Print 🖨

The Senate Committee on State Affairs met on March 18, 2019, to take up a number of bills. This report covers SB 9 (Hughes), SB 21 (Huffman et al.), and SB 30 (Birdwell et al.).

 

This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics the committee took up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the hearing but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.

 

SB 30 (Birdwell et al.) – Relating to ballot language requirements for a proposition seeking voter approval for the issuance of bonds.

Creighton opening comments (Birdwell was not present, Creighton laid out the bill)

  • Ensure bond elections are conducted in a manner that gives voters more options and more information.
  • Bond packages for distinct purposes must be separate propositions on the ballot.
  • Bond election must list the tax rate that will be increased or imposed.

 

Public testimony

Amanda Brownson, Texas Association of School Business Officials – On

  • Concerned with creating overly long ballots with too specific purpose definitions but are working with Birdwell on this issue.

 

James Quintero, Texas Public Policy Foundation – For

  • Voters do not have adequate information on bond propositions.
  • SB 30 would give voters more information and more choice.
  • Creighton – Mentioned a school district, which one was that?
    • Quintero – Cypress Fairbanks ISD, they had $1.2b single-item bond election in 2014 and are now planning another election for $1.7b this year.

 

Michael Openshaw, self – For

  • Needs to be better separation of issues.
  • Issues will be pooled together so that people are forced to vote for things they would normally vote against.
  • Fallon – Do you recall a specific bond proposal where they break bond elections into specific categories?
    • Openshaw – They break them into large packages, like parks or roads.
    • Fallon – Because a lot of times people want to vote for some things and against others, right?
    • Openshaw – Yes and often the life of these bonds is longer than whatever it is they are paying for.

 

Rick Briscoe, self – For

  • Need more honesty in bond elections. Bond language should be understandable for the average voter.
  • Bond agencies should perform the specific purposes they promised to the taxpayers.

 

Darren Robinson, Allen ISD, Texas Association of School Administrators – On

  • In favor of transparency, but there are some issues.
  • Doing site based bonds could have some issues and doing school vs school could have disparate impact on students with low and high socioeconomic backgrounds.

 

Crystal Main, self – For

  • Line items should be divided out.

 

Alan Vera, Harris County Republican Party – For

  • Voters should have more information in bond elections.

SB 30 left pending.

 

SB 21 (Huffman) – Relating to the distribution, possession, purchase, consumption, and receipt of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and tobacco products.

Huffman opening comments

  • Raise legal age for tobacco products from 18 to 21.
  • Many smokers had their first cigarette before age 18 and even more before the age of 21.
  • E-cigarettes and vape pen use has been labeled an “epidemic”.
  • Putting more social distance between high school students and legal purchasers would reduce use among high school students.
  • This legislation will reduce cancer rates in Texas.
  • There are some members who are not convinced, ask that you listen to the statistics and realize that this legislation will save the lives of children who are alive today.
  • Zaffirini – Have Texans expressed any interest in raising the legal age?
    • Huffman – Yes, 65% of GOP voters favor it and 73% of Democratic voters support raising the legal age.
    • Zaffirini – I support this legislation, some of the actions by the tobacco companies are “abominable”.
    • Huffman – Yes there are lots of teenagers who are vaping is a real problem.

 

Public testimony

Dr. Ernest Hawk, Texas MD Anderson Center – Resource Witness

  • Nearly every smoker becomes a regular user between ages 18-21. People are prone to addiction at these ages and the brain is not fully developed at that time.
  • Raising age of legal purchase would have a significant impact and save lives. Would result in 12% reduction in smoking rates and would result in an immediate improvement in the health of young people, especially young mothers.
  • This legislation can prevent addiction and disease.
  • Huffman – Heard that by raising the age it creates a greater “social distance” between high school students and legal purchasers?
    • Hawk – Most underage users get access through a friend, raising the age would reduce the amount of high school students who know someone who can purchase legally.
    • Huffman – Often you have 18 year-olds who are still in high school. You said it could be a 12% reduction in use?
    • Hawk – Yes 12% reduction in use and 10% reduction in death long-term. Goal is to progressively create a tobacco-free culture over the long term.
    • Huffman – This is a step and there will be a four year grandfathering period which will help slowly adopt this into the culture.

