters’ choices. The issue has intensified since new laws were enacted to open up voting records, potentially exposing how people voted.

A federal lawsuit filed by the Public Interest Legal Foundation against Harris County claims the county’s handling of election records violated voters’ rights to a secret ballot. Meanwhile, a lawsuit by conservative activist Laura Pressley alleges she uncovered the ballot choices of over 60,000 voters in Williamson County, as first reported by Texas Public Radio. 

The drive for transparency grew after the 2020 election when activists, motivated by claims of voter fraud, sought public access to election records. At the time, voted ballots had to be kept private for 22 months after an election.

In 2022, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s opinion allowed for early public access to cast-vote records and ballots, and in 2023, the state rewrote the law to make these records available just 61 days after an election.

As a result, Rep. Ryan Guillen has introduced a bill to make it a felony to obtain or share such information. As the legislature prepares to address the issue, election officials are being tasked with redacting more voter data to protect privacy, a challenge complicated by limited resources and varying procedures across the state.

This bill represents the first legislative move aimed at protecting ballot secrecy from concerns about privacy since an investigation by Votebeat and the Texas Tribune revealed that in some instances, public records had made it possible to identify voters’ choices, particularly in small precincts with low voter turnout.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, who has also expressed concern about the risks to ballot secrecy, is working on legislation that would address these issues. One proposal could aggregate information from small precincts into larger ones to better anonymize voters. However, as of now, Guillen’s bill is the only concrete legislative proposal on the table.

Election officials are also taking steps to address the risks. According to Texas Public Radio, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson and Paxton have issued additional guidance to counties, instructing them to redact more information to prevent exposure of voter choices. However, conservative election activists have opposed these redactions, arguing that they could hinder independent election audits.As Texas lawmakers prepare to reconvene in the upcoming legislative session, the state’s approach to election transparency and ballot secrecy remains a critical issue. Some voting rights advocates have stressed the need for further legislative action to protect voters’ rights, fearing that without clear and consistent protections, individuals may face harassment or intimidation based on their voting choices.