DCED requested this inspection in response to persistent false claims made by some social media personalities and repeated by some reporters and websites.
Dallas, TX – On Tuesday, October 8th, representatives from the Office of the Texas Secretary of State (SOS) and the Attorney General of Texas (AG), joined by representatives of the Dallas County Democratic and Republican Parties, conducted a successful inspection of the Dallas County Elections Department (DCED) voting systems. This inspection demonstrated both the legitimacy and accuracy of the voting systems platform.
Activities began at 9:00 a.m., with representatives from the SOS, AG, and political parties selecting random voting equipment from the DCED warehouse. After the selection, inspectors conducted hash testing, a rigorous process to confirm the accuracy and security of the voting machines, central count tabulators, and central count accumulators. Each component tested was found to be running software that is fully certified by both the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and the Texas Secretary of State, as required by law.
Inspectors then proceeded to further test the accuracy of the system by marking blank ballots with random patterns, tabulated them through the system and compared the results to a manual hand count. All results were 100% accurate. Additionally, the inspectors reviewed the materials and documentation from the public test conducted between September 18 and 19, and determined that the system had performed as expected, and that any preliminary errors that occurred on September 18 were consistent with human error during the ballot printing process, and not failures in the system. As a reminder, appointees of both political parties had already certified, in writing, that the system completed a successful test on September 19th. No changes or fixes were necessary in the voting system after the inspection.
DCED requested this inspection in response to persistent false claims made by some social media personalities and repeated by some reporters and websites. The results of the inspection conducted by the SOS and AG have unequivocally debunked these unfounded claims.
“With less than 30 days before a major election, our focus should be on mailing ballots, training poll workers, and preparing voting locations, not wasting an entire day combating lies and false claims. Unfortunately, lying about elections has become a way to make both financial and political profit,” said Dallas County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia. “We hope that reporters and individuals who promoted these lies will have the integrity to correct them just as loudly. And to the public, pay close attention to who is lying to you and hold them accountable. Call them out, unfollow them on social media because this will continue to happen unless we devaluate the currency of election lies.”
The Dallas County Elections Department extends its gratitude to the Office of the Texas Secretary of State and the Attorney General of Texas for sending their representatives to our offices to independently verify the accuracy and legitimacy of our platform.