 

Elizabeth Jones, self – For

  • 500,000 children alive today will die early due to tobacco use.
  • Rising popularity and marketing of e-cigarettes and Juuls to youth have made it more common for young people to smoke than it was in the recent past.
  • Many people say if you can join the army you should be able to choose to smoke, but that is a fallacious comparison.
  • Fallon – You say brain is not fully developed at 18, would you also be in favor of raising the voting age of 21?
    • Jones – Voting is not putting people’s lives in danger.
    • Fallon – It could if you elect the wrong leaders.

 

Nathaniel Fambee, self – For

  • This bill will create a healthier future for current students.

 

Kathleen Russell, Smoke Free Alternative Trade Association – On

  • Represents vape shops, which encourage users to stop using traditional tobacco cigarettes.
  • Want to ensure e-cigarette retailers are complying with laws.
  • Included amendment in written testimony.
  • Hall – Describe the amendment?
    • Russell – Add new section to Chapter 161 of Health and Safety Code, would prevent a municipality from raising the age above 21.

Brian Hayden, self – For

  • Due to experiences with lung cancer and heart disease from smoking, support raising the age.
  • Was as Air Force Master Sergeant. Texans can join military at age 18, but it is not a good comparison to tobacco use. Tobacco use is not a rite of passage or service to country, it is a harmful behavior and addiction.
  • The younger you start smoking, the harder it is to quit.
  • Huffman – Have some written testimony from a Ret. Lt. Gen. from the Air Force, will highlight some points since it is related. Over 70% of all young Americans 17-24 do not qualify to serve, a lot of that is from poor health and limited physical fitness. Tobacco use is a part of that. Military spends more than $1.6b on Medicare and lost work days due to smoking. Reducing smoking is good for public health and good for military preparedness.

 

Terry Harper, self – Against

  • Texas is not a nanny state. Texas has a strong tradition of individual rights.
  • Passing age-related restrictions is “straight from Hillary Clinton’s playbook”.
  • There are people who are in their 40s, 50s, and 60s who still make bad choices. No amount of legislation will prevent bad choices and behavior.

 

Amy Headkey, self – Against

  • Texas is already a nanny state, but it shouldn’t be.
  • Joining the military is often a bad choice for a person’s health. Smoking is more reversible than mental and physical health problems from the military.
  • If you really wanted to save lives you would have filed a bill to abolish abortion.

 

Jason Tamplan, self – Against

  • If you are to change the age it should be 19 instead of 21. If the goal is to take it out of high school then putting the age at 19 would accomplish that.
  • Removing products with nicotine levels above a certain level and banning products like Juuls could be more effective.

 

Robbie Klaus, self – Against

  • Son was 18, regarded as an adult while under anesthesia, parent could not sign a consent form. If they are regarded as an adult for that health decision, then they should be able to choose if they can smoke.
  • If goal is to take tobacco out of high school then why not change the age to 19?
  • Juul pods are different from vapor products, vapor product should be excluded.

 

Betty Hemet, self – Against

  • Spike in teen users is due to pod-style systems. The nicotine levels in these products are outrageous and give kids a “euphoric feeling”. Need to get these out of kid’s hands.
  • Kids who are 18 are adults. They should not be punished because one product (the pods) are not regulated properly.

Jessica Quick, self – Against

  • Many smokers start before they are 18.
  • Teen smoking has declined but is not eradicated.

 

William Thomas, self – Against

  • Need to focus on Juul and other pod based systems which are 1.5-2 times stronger than a cigarette and are causing the problems today.

 

Crystal Main, self – Against

  • People who are underage and want to smoke know which stores to go to get cigarettes. This legislation will not be effective and is unenforceable.
  • If you raise smoking age to 21 the age for voting and the military should also be 21.

