Tarrant County's 11-day manual recount confirms 2020 Senate runoff accuracy
A manual recount of votes in Tarrant County's 2020 Texas Senate runoff election has concluded after 11 days of work. Around 50 bipartisan volunteers hand-counted roughly 95,000 ballots, with both candidates involved in selecting participants. The process aimed to verify the accuracy of the original results.
The audit was requested by Clint Ludwig, Tarrant County's elections administrator. He confirmed that no errors were found in the original count, except for minor mistakes made during the manual recount itself. Ludwig also stated that he does not plan to request a full audit of the November election, as the results reinforced confidence in the county's election security.
Commissioner Alisa Simmons raised concerns about the audit's cost, questioning who authorised the spending. The recount cost approximately $750,000—over ten times the usual expense of a state-mandated partial audit, which typically ranges from $50,000 to $70,000. Ludwig acknowledged that his office budgets extra for such audits but did not provide a final cost during his March 10 briefing to commissioners.
Ludwig also noted that the Senate District 9 audit simply expanded the scope of a required procedure. However, he could not give a timeline for when the final cost would be available.
The hand-count audit confirmed the accuracy of Tarrant County's election results without uncovering systemic issues. While the process stayed within the elections office's budget, questions remain about the high cost and approval process. The findings will likely influence future decisions on election oversight in the county.
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