Discrepancy Logs and Reconciliation Initial Letter Response from the Four Counties Regarding Locations with

The county’s plan has instructions on how to move paper poll book information on to a spreadsheet. Meticulous instructions on reconciliation are included toward the end of the packet and serve as a template for each polling place in the county.

Tarrant County’s CCS plan begins with the purpose, location, and the outlined roles of each of the personnel at the CCS.205 Like the other counties, Tarrant County’s plan includes the general procedures for convening as well as the oaths necessary for those participating in the CCS. The plan reviews the chain of custody procedures for ballots, electronic media and other supplies.

Tarrant County’s CCS plan discusses how to resolve voter intent by duplicating damaged ballots and having the CSS scan them. The plan also includes tabulation procedures and the three different ways to conduct reconciliation. Printing precinct returns and reporting the results to the Secretary of State are also outlined in the plan.

Similar to the other counties’ plans, the Tarrant County plan acknowledges the right of poll watchers to be present during the time the CCS has convened. Lastly, the plan mentions how to deliver the materials to the general custodian of election records.

One of FAD’s goals was to reconcile data regarding the number of voters who checked in to vote and the number of ballots cast as reflected in the canvass. While this sounds simple, this process is complicated by the fact that all four counties use county-wide voting. Most post-election reports regarding ballots cast are by precinct, not by polling location. Conversely, most post-election reports regarding check-ins are by polling location, not precinct. Some counties kept electronic records regarding checkins versus ballots cast at the polling location level; some did not. FAD endeavored to reconcile the number of voters who checked in and the number of ballots cast at the polling location level and the precinct level. The process involved varied by county according to the records available and the responsiveness of the counties. This effort at reconciliation revealed issues with communication between voting equipment, issues with recording keeping, and issues with maintaining the proper chain of custody.

205 Tarrant County Central Count Station Plan, September 15, 2019.