About 95,000 ballots cast in the nationally watched were verified with a hand-counted audit by bipartisan volunteers and the Tarrant County Elections Office.
No errors were found during the audit except those caused by workers during the manual counting, participants said. The review came as local Republicans table their in future elections.
County elections administrator Clint Ludwig requested that all ballots cast in person during the Jan. 31 runoff 鈥� instead of the fraction mandated by state law 鈥� be hand-counted to verify the election鈥檚 integrity, according to a letter he wrote to the Texas Secretary of State dated Feb. 5.
The Senate District 9 election drew national attention as Democrat Taylor Rehmet in the traditionally red north Fort Worth district that supported President Donald Trump鈥檚 reelection by more than 17 points in 2024.
鈥淭his special election runoff presents a unique opportunity for the elections administrator to publicly demonstrate the reliability of Tarrant County鈥檚 voting equipment, as it is practically feasible for a full hand-count audit of each voted ballot due to the modest number of ballots cast and the singular election on the ballot,鈥� Ludwig wrote in the letter, according to a copy reviewed by the Fort Worth Report.
Leaders in Tarrant County鈥檚 Republican and Democratic parties both applauded the accuracy of the election results after the audit was completed. However, some within the Democratic party, as well as nonpartisan observers, questioned whether the audit was necessary or warranted the expense of paying ballot counters.
The decision to expand the audit sets a 鈥減recedent that we shouldn鈥檛 have,鈥� said Janet Mattern, president of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Tarrant County, a nonprofit devoted to increasing civic engagement and voter education.
鈥淚鈥檓 very concerned that this may happen again, and I鈥檓 very concerned that they鈥檙e not considering the taxpayer dollars, how expensive this is for an activity that they proved was not necessary,鈥� Mattern said. 鈥淲hat other kind of unnecessary work are they doing and causing us to pay more taxes on?鈥�
The expanded audit required at least 50 paid workers from the Democratic and Republican parties to complete, said Kat Cano, a lead Democratic ballot board judge who co-led the audit. Ludwig and county officials did not respond to questions on how much the effort cost.
Elections workers identified no errors from the voting machines but introduced and caught several 鈥渉uman miscounts鈥� during the hand-counting process, Cano explained.
鈥淭he machines are very accurate. And when we were trying to prove the accuracy of the machines, the problem you run into is that humans are inaccurate,鈥� Cano said. 鈥淪o you have to go back and redo your work a lot of the time.鈥�
Amie Super, the lead Republican ballot board judge who led the audit with Cano, did not return requests for comment.
The audit comes about a month after the local GOP cast in the March primaries, which includes county, state and federal offices. Party officials decided the effort would be too logistically challenging for this year鈥檚 primaries but promised to continue exploring the idea for future elections.
Texas law requires counties to audit a small fraction of ballots cast in each election to certify accurate results. The so-called Post-Election Hand Count Audit must start within 72 hours after polls close on Election Day and be completed within 21 days.
Audit results must be posted on the county鈥檚 website where election results are shared. As of late afternoon Feb. 19, those results were not available.
For Senate District 9, the standard, post-election audit calls for a hand-count of the ballots cast at three Election Day polling locations, three early voting polling locations and three precincts in which at least one ballot was sent by mail, according to Ludwig鈥檚 letter.
Ludwig requested permission from the Secretary of State鈥檚 office to conduct the full audit six days after the runoff. Christina Adkins, the state鈥檚 elections director, approved the request the same day, according to a copy of her letter to Ludwig reviewed by the Report.
Alicia Pierce, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State鈥檚 office, confirmed permission was granted for the audit and that Tarrant County is paying all associated costs but otherwise deferred questions to the county elections office.
Ludwig did not answer questions about who initiated the audit or why. In a text message Thursday, he told the Report his office was working on a press release related to the topic.
Tarrant County commissioners voted unanimously Feb. 10 to canvass the election results. It was during that meeting that Commissioner Alisa Simmons learned about the expanded audit when a speaker thanked County Judge Tim O鈥橦are for certifying the election鈥檚 integrity.
By Feb. 19, Simmons had not received any details or updates about the audit and its findings, she said. She questioned who authorized related costs, as the issue didn鈥檛 go to a commissioners court vote.
Like Mattern, Simmons worries the action could set an 鈥渆xpensive鈥� precedent for future elections, particularly ones with packed ballots like November.
鈥淚f we鈥檙e starting this now, what鈥檚 to say we鈥檙e not going to do it for future elections?鈥� said Simmons, who is in the March 3 primaries to challenge O鈥橦are for the county judge seat in November.
Leah Nesbitt, a spokesperson for O鈥橦are鈥檚 office, did not return a request for comment.
The January runoff was 鈥渁 good chance鈥� to demonstrate the integrity of Tarrant County鈥檚 voting systems since only two candidates were on the ballot, said Allison Campolo, chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party. The completed audit did just that, she said, adding that she鈥檚 unsure why it was necessary since the state-mandated partial audit didn鈥檛 find any errors.
鈥淭he only thing the audit can do is cast doubt or give you peace of mind on your process,鈥� Campolo said.
After Rehmet鈥檚 win in the Senate District 9 race, it鈥檚 important that voters trust local elections, Campolo added. Political observers for the November general election as local Republicans seek to maintain control of Tarrant County, historically a GOP stronghold that鈥檚 showed signs of purple trends in recent elections.
At a political rally the day after the runoff, O鈥橦are told local and state Republicans, 鈥淲e cannot afford to lose what is the most important county in the entire country.鈥� He and other GOP officials up and down the ballot in November.
Although she was encouraged to see the two political parties work collaboratively to conduct the audit, Mattern said she鈥檚 wary of foul play because she didn鈥檛 see the audit disclosed to residents publicly. She wants to know why the audit was necessary and how much it cost taxpayers.
鈥淓verything may be correct, but if you do not have the transparency of what鈥檚 happening, it leads to people thinking that something wrong is going on 鈥� whether it is or not,鈥� Mattern said.
Leigh Wambsganss 鈥� the Trump-endorsed, 鈥渦ltra MAGA鈥� Southlake Republican who lost to Rehmet 鈥� said she doesn鈥檛 know who requested the audit.
鈥淚 appreciate the work done by the county and the elections administrator in carrying out this important duty,鈥� Wambsganss wrote in a text message. 鈥淣either I, nor anyone from my campaign team, asked for a hand count.鈥�
Tim Davis, chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party, said he doesn鈥檛 know why the expanded audit was called, but he believes 鈥渋t鈥檚 definitely something that鈥檚 good to do.鈥�
鈥淲e should audit every election that we have the capability and the resources to audit because elections are so important,鈥� he added.
ampolo disagreed, saying fully auditing future elections by hand would be 鈥渁 wild use of time,鈥� particularly after this audit demonstrated no errors from the voting machines.
Meanwhile, Rehmet at the state鈥檚 capitol Thursday afternoon. He did not return a request for comment.
鈥淭o the working families of Texas: your struggles, hopes, and hard work will be heard at the Capitol,鈥� Rehmet wrote in a Feb. 19 social media post about his swearing in. 鈥淭ogether, we will fight to make sure our government works for the people 鈥� not the wealthy and well-connected.鈥�
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
