Eastland County Republicans scramble as hand-count of primary ballots looms
EASTLAND, Texas — On Monday, a group of four people spent more than an hour at a table inside a Realtor’s office, hand-counting the results of two races on 100 sample ballots. It was only a week before Tuesday’s primary election, and for this small group, it was their first time practicing to tally votes by hand.
They counted in batches of 25 and used different colored markers to keep track of where one counted batch ended and a new one began. They also used laminated tally sheets, which allowed them to erase and remark them if they made any errors. The group twice marked a vote for the wrong candidate, an error that meant they had to go back and start over and correct their laminated sheets.
But on Election Day, “you won’t be able to erase the errors on the sheet. That’s why we practice,” said Robin Hayes, the county’s GOP chair, who was training the group.
Hayes hasn’t yet participated in an official hand-count herself, but said she’s attended trainings to learn how to do it and has been preparing and training other volunteers for months.
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/02/25/eastland-county-texas-primary-hand-count/