 

Colin Crook, self – For

  • Tobacco is the most preventable cause of death in the US.
  • As an 18 year old it is possible to share products with underage students.

 

Steve Ross, Tobacco Coalition Specialist for Texans Standing Tall – For

  • Tobacco use was declining among high school students, but Juul and similar products are reversing that trend.
  • Juul has taken over the industry, has 65% market share. 10% of high school youth are using regularly and over 60% have tried.

 

Steve Belcher, self – Against

  • Son is in military, made the choice to join the Marines at 18. The nanny state that some of this stuff does is personally disturbing. Texas is a freedom loving state.

 

Kevin Haney, self – Against

  • Vape device helped an 18 year old stay off opioids. This bill would have prevented that.
  • Law could apply to Juuls but should not apply to lower-nicotine levels of vape devices.

 

Suzy Kennan, Texas PTA – For

  • Raising the age to 21 will prevent 18 year-olds from buying tobacco products for younger high school students.
  • Would be harder for younger teens to pass themselves off as 21 to illegally buy products.

 

Adam Cahn, Cahman’s Musings – Against

  • This will not prevent people from buying products for underage, it will just move the age at which it happens from 18 to 21.

 

Charlotte Owen, self – Against

  • 90% of all smokers start before 18. This means that this law does not work, there is no reason to think it will start working just because the age is 21.
  • Juuls and pod-products are big tobacco’s way of addicting a new generation, we should be focusing on that and not on the legal age.

 

Sheila Franklin, self – For

  • Teen brain is not fully developed until age 25. Teen and adult brains process information in different ways.
  • Military is a process that helps people grow personally and make better decisions.

 

Dr. Steve Kelder, UT School of Public Health – Resource witness

  • This is a good piece of legislation, will reduce youth addiction.
  • Military is not a good reason to be against, as a 5-year Army veteran this is not a good reason.
  • Huffman – Do you believe that this bill will save lives if it passes?
    • Kelder – Yes it will. E-cigarettes have the same problem as cigarettes with nicotine and have other problems with carcinogens and they can change DNA in ways that we do not yet understand.
    • Huffman – Question about FDA study on new tobacco products
    • Kelder – There have been delay tactics by the companies, but the studies are being incrementally done and are showing e-cigarettes are not safer than cigarettes.

 

Dr. John Carlyle, Texas Medical Association and Texas Public Health Coalition – For

  • Addiction starts early around age 15-17.
  • Nobody wants to be addicted to tobacco, is that really a choice that people want to make?
  • Tobacco-related diseases results in costs to the users and to the rest of society who have to bear the healthcare costs.
  • Huffman – In your written testimony you make the point that it has been known for 60 years the harmful effect of tobacco and have known for 40 years that tobacco companies consider todays teens to be the next smokers, is that true?
    • Carlyle – Yes and we have been successful in bringing down adult smoking rates from 50% in the 1950s down to 15% now.
  • Fallon – What were the reductions in percentages from raising the age to specific ages?
    • Carlyle – Going from 18 to 19 reduces a certain amount, 18 to 20 more than 19 and 21 more than those.
    • Fallon – If it was raised to 25 would that reduce it more than 21?
    • Carlyle – Yes but there are diminishing returns after age 21.
    • Fallon – Would it save lives if tobacco was banned completely?
    • Carlyle – Yes.
    • Fallon – 21 seems kind of arbitrary. We could ban for the whole population and save more lives.
  • Hall – So it is the product that is the problem, not the people making the choice.
    • Carlyle – I think it is a little of both, when a product is as addictive as tobacco it needs to be looked at as a public health risk.
    • Hall – But there are tow things to look at, should we protect a small part of the population or the whole population?
    • Carlyle – We know that the earlier you start the more of a risk there is of addiction.

