Texas Law Protects Voters' Rights to Anonymity

AUSTIN—Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson issued the following statement in response to questions about the protection of voter anonymity when it comes to the release of cast ballots following an election:

"Texas protects the right of Texans to cast their ballots anonymously. Lawmakers have balanced this right of voters to maintain ballot privacy with the need for election transparency. Texas law requires county officials both to permit the public to inspect election records and to redact any personally identifiable information that can be traced to an individual's ballot selections. Counties should neither compromise election transparency nor violate the privacy of individual voters."

Background

H.B. 5180 passed in 2023, outlines public access to ballot images, cast voter records, and the original voted ballot. It stipulates personally identifiable information be redacted. A recent opinion (KP-0463)from the Texas Attorney General’s Office upholds the protection of privacy stating counties “must redact any such personally identifiable information to protect the constitutional right to a secret ballot in Texas.”

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