The Four Counties’ Central Counting Station Plans

The appointed central count manager shall establish and implement a written plan for the orderly operation of the central counting station. The required plan must address the process for comparing the number of voters who signed in with the number of ballots cast. The plan required under this section must be available to the public on request not later than 5 p.m. on the fifth day before the date of the election.199

Collin County

Collin County’s six-page central count plan includes the location, procedures for processing BBM and early voting in person, reconciliation and ballot board duties, names of central count personnel, and oaths.200

The plan reminds staff of the dates when the county can begin counting ballots, when the ballot board will close early voting machines, and when the vote total media sticks containing ballots will be uploaded to the server.

The plan details the level of security of the building in which the counting takes place. It notes that none of the equipment is ever attached to an outside network. The voting system software provides an audit trail of every action taken from the beginning of election creation to final tally of election results. The plan notes the date of the equipment’s L&A testing and that prior to releasing election results, the poll lists/signature sheets/ballot and seal reports are audited to verify that the number of voters match the number of ballots cast at each voting location.

Dallas County

Similar to Collin County, Dallas County’s central count plan contains brief descriptions of each position at the station and the names of the staff serving in those roles.201 It mentions the requirement to administer the oath202, as well as the entitlement of poll

199 Tex. Elec. Code § 127.007. 200 Collin County Central Counting Station Plan, November 3, 2020. 201 Dallas Central Counting Station Plan 202 Tex. Elec. Code § 127.0015.

watchers to be present during the time the central counting station (CCS) has convened.203

The Dallas County plan outlines how the DS200 USB drives are transmitted, and how the CCS communicates with all active regional sites on verifying which vote center ballots have and have not been received.

The Dallas County CCS conducts an audit of all ballots. Since the results are being transmitted to the central counting station, the CCS is responsible for comparing the results transmitted with the results tape printed at the precinct and delivered to the CCS.

Dallas includes CCS procedures on machine testing prior to early voting and election day. This includes L&A testing on DS200, ExpressVote 850 Machine, a mock test on DS200, a regional site transmission test, and testing tabulating equipment. The plan also includes a central count accumulator that tabulates and consolidates the vote totals for multiple precincts and a list of materials that are to be retained for the 22month period after the election.

Harris County

Of the four counties, Harris County has the most extensive CCS plan.204 Similar to the other three, the plan includes the summaries of the roles of each of the personnel required to be present at the CCS, the procedure for convening, the oaths, and the intake of ballots, electronic media and supplies. The plan also includes directions for handling the duplication of ballots, how to conduct the printing of precinct returns, the delivery of materials to the general custodian, and the acknowledgement of poll watchers to be present while the CCS is convening.

The Harris County plan differs slightly from the other counties’ CCS plans in that it includes more extensive instructions and visual guides on tabulation procedures, reconciliation procedures, and how to resolve voter intent. The Harris CCS plan has step-by-step directions on how to use the software for opening and scanning postal ballots, resolving ballots, recording ballots, closing the MBB, and printing reports.

203 A watcher serving at a central counting station may be present at any time the station is open for the purpose of processing or preparing to process election results and until the election officers complete their duties at the station. A watcher may not leave during voting hours on election day without the presiding judge's permission if the counting of ballots at the central counting station has begun. See Tex. Elec. Code § 33.055. 204 Central Count Station Plan - Nov 2020 General and Special Elections – POSTING.pdf