 

Samantha Boy, Parents Against Vaping – For

  • Children are getting high from Juul pods, they are very dangerous to the youth.
  • Two flavors of Juul pods are linked to COPD and asthma.
  • Juul has patented a certain kind of nicotine salt, which is an “expressway” to addiction.
  • Daughter has become angry and irritable when she can’t get a Juul hit.
  • Hall – Experienced similar process with brother becoming addicted, you are talking about a daughter who was 13 when she started, how would raising the age from 18 to 21 make a difference?
    • Boy – It is very easy for these kids to get their hands on them.
    • Hall – Drugs are illegal for any age, but every high school has a drug dealer, how will this stop it?
    • Boy – 18 year-olds are in the high schools and it is trickling down into younger students and into middle schools.
    • Hall – But it is already illegal, this bill will not stop something that is already happening anyway.
    • Kedler – Someone is buying these Juul pods and it is often 19-20 year-olds. This will not solve the problem entirely but will help.
    • Hall – Banning these products entirely would do more.
    • Kedler – That is on the table for the FDA, I would support them doing that.

SB 21 left pending.

 

SB 9 (Hughes) (Committee substitute) – Relating to election integrity; increasing criminal penalties; creating a criminal offense; creating civil penalties.

  • Require counties to use a system with a verifiable paper audit trail by 2024.
  • Use risk-limiting audits to ensure votes are counted in the right way. Use statistical methods to ensure highest level of confidence with the least amount of resources.
  • CS changes voter assistance and curbside-voting provisions so that a watcher cannot be present when a person is voting with the assistance of a family member but can be there when anyone else is assisting them. Ensure that it is the voter’s preferences that are being recorded.
  • Hall – Great bill, addresses many items that are needed. I have a few proposed amendments, am open to doing those in Committee or between now and when it goes to the floor.
    • Hughes – You are right about other issues that need to be addressed.
    • Hall – Those issues are:
      • Require a county official to print the record immediately before the polls open and confirm the machines have zero votes in them.
      • Immediately after closing print the “tally tape”, a judge a representative from each major party will sign that before it is removed.
      • Require counting station judges establish a protocol that no internet-connected devices are allowed in the central counting station.
      • Provide funding for each county to purchase equipment needed to meet the requirements of this bill.
    • Hughes – For the counties who recently purchased machines that do not comply there is funding already for them. The date for which this will go into effect will depend on funding.
    • Hall – I believe there is enough funding to get this done by 2020 and I can bring that amendment to you if you agree with these concepts.
  • Huffman- To Hall, you talked about a representative from each party to sign off of the tapes, who is in mind as the representative?
    • Hall – This will be such that if they are present they can sign but if they are not present they do not have to sign.
    • Huffman – Would the representative be designated by the party in advance?
    • Hall – It could be.
    • Huffman – That is something to look into, to make sure they have been designated in the past and not just some guy standing there.
  • Huffman – You said that internet-connected devices would be banned?
    • Hall – it would be an internet-connected device that could also be connected to the voting machines.
    • Huffman – Sometimes there are devices to augment the ability of the machines to send back results?
    • Hall – Those are older machines, the newer machines are not capable of being connected.
    • Huffman – Need to make sure there are no older machines and results are out quickly, since there are often suspicions of mischief if the results are not out quickly.
  • Hall – Have one more suggestion, to move to a voting week instead of a voting day. The gap between early voting and the election day provides a possibility for tampering with the machines.

 

Public testimony

Omar Escobar, DA for 229th Judicial District – For

  • Political workers have been marking disabled on forms for people who were not disabled. Once investigations began into this, ballot-by-mail votes were canceled by the voters.
  • Political workers would “help” voters falsely marked as disabled to vote for certain candidates.
  • In November 2018 election there was election fraud happening with assisted voting. Political workers took advantage of voters who did not actually need assistance.
  • Should be a way to prevent political workers form engaging in this kind of activity. Laws currently are not enforced, SB 9 addresses a lot of these concerns.
  • Hughes – When there is assistance the assistant can see who the voter votes for?
    • Escobar – There was a single person who assisted over 200 voters in ballot by mail, another who assisted 100 people. For in-person voting, the elections official cannot watch if it is a “personal assistant”, and the political workers know this. This should not be happening.
    • Hughes – In SB 9 we propose that if the assistant is a family member then the election official can’t watch, but otherwise they can.
    • Escobar – If it is a family member then they need the privacy, but if it is an operative then there should be oversight.

