Increase in election audits brings no discrepancies, leaders hope to increase trust

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Brazos County leaders doubled the number of election audits they conducted for this November’s election and presented findings of no discrepancies.

Brazos County manually audited six locations, which is up from the three required by the state. This is something county commissioners say was important to show the public.

“Election Integrity is really important and it’s important that our citizens have confidence in our vote. And I think by doubling the required state-mandated recounts or certifications, it was important to do that,” County Commissioner Nancy Berry said.

Commissioners have listened to concerned residents at meetings, pushing for the county to move to paper ballots. But, leaders say our elections are safe and even double-checked this year.

“All of us on commissioner court, I’m not here doing a formal vote, but I would say it’s five to zero that the commissioner court and residents care that the election results are accurate and fair,” County Commissioner Chuck Konderla said. “It just helps for voter integrity, it helps for assurance to the voting public that the votes counts are accurate. And as you may know, the six precincts audited this year, our manual recounted this year have zero discrepancies.”

Brazos County Elections Administrator, Trudy Hancock, says she’s happy to share any results with people and hopes it’s a way to increase trust.

“Not having any discrepancies just tells me that for one thing. My staff is doing a good job and that we are doing everything that we should be doing to make sure that our chain of custody is being handled properly and that no equipment is being tampered with at all,” Hancock said. “We want every voter to feel and to know to have the trust, in not just our system, but in my staff to know that we do everything to ensure that things are handled properly, that all the laws are followed, that we do every step that we can to ensure that those votes are cast the way that the person wants them cast and that they are recorded and accounted for the way that the voter cast them.”

The three additional locations chosen were Lincoln Center, College Station City Hall and Arena Hall.