The secretary of state’s office can proactively appoint state inspectors to local polling locations. If at least 15 registered voters in a county or political subdivision request a state inspector before the election, the state must also send one.
State inspectors are state employees, typically volunteers from other state agencies, trained by the secretary of state’s office on election law and procedures, Taylor said.
“They have a long checklist that they’re supposed to check off, ensuring that all the poll workers are doing what they’re supposed to be doing when they’re checking in and assisting voters,” he said.
Election inspector reports can also help the office corroborate concerns or allegations, especially in larger counties with many polling locations, Taylor said.
The state can also send election trainers, state elections staff who are former county election officials, to observe and assist counties in election procedures.
In 2020, more than 250 state inspectors were deployed across the state, Taylor said. This year, the state is sending at least 118 inspectors to polling locations in counties such as Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, Travis, El Paso and some smaller counties. Most inspectors will be deployed for Election Day, but Harris, McLennan, Maverick and Starr counties were also sent inspectors for early voting.
Election trainers will also be sent to Gillespie County, where new staffers were trained after the county’s entire election department resigned amid unfounded local election conspiracy claims.
State election inspectors gained attention last month when county leaders in Harris County expressed concerns after the secretary of state’s office announced in a letter that the county would be receiving inspectors, pointing to an ongoing state audit of the county’s 2020 election and past procedural concerns.
The letter also said the Texas attorney general’s office would also deploy a “task force” to Harris County to “immediately respond to any legal issues identified.” Taylor said this means attorneys from the attorney general’s office will be available to go to court if needed. The attorneys cannot be at polling locations, he said. Only voters, poll workers, elections officials, poll watchers, state inspectors and other limited individuals are allowed in polling places.
The U.S. Department of Justice can also send federal election monitors to polling locations to ensure compliance with voting rights laws. In 2018, federal monitors were sent to Harris, Tarrant and Waller counties. A spokesperson for the justice department declined to comment on whether federal monitors would be sent to Harris County this year, as local leaders requested last month.
In Tarrant County, Garcia said he has gotten used to receiving state inspectors “like every election.” Brazos County had inspectors during the March primary elections, Hancock said. The reports the inspectors produce can help election administrators spot areas of improvement, such as reminding poll workers to wear name tags, she said.
“We’re responsible for all those polling places, but we can’t be in all those polling places. So sometimes we don’t hear about an issue or something that may be going on in the polling place,” she said.