 

Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, London Center for Policy Research – For

  • Worked in early efforts for cybersecurity for the Pentagon and continues to work on these projects.
  • Paperless electronic voting machines (DREs) are targets for other nations who want to influence US elections. Texas is one of 13 states who still use these machines.
  • SB 9 addresses this threat, cybersecurity experts support the idea of backing up votes with paper ballots.
  • Hughes – There are a lot of people who think the DREs are safer than paper, can you give some of your background and why you think this is a threat?
    • Shaffer – Anything that is digital can be hacked and modified. There are any number of ways to compromise these systems even if the are not connected to the internet. DREs were not hardened to prevent foreign threats during supply chain or software updates. Not every machine has to be hacked, there only has to be a perception they are unsafe.
    • Hughes – Is it possible to go into these machines and make changes and then cover your tracks?
    • Shaffer – Yes there are hackers who will use 3rd party systems to distract attention or will use an administrative back-door to hack the system and nobody would know. I would urge a rapid removal of DREs by 2020. I don’t think these foreign countries are going to pick a winner, they are trying to undermine our confidence.
  • Hall – The technology you are talking about is not unique to a foreign country, it could happen from within the US?
    • Shaffer – There is no doubt someone with sufficient skills and understanding could affect elections. A domestic threat would change it for a specific outcome while foreign threats are merely trying to disrupt.
    • Hall – We know without going into specifics that systems with much higher levels than DREs have been hacked, the DREs are like child’s play compared to those. A teenager could do something like this.
    • Shaffer – The vendor who was retaining the CIA’s hacking tools were stored on the internet, and because it was from a 3rd party there were other hackers who were able to gain access. If the data exists only on the internet it is vulnerable.
    • Hall – There will always be a way for the evil heart of man to find a way to disrupt the system. We are trying to reduce the gap in security. Based on your knowledge would the current system hold up in a court of law to verify the votes?
    • Shaffer – Based on my knowledge, and I am not a lawyer, without a physical artifact there is no way to verify the results.
    • Hall – We have zero confidence that our history of voting with DREs has resulted in the will of the people it is crucial to use paper.

 

Dylan Lynch, National Conference of State Legislatures – On

  • NSCL does not take a position on any legislation, will provide background information.
  • Gave overview of states that have been conducting risk-limiting audits.
  • Creighton – Give some examples in the category of other on your presentation?
    • Lynch – For example Idaho will only do an audit if a recount is triggered.
    • Creighton – Any trends across the country consistent with what we are doing?
    • Lynch – Risk-limiting audits are on an upward trend. After Colorado established a risk-limiting audit in 2018 more states began to adopt them.
  • Hughes – Concept of risk-limiting audit, under traditional post-election audit system we take a look if there is a problem. Is it fair to say the risk-limiting audit allows us to identify problems we did not necessarily know was there?
    • Lynch – Risk-limiting audits will help you to know you are not certifying an incorrect result.

Chase Bearden, self – On

  • Make sure everyone working in the polling place understands the adaptive equipment that is in place and would not have to use any assistance.
  • Hughes – We want to make sure that anyone who can vote without assistance is able to do so.

 

Heather Hawthorne, Chambers County Clerk – On

  • There are a lot of good things in the bill but are a few concerns.
  • Cost of changing out the DREs is over $200m, unless the state can fund this change it will be difficult for counties to comply. Galveston County purchase for $3.5m DREs within the last 30 days, that would need to be recouped.
  • Hall – We have a rider in the bill to do this, we would use money from ESF for a one-time purchase for these machines.

 

Chris Davis, Texas Association of Election Administrators – On

  • In favor of risk-limiting audits, have concerns about cost.
  • Members are interested in how this can be enforced. The judges would have to cover a lot more ground outside of the polling place, this would distract from their main function.
  • How to determine if a person is a family member or not?
  • Hall – On the issue of 1,000 feet, do you believe that leaves a lot of latitude for the election judge to determine what is obstruction?
    • Davis – It would, 1,000 feet can be across the street or in a neighboring lot.
    • Hall – It would extend into nearby businesses, not what we want.

