The Texas Secretary of State’s office, under Jane Nelson, has issued urgent guidance to election officials statewide aimed at safeguarding the secrecy of ballots. In a memorandum, county election administrators were instructed to increase redaction of voter information and advised to seek guidance from the Texas Attorney General’s office for specific cases.
This directive follows reports revealing how public voter details can be cross-referenced with public ballot information to determine individual voting preferences. Information such as voter ID numbers, addresses, voting locations, precinct numbers, and ballot timestamps are considered public records.
The memo mandates that election administrators implement procedures ensuring the redaction of any personally identifiable voter information present on ballots. It expands on current redaction practices, particularly concerning voting locations, timestamps, and ballot identifiers. Emphasizing Texans’ constitutional right to a secret ballot, the Secretary of State referred to a recent Attorney General ruling from Tarrant County that identifies voting locations as personal information requiring redaction.
Clint Ludwig, Elections Administrator of Tarrant County, sought clarification from the Attorney General in early June regarding which information could be redacted. He emphasized the county’s commitment to transparency while acknowledging the importance of maintaining voter ballot confidentiality.
Prior to the Secretary’s guidance, Tarrant County Elections had proactively removed and redacted potentially revealing ballot information. Christina Adkins from the Secretary of State Elections Division highlighted these efforts as a temporary solution during a recent Texas House committee hearing.
Derek Ryan, a voter data analyst, underscored the complexity of linking individual ballots to specific voters, noting that while possible, it requires specialized knowledge and technology. He emphasized the significance of ballot secrecy in American electoral principles and expressed confidence that the Secretary of State’s emergency measures will protect ballot confidentiality through the 2024 election cycle. Ryan suggested that long-term legislative adjustments may be necessary during the 2025 legislative session to address these issues more comprehensively.
Highlighting recent instances where individual ballots were purportedly linked to public figures, including former Republican Party Chair Matt Rinaldi and Democratic Congressman Colin Allred, the situation has drawn attention to the unintended consequences of transparency measures enacted after the 2020 election. These measures, intended to enhance integrity and transparency, inadvertently made too much voter information accessible to the public, as election officials discussed in recent legislative hearings.
