El Paso, Texas – Following the November 2026 General and Special Election, El Paso County election officials are conducting the post-election audits required under state law to verify the accuracy of voting equipment and confirm the outcome of the election, including the Post-Election Hand Count Audit and a statewide Risk-Limiting Audit.
“Every vote cast in Texas this November is backed by a paper ballot, and the Post-Election Hand Count Audit is how county election officials show that the paper ballots and the machine totals match,” said Lisa Wise, El Paso County Elections Administrator. “Members of each county’s Early Voting Ballot Board will count paper ballots by hand, watchers appointed by campaigns and political parties can be in the room to observe, and the results will be posted publicly for every Texan to see. County election officials across the state embrace the opportunity to demonstrate the many safeguards and security measures built into our state’s election system and look forward to working with the Texas Legislature to further enhance transparency so that we can continue to instill the trust in our election process that all Texas voters deserve.”
The Post-Election Hand Count Audit for El Paso County is scheduled to begin November 12th at 9:00 a.m. at the El Paso County Election Department, 500 E. San Antonio Ave., Suite 314, El Paso, Texas 79901. This process is open to poll watchers subject to Texas Election Code.
Beginning this year, state law requires a Risk-Limiting Audit (RLA) in every Texas election that includes a statewide race or measure, following a pilot program created by Senate Bill 598 passed during the 87th Texas Legislature, in which more than 200 counties participated. While the Post-Election Hand Count Audit checks the accuracy of voting equipment in specific locations, the RLA uses statistics to check the outcome of one or more statewide races selected by the Secretary of State, detecting any statistical anomalies in how ballots were tabulated.
The RLA for El Paso County is scheduled for November 19th at 9:00 a.m. and continues November 20th at 9:00 a.m. at the El Paso County Election Department, 500 E. San Antonio Ave., Suite 314, El Paso, Texas 79901. This process is open to poll watchers subject to Texas Election Code.
Neither of these audits are the same as a recount, which governed separately by Chapter 213 of the Texas Election Code, and the Post-Election Hand Count Audit does not trigger a recount or change the results of an election. Instead, both audits provide an additional, documented, and publicly reported check that the equipment counted ballots correctly and that the reported outcome is right.
The Post-Election Hand Count Audit
Under Section 127.201 of the Texas Election Code, every county that counts ballots electronically must conduct a Post-Election Hand Count Audit after every election.
Election workers retrieve the paper ballots from a sample of polling places and precincts, count selected races entirely by hand, and compare those totals to the results reported by the voting equipment. The audit covers Early Voting ballots cast in person, mail ballots, and Election Day ballots counted by scanner.
Texas law requires that members of the Early Voting Ballot Board, rather than elections office staff, conduct the count, and that results be posted on the county’s website.
Who Decides What Gets Counted?
For the November 2026 General and Special Election, the Texas Secretary of State selects the polling places, precincts, and two of the three races to be counted, with county election officials choosing the third. By law, the Secretary of State cannot notify counties of its selections until the day after Election Day.
The selection must include at least:
- Three Election Day Vote Centers and three Early Voting Locations, or one percent of each, whichever is greater;
- Three precincts in which mail ballots were cast, or one percent of those precincts, whichever is greater, and
- No more than three offices or propositions to be counted on those ballots.
The Secretary of State’s office issued guidance to counties on November 4th and provided each County with specific instructions directly, and selected the races for United States Senator and Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court to be audited as part of the Post-Election Hand Count Audit.
Counties participating in the Countywide Polling Place Program count Election Day and in-person Early Voting ballots based on polling places, rather than specific precincts. County election officials may also choose to add up to three more Early Voting Locations, Election Day Vote Centers, and mail ballot precincts to the audit, selected at random, by highest turnout, or where reconciliation paperwork shows a discrepancy, and must post public notice when they do.
When Does the Hand County Take Place?
Because this is the first Texas General Election with a statewide Risk-Limiting Audit, the hand count timeline is different than in past elections:
- Counties must begin the hand count no later than Monday, November 23rd, if the Risk-Limiting Audit is certified on Friday, November 20th. Counties with the time, staff, and resources may begin earlier. The Secretary of State has advised counties that cannot finish the hand count before November 19th to wait until the Risk-Limiting Audit is certified. Then hand count must be completed by Thursday, December 3rd, the 30th day after Election Day, or a later date set by the Secretary of State, whichever is later.
In elections without a statewide Risk-Limiting Audit, the hand count must begin within 72 hours after polls close and be completed within 21 days.
Security, Chain of Custody, and Who Can Observe the Hand Count
Every step of the hand count is governed by strict security and chain of custody procedures. Before any ballots are counted, county election officials, together with at least one member of the counting team, inspect each ballot box to confirm all locks and seals are intact, and the seal numbers are documented when boxes are opened and again when they are re-sealed.
County election officials must post public notice of the date, time, and location of the audit. While the hand count itself is not open to the general public, state law allows those with a direct stake in the election to be present, including:
In counties with a population of 100,000 or more, state law requires video surveillance and a public livestream of every area containing voted ballots until the local canvass is completed (no later than November 17th), so any hand count conducted before the canvass in those counties takes place on camera.
How the Ballots are Counted
Counting teams must include at least two people, and the Secretary of State recommends three. Teams count either by calling out each vote while two members record it or by sorting ballots into labeled stacks and counting each stack.
Three separate tally sheets are kept and must match, if they don’t, the ballots are counted again. Every overvote and undervote is recorded, voter intent is determined under the standards set in Chapter 65 of the Texas Election Code, and no one may make a mark on any ballot.
Comparing Results and Reporting to the Public
Once the count is complete, hand counted totals are compared with the voting system’s results for each selected polling place and precinct. If the numbers don’t match, count election officials and the Early Voting Ballot Board must work together to determine why, including by confirming that the number of ballots in each batch matches the machine count, that no ballots or ballot boxes were missed, and recounting the ballots. Hand marked ballots that a ballot scanner read as an overvote or undervote, but where the voter’s intent is clear to a person, are a common source of small differences. Every change and every discrepancy, and the effort to resolve it, must be documented.
Within three days of completing the audit, each county must deliver a written report to the Secretary of State that includes the hand count and electronic results, an explanation of any discrepancies, and a signed certification, and post the results on the county’s website, in the same location as its election results. Audit records are public and retained for 22 months.
