BREAKING NEWS: Val Verde County Election ‘Failures’ Impeding Voter Rights, State Audit Reveals

Office of Texas Secretary of State in Austin

The Texas Secretary of State Elections Division conducted an audit on Val Verde County’s 2023-2024 election period. The first phase of investigation concluded in July 2025, and the State just published a “Preliminary Findings Report for November 5 2024 General Election.” Evidence provided within the report proves Val Verde County was in non-compliance with a half dozen Texas Election Codes. The State said, “this has impeded the free exercise of Val Verde County citizens’ voting rights.”

The Office of the Secretary of State recommended “that the Val Verde County Tax Assessor Collector’s Office be placed under Administrative Oversight.” The audit explained: “Repeated failure to address critical issues in their voter registration process has resulted in voters receiving incorrect ballots, registrations being duplicated, and an inability to generate accurate voter registration lists.”

The Texas Secretary of State Elections Division (SOS) audit of Val Verde County (VVC) was randomized through the Election Audit Program. The SOS website says: “On August 12, 2024, the Secretary of State conducted a drawing to determine which counties would be audited for the 2023-2024 election period. Those counties include Bell; Brazoria; Real; and Val Verde.” However, the VVC Clerk had reached out in the past for help, prior to the audit.

“Based on complaints received by The Secretary of State’s office and upon request of the Val Verde County Clerk who expressed significant concerns regarding the accuracy of the voter registration records and jurisdictional boundaries, the Secretary of State’s Office sent representatives to assist with updating and maintaining these boundary lines to ensure accurate voter registration records in both 2023 and 2024. During the audit, it became evident that despite this personal on-site assistance and training, Val Verde County has not maintained accurate voter registration records.” (Audit, p. 44)

The audit also brought to light persistent issues with maintaining accurate jurisdictional boundaries. This failure resulted in voters receiving incorrect ballots that did not include their correct races or residential address. Election workers reportedly resorted to asking voters to pinpoint their addresses on a map, which led to "increased voter confusion" and a high rate of provisional ballots being cast.

SOS uncovered a series of administrative failures and procedural non-compliance in the county's election processes within the Tax-Assessor Collector’s Office. In Val Verde, Tax-Assessor Collector’s Office also serves as the “voter registrar.” A central finding of the audit is that despite 2 years of training, the county “repeatedly failed” to correct deficiencies in its voter registration process and has not been able to maintain accurate voter registration records.

“Though this audit report has identified issues across Val Verde County that need to be remediated, it is evident that the Val Verde County Clerk has begun the process of addressing identified issues. However, it is evident that despite on-site training and assistance from the Secretary of State’s Office dating back to 2023, the Val Verde County Tax-Assessor repeatedly failed to address critical issues in their voter registration process.” (Audit, p. 3)

Issues like voters receiving incorrect ballots, duplicated voter registrations, and the inability to generate accurate voter lists directly challenge the legitimacy of the election outcome. The State said, “this demonstrates a failure of the county to complete their statutorily required duties.” Voter logs were mostly incomplete and proper ballot securing procedures were not followed. Collectively, these errors suggest that the county's execution of the November 24 election may have undermined the fundamental right of residents to cast a valid and secure ballot.

VVC uses a DS200 Seal log to document the verification of serial numbers daily during early voting and on election day, requiring election workers to sign and validate these numbers as part of the opening and closing verification of seals and public count on the DS200. However, of the five polling locations, only the Joe Ramos Facility documented seal verification and public count for both assigned DS200s upon opening and closing. Furthermore, when reviewing the DS200 Seal logs used to document seals after closing, the Joe Ramos Facility was the only polling location that had a completed log. This procedural inconsistency across the county's polling sites raises concerns about the crucial security measure of documenting equipment seals.

The report reveals a lack of written policies and procedures for voter registration responsibilities. As a result, staff were found to be creating new voter registration records instead of updating existing ones. The high rate of provisional ballots and the lack of proper documentation for many of them further complicates the process, creating uncertainty about whether every eligible vote was properly counted. Incomplete paperwork and documentation were also widespread.

“A total of 25 duplicate registration records were cancelled for voters having more than one record in Val Verde County. This indicates that the county office may not be properly following voter registration procedures as outlined by the Secretary of State. The county admitted that when entering registrations, the county is not conducting a countywide search within the state system to properly update registered voter records. Instead, the county staff is simply creating a new voter registration record. Failure to follow this procedure results in voters being registered more than once within Val Verde County.” (Audit, p. 11)

Val Verde County was found to be compliant with all election results reporting requirements, including conducting the required partial manual count and publicly posting reports. The county used certified voting systems and equipment successfully. The county was also praised for its robust physical security measures at county offices and polling locations, as well as providing active shooter training for all election judges and workers. Regarding election security, the county’s IT Department was credited for its collaborative efforts, internal network monitoring, and an existing Incident Response Plan.

The audit found no evidence of double voting or deceased voters. Yet, the high rate of provisional ballots and the acknowledged failure to properly update voter records and jurisdictional boundaries create uncertainty about how many eligible voters may have been prevented from having their vote counted. The preliminary report for the November 5, 2024, General Election recorded a voter turnout of 48.79%, with 14,694 ballots cast out of 30,116 registered voters.

The report offers preliminary findings related to the November 5, 2024, General Election. The Secretary of State is working on a comprehensive report for all elections conducted during the 2023–2024 calendar year, with the full scope of findings expected to be released at a later date.

SEE FULL PRELIMINARY REPORT HERE: Val Verde County Audit Report