 

Alan Vera, Republican Party Election Security Committee – Against

  • How do you prevent the ballot duplication and counterfeiting that have been a part of paper ballots for years?
  • Have to deal with the issue of voter credibility. I do not think this solution increases voter credibility. Compare it to Broward County, Florida.
  • Hall – I agree we need to make sure it is tight, but to compare it to Broward County is disingenuous. The technology is much better. Have to understand there will always be a way to beat the system, what we are trying to do is make it is as difficult as possible to compromise the system.
    • Vera – The equipment used in Broward County was used in 2018, with hanging chads.
    • Hall – That is more a problem with the way Broward County handles their elections. We cannot rely on people to be honest, we need to make it as difficult as possible to be dishonest.
    • Vera – Came to say that the solution in SB 9 is Broward County and is not acceptable.
    • Hall – We would welcome your suggestions if you have any.

 

Jeff Miller, Disability Rights Texas – Against

  • Need to make sure that disabled can still vote.
  • If poll watchers required to watch someone with assistance, then they must be trained in how people with visual impairments have different assistance than people with for example autism.
  • Hughes – The bill is aimed at people who would abuse the rights of the disabled, we do not want to prevent anyone from voting.

 

Mary Smith, Concerned Women for America – For

  • Election integrity has been compromised.
  • Support a voter-verifiable paper audit trail and random statewide audits.

 

Tom Glass, self – For

  • Auditable voting system will solve many of the problems currently with elections.
  • In response to Alan Vera, all systems can be corrupted. The auditable voting system is verified twice by independent people, which reduces its ability to be corrupted.

 

Crystal Main, self – For

  • This needs to be in place by 2020, as quickly as possible. If there is no election integrity then there is no reason to vote.

 

Cindy Wetherbee, League of Women Voters – Against

  • There are some good things in the bill but there is more bad than good.

 

Jonathan White, Office of the Attorney General – On

  • Hughes – The bill increases penalties for certain offenses, give an idea of those penalties?
    • White – The offenses in this bill are in line with other election code offenses. They are at a state jail felony level.
    • Hughes – With regard to the offenses which are addressed would you agree they have an intent requirement?
    • White – Yes fraudulent statements must be made with a demonstrable intent to commit fraud or to affect the election.

 

Terry Harper, self – For

  • Republican Party has 15 planks, or 5%, address election issues, especially election integrity.
  • Country is based on rule of law and fear of punishment, this bill does both.

 

Glenn Maxie, Texas Democratic Party – Against

  • Would prefer if this bill addressed online voter registration and abuse of vote-by-mail.
  • Support the paper trails and audits in the bill.

 

Don Dixon, self – For

  • Everybody’s vote should be protected regardless of the party.

 

Rick Briscoe, self – For

  • It is necessary to have timely remedies.

 

Michael Openshaw, self – For

  • Having two ongoing checks will be good, because either one by itself is not good.
  • The 1,000 foot attribute is a little excessive, 300 feet would be better.

 

James Slattery, Texas Civil Rights Project – Against

  • SB 9 would enable the continuation of selective prosecutions of people who make honest mistakes in the election process.
  • 9,608 Texans cast provisional ballots in November that were rejected because they thought they were registered when they weren’t. SB 9 would remove any need to prove intent in these cases.

 

Joaquin Gonzalez, Texas Civil Rights Project – Against

  • Bill would allow disclosure of dates of birth and social security numbers to the cross-checking system, which has been discredited.

 

James Keller, self – For

  • Have to worry about domestic threat, city and county elections are worth millions in contracts and can be easily manipulated.

