Frank Phillips, Elections Admin for Denton County (let's go 940). He is advocating for requiring countywide polling places statewide!!!!!!!! That's huge: Denton is one of the biggest TX counties that doesn't do CWPP.

Chair Shaheen does a classic Jim Halpert look ("I'm going to become really unpopular here") before suggesting local taxes should be able to cover election costs, without supplemental $$ from the state. Swanson counters that the lege keeps limiting how much counties can raise taxes.

Now Laura Rogers again for Sherman County (and rural counties more generally). She wears a LOT of hats as a Clerk in a small county, and adding work to the Elections side will cost the other statutory duties to suffer.

Now Teneshia Hudspeth, the County Clerk who runs elections in Harris County (Houston)! For those who were around the lege in 2021, it's low-key momentous to hear testimony from a Harris County Election Official 😅

Jennifer Doinoff from Hays County is noting that this move is going to cost counties a lot of money, including: -More staff to do work during voting that existing staff usually does during the break -Polling locations, since many churches won't be able to host voters on a Sunday -More poll workers

Me trying to livetweet from the lege vs. me at home with all my drinks and screens

Vice Chair @bucyfortexas.bsky.social notes that this change is a big bipartisan win for Texas voters. He adds that he is open to hearing issues from testimony today, but a second weekend of Early Voting will be great for everybody.

Expectedly, Adkins says her working group of election officials unanimously voted that we are NOT ready to move to continuous voting this year. Chair Shaheen emphatically states that there is no problem with a delay till next year. Better to do it right than to do it fast.

First up is Christina Adkins, Elections Director at the Secretary of State's office. They're leading a group to get counties ready to switch from [11-12 days of Early Voting starting on a Monday, 3-day break, then Election Day] to [12 days of Early Voting starting on a Thursday, then Election Day]!

Sorry guys, I clearly lost steam after (or maybe just before) I testified yesterday 😅 Here's my written testimony on protecting Texas voters from AI!

Veronikah Warms for @txcivilrights.bsky.social shares stories of voters with disabilities who have found themselves unable to vote a regular ballot or receive a mail ballot thanks to the aforementioned TEAM issues. 🚨🚨

Rogers pulls jury summons for her county (connected to voter reg), and she says TEAM is routinely giving her folks from the CITY of Sherman, which is not in Sherman County (6.5 hour drive away). That's nuts.

Now Laura Rogers, another election official I'm a big fan of. She's from Sherman County wayyy up in the Panhandle.

Rep. Isaac asks if having 5 days of early voting would be cheaper than having 13 days.

Reposting this again for no reason whatsoever

Mandy Zoch from Secure Democracy is testifying on election audits. She says that 31 states currently complete audits BEFORE certifying results (TX is opposite). Moving our audits up would ensure maximum accuracy and minimal doubt in election results.

Rep. Swanson asked EA Jennifer Doinoff about moving all May elections to November. She says election officials are split on this issue. Some would like to do it for cost and simplicity; others think it would make Nov. ballots too long, causing lines and lost down-ballot votes.

The anti-countywide polling folks are out here, so here's a quick reminder of how the last attempt at a countywide voting ban went

Lots of folks reporting difficulty getting records via PIA, which reminds me of the iconic @lmcgaughy.bsky.social's Twitter header image:

Sherman County Clerk Laura Rogers notes that 30% of Texas counties have fewer than 10,000 people. They have real issues with transparency due to small size!

Jennifer Doinoff, Election Administrator for Hays County (and a statewide leader among EAs), pointed out the bind that this puts election officials in.

We're moving on to election transparency and ballot secrecy. A couple of years ago, there was some serious trouble with private ballots being connected to public officials. It sucks! Gotta close this loophole. www.texastribune.org/2024/05/29/t...

Chris Davis, the voter registration director for Travis County (and a longtime elections pro), notes that once a county sends a notice to someone with a citizenship question, a clock starts. That voter will get booted off the rolls if they don't respond with proof of citizenship in 30 days.

Joyce Lebombard from @lwvtexas.bsky.social is up now. She references the huge criminal penalties that already exist for noncitizens registering to vote, and required investigations that exist in law. "What problem are we trying to solve?"

Now Luis Figueroa from @everytexan.bsky.social! He notes that TX has a very low voter turnout (usually bottom 5 in the US). The tiny number of noncitizens who may be on the rolls are not casting ballots! Also apparently it costs $555 to replace your naturalization certificate, huge barrier to DPOC

Ms. Flores from the Alabama Coushatta tribe of Texas up now. She points out that tribal ID cards were not included in the 2025 TX SAVE Act. She says it poses significant difficulties to try to obtain a birth cert or passport from their location in rural East Texas.

Veronikah Warms from @txcivilrights.bsky.social points out that more Republicans than Democrats would be harmed by DPOC. She also points out that the 2025 version of the TX SAVE Act had a hefty fiscal note: $1.5 million just to get it started.

Now Andrew Hendrickson from @aclutx.bsky.social. He testifies elegantly on many aspects of citizenship and voting, including the fact that he was mistakenly not issued a birth certificate, so he would have trouble satisfying a DPOC requirement. Many such cases!

I testified! Here it is 😁