A recent lawsuit suggests a grave violation of voting privacy for over 60,000 Williamson County residents in the November 2023 election. This case, initiated by Dr. Laura Pressley, Robert Bagwell, Teresa Soll, Thomas Larry Korkmas, and Madelon Highsmith, alleges a fundamental breach of the Texas promise of secret ballots—an issue at the heart of electoral integrity and voter trust.
Court documents, procured under the Public Information Act, unveil algorithmic patterns linking more than 60,000 voters directly to their cast ballots. This linkage compromises average citizens and encompasses ballots of high-profile officials, including the Williamson County Sheriff and County Judge.
Dr. Laura Pressley, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, stated, “The revelations from Williamson County’s election records are alarming. They suggest that our confidential voting records are not as secure as we are led to believe. This is a severe breach of our trust and the legal guarantees provided by our state laws.”
The plaintiffs argue that the core of the issue lies in a system authorized by the Texas Secretary of State, which assigns a unique computer-generated identifier to each ballot. The lawsuit claims this method has been used without proper legal backing and is in violation of both state and federal laws.
The filing underscores a significant disparity in how in-person and mail-in ballots are treated, with in-person voters subject to this potentially privacy-compromising tracking system. The lawsuit contends that this breaches secrecy and infringes upon guaranteed equal protection and due process.
The implications of this lawsuit are profound. It highlights critical vulnerabilities in the electoral system that could affect voter behavior due to concerns over privacy and the potential misuse of personal voting information. The alleged practices in Williamson, Bell, and Llano counties are accused of deviating from Texas’s established laws to preserve ballot secrecy and prevent electoral fraud.
As Texans who value our rights and the sanctity of our electoral process, it is imperative to monitor this situation closely. The Texas Nationalist Movement stands firm in advocating for electoral reforms that ensure every Texan’s vote is both secret and secure. The integrity of our voting system is paramount, and such alleged breaches must be addressed swiftly to restore public confidence.