 

Robert Caples, Starr County Special Crimes Unit – On

  • Investigations in Starr County found that many voters had been manipulated by campaign workers to mark themselves as disabled when they were not.
  • Campaign workers were manipulating mail-in ballots.
  • Hughes – Did you ever find cases where voters thought the campaign workers were official election workers?
    • Caper – There were some cases where they did believe that, but even if they didn’t most of the voters just signed their names and the campaign workers filled out the rest. 100% of the mail-in applications I looked at were illegitimate.

 

Dr. Laura Pressley, True Texas Elections – For

  • Paper ballots will provide essential backup.
  • Texas is different from Florida, the Texas Constitution requires each ballot to be numbered, which Florida does not require.
  • Support Hall’s proposal of the zero-tape verification.
  • Hughes – Have you worked as an election watcher?
    • Witness – Yes, I have observed obstruction and even the deletion of data by an election worker. Watchers are there to document a crime, not to prevent one.
  • Hall – We know that illegal things have been happening, but it is very difficult to find evidence of the things you are talking about. We are trying to have a system where there is evidence when someone commits a crime, so it is possible to prosecute.
    • Witness – Hopefully the ability to watch them and take video and audio recordings will prevent crime from going on.
    • Hall – Be clear we are talking about central counting, not about county elections which are very private. This has nothing to do with how anyone votes, it has to do with if people are doing their job correctly to count votes. There is no reason not to have a comprehensive recording.
    • Witness – Yes one way to clean up and reduce the opportunities for fraud in central county is to take recordings.
    • Hall – Is there any way other than recording to prevent it?
    • Witness – That is the best way to do it, there was one instance where I as a watcher was escorted out, which is illegal, and if there was a video it would have been useful.
    • Hall – I think it was Stalin who said, “I don’t care who votes and how many times they vote, I just care who counts the votes”.

 

Todd Key, self – For

  • There is a lot of evidence of voter fraud, fully support an offline voting system that creates a paper trail so a count can be established without worrying about cyberattacks.

 

Bill Sergeant, self – Against

  • The hysteria around this is much higher than the actual problem. The DREs are not connected to the internet, there is no wireless capability, and there is complete security for it.
  • The bill is good other than the sections about DREs.
  • Lucio – How would you rate the equipment used for elections in Galveston County?
    • Sergeant – When I was there the equipment was completely safe. This bill will cost an extra $150m, if the state does not appropriate the funds it will be an unfunded mandate that the counties can’t afford.
    • Lucio – I think we should pass this to make sure we have fair elections, but we should provide the funding so that local governments can afford it.
  • Hughes – Under the bill, counties that have bought new machines since 2014 would be paid for by the state.
    • Lucio – So any counties that bought them before 2014 would pay themselves?
    • Hughes – They would have a little longer to comply. Counties usually update these machines every 10 years. Under the bill all small and medium sized counties will be paid for by the state.
  • Fallon – I have seen that people press certain people on the screen and then they weren’t voting for those people, how is that possible?
    • Sergeant – The problem was with people voting straight party and then pressing for a candidate they wanted from that party, which deselected that candidate. It was voter error not a problem with the machines. That problem will be gone because there will not be straight party voting in 2020.
    • Fallon – Is it possible for the electronic votes to be manipulated after the votes?
    • Sergeant – Paper ballots can be manipulated easily, we have seen that in Florida.

 

Fatima Menendez, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund – Against

  • This bill will prevent certain electioneering actions that are constitutionally protected.
  • Section 1.07 will undermine the integrity of elections and are unnecessary.
  • Sections of the bill conflict with Federal requirements on voter assistance.

 

Ed Johnson, self – Against

  • Worked in Harris County elections for 18 years, have never seen the systems hacked.

 

Adam Cahn, Cahnman’s Musings – For

  • This bill is “awesome” and would be “more awesome” if it included Hall’s amendments.

 

Karen Marshall, self – For

  • Has worked for 8 years as election official. Digital data can easily be compromised.

Sharon Armkey, self – For

  • Electronic ballots on a small memory car can be lost, a paper ballot backup would prevent this.

 

Hughes closing comments

  • There is a typo in the bill on page 21 line 15. Will be fixed on the floor if it gets to the floor.

SB 9